aboutsummaryrefslogtreecommitdiffstats
path: root/lib/erl_interface/doc/src/erl_malloc.xml
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
Diffstat (limited to 'lib/erl_interface/doc/src/erl_malloc.xml')
-rw-r--r--lib/erl_interface/doc/src/erl_malloc.xml155
1 files changed, 80 insertions, 75 deletions
diff --git a/lib/erl_interface/doc/src/erl_malloc.xml b/lib/erl_interface/doc/src/erl_malloc.xml
index ba1f59a492..28de9dfa88 100644
--- a/lib/erl_interface/doc/src/erl_malloc.xml
+++ b/lib/erl_interface/doc/src/erl_malloc.xml
@@ -28,172 +28,177 @@
<docno></docno>
<approved>Bjarne D&auml;cker</approved>
<checked>Torbj&ouml;rn T&ouml;rnkvist</checked>
- <date>980703</date>
+ <date>1998-07-03</date>
<rev>A</rev>
<file>erl_malloc.xml</file>
</header>
<lib>erl_malloc</lib>
- <libsummary>Memory Allocation Functions</libsummary>
+ <libsummary>Memory allocation functions.</libsummary>
<description>
<p>This module provides functions for allocating and deallocating
memory.</p>
</description>
+
<funcs>
<func>
<name><ret>ETERM *</ret><nametext>erl_alloc_eterm(etype)</nametext></name>
- <fsummary>Allocates an ETERM structure.</fsummary>
+ <fsummary>Allocate an ETERM structure.</fsummary>
<type>
<v>unsigned char etype;</v>
</type>
<desc>
- <p>This function allocates an <c><![CDATA[(ETERM)]]></c> structure.
- Specify <c><![CDATA[etype]]></c> as one of the following constants:</p>
+ <p>Allocates an <c><![CDATA[(ETERM)]]></c> structure.</p>
+ <p>Specify <c><![CDATA[etype]]></c> as one of the following
+ constants:</p>
<list type="bulleted">
- <item>
- <p>ERL_INTEGER</p>
+ <item><c>ERL_INTEGER</c>
</item>
- <item>
- <p>ERL_U_INTEGER <c><![CDATA[/* unsigned integer */]]></c></p>
+ <item><c>ERL_U_INTEGER</c> (unsigned integer)
</item>
- <item>
- <p>ERL_ATOM</p>
+ <item><c>ERL_ATOM</c>
</item>
- <item>
- <p>ERL_PID <c><![CDATA[/* Erlang process identifier */]]></c></p>
+ <item><c>ERL_PID</c> (Erlang process identifier)
</item>
- <item>
- <p>ERL_PORT</p>
+ <item><c>ERL_PORT</c>
</item>
- <item>
- <p>ERL_REF <c><![CDATA[/* Erlang reference */]]></c></p>
+ <item><c>ERL_REF</c> (Erlang reference)
</item>
- <item>
- <p>ERL_LIST</p>
+ <item><c>ERL_LIST</c>
</item>
- <item>
- <p>ERL_EMPTY_LIST</p>
+ <item><c>ERL_EMPTY_LIST</c>
</item>
- <item>
- <p>ERL_TUPLE</p>
+ <item><c>ERL_TUPLE</c>
</item>
- <item>
- <p>ERL_BINARY</p>
+ <item><c>ERL_BINARY</c>
</item>
- <item>
- <p>ERL_FLOAT</p>
+ <item><c>ERL_FLOAT</c>
</item>
- <item>
- <p>ERL_VARIABLE</p>
+ <item><c>ERL_VARIABLE</c>
</item>
- <item>
- <p>ERL_SMALL_BIG <c><![CDATA[/* bignum */]]></c></p>
+ <item><c>ERL_SMALL_BIG</c> (bignum)
</item>
- <item>
- <p>ERL_U_SMALL_BIG <c><![CDATA[/* bignum */]]></c></p>
+ <item><c>ERL_U_SMALL_BIG</c> (bignum)
</item>
</list>
- <p><c><![CDATA[ERL_SMALL_BIG]]></c> and <c><![CDATA[ERL_U_SMALL_BIG]]></c> are for
- creating Erlang <c><![CDATA[bignums]]></c>, which can contain integers of
- arbitrary size. The size of an integer in Erlang is machine
- dependent, but in general any integer larger than 2^28
- requires a bignum.</p>
+ <p><c><![CDATA[ERL_SMALL_BIG]]></c> and
+ <c><![CDATA[ERL_U_SMALL_BIG]]></c> are for
+ creating Erlang <c><![CDATA[bignums]]></c>, which can contain integers
+ of any size. The size of an integer in Erlang is machine-dependent,
+ but any integer &gt; 2^28 requires a bignum.</p>
</desc>
</func>
+
<func>
<name><ret>void</ret><nametext>erl_eterm_release(void)</nametext></name>
- <fsummary>Clears the ETERM freelist.</fsummary>
+ <fsummary>Clear the ETERM freelist.</fsummary>
<desc>
- <p>Clears the
- freelist, where blocks are placed when they are
+ <p>Clears the freelist, where blocks are placed when they are
released by <c><![CDATA[erl_free_term()]]></c> and
- <c><![CDATA[erl_free_compound()]]></c>. </p>
+ <c><![CDATA[erl_free_compound()]]></c>.</p>
</desc>
</func>
+
<func>
<name><ret>void</ret><nametext>erl_eterm_statistics(allocated, freed)</nametext></name>
- <fsummary>Reports term allocation statistics.</fsummary>
+ <fsummary>Report term allocation statistics.</fsummary>
<type>
<v>long *allocated;</v>
<v>long *freed;</v>
</type>
<desc>
- <p><c><![CDATA[allocated]]></c> and <c><![CDATA[freed]]></c> are initialized to
+ <p>Reports term allocation statistics.</p>
+ <p><c><![CDATA[allocated]]></c> and <c><![CDATA[freed]]></c> are
+ initialized to
contain information about the fix-allocator used to allocate
- ETERM components. <c><![CDATA[allocated]]></c> is the number of blocks
- currently allocated to ETERM objects. <c><![CDATA[freed]]></c> is the
- length of the freelist, where blocks are placed when they are
- released by <c><![CDATA[erl_free_term()]]></c> and
- <c><![CDATA[erl_free_compound()]]></c>. </p>
+ <c>ETERM</c> components.</p>
+ <list type="bulleted">
+ <item>
+ <p><c><![CDATA[allocated]]></c> is the number of blocks currently
+ allocated to <c>ETERM</c> objects.</p>
+ </item>
+ <item>
+ <p><c><![CDATA[freed]]></c> is the length of the freelist, where
+ blocks are placed when they are
+ released by <c><![CDATA[erl_free_term()]]></c> and
+ <c><![CDATA[erl_free_compound()]]></c>.</p>
+ </item>
+ </list>
</desc>
</func>
+
<func>
<name><ret>void</ret><nametext>erl_free(ptr)</nametext></name>
- <fsummary>Frees some memory.</fsummary>
+ <fsummary>Free some memory.</fsummary>
<type>
<v>void *ptr;</v>
</type>
<desc>
- <p>This function calls the standard
- <c><![CDATA[free()]]></c> function. </p>
+ <p>Calls the standard
+ <c><![CDATA[free()]]></c> function.</p>
</desc>
</func>
+
<func>
<name><ret>void</ret><nametext>erl_free_array(array, size)</nametext></name>
- <fsummary>Frees an array of ETERM structures.</fsummary>
+ <fsummary>Free an array of ETERM structures.</fsummary>
<type>
<v>ETERM **array;</v>
<v>int size;</v>
</type>
<desc>
- <p>This function frees an array of Erlang terms.</p>
- <p><c><![CDATA[array]]></c> is an array of ETERM* objects.
- </p>
- <p><c><![CDATA[size]]></c> is the number of terms in the array.</p>
+ <p>Frees an array of Erlang terms.</p>
+ <list type="bulleted">
+ <item><c><![CDATA[array]]></c> is an array of ETERM* objects.</item>
+ <item><c><![CDATA[size]]></c> is the number of terms in the array.
+ </item>
+ </list>
</desc>
</func>
+
<func>
<name><ret>void</ret><nametext>erl_free_compound(t)</nametext></name>
- <fsummary>Frees an array of ETERM structures.</fsummary>
+ <fsummary>Free an array of ETERM structures.</fsummary>
<type>
<v>ETERM *t;</v>
</type>
<desc>
<p>Normally it is the programmer's responsibility to free each
Erlang term that has been returned from any of the
- <c><![CDATA[erl_interface]]></c> functions. However since many of the
+ <c><![CDATA[Erl_Interface]]></c> functions. However, as many of the
functions that build new Erlang terms in fact share objects
- with other existing terms, it may be difficult for the
- programmer to maintain pointers to all such terms in order to
- free them individually.
- </p>
- <p><c><![CDATA[erl_free_compound()]]></c> will recursively free all of the
- sub-terms associated with a given Erlang term, regardless of
- whether we are still holding pointers to the sub-terms.
- </p>
- <p>There is an example in the User Manual under "Building
- Terms and Patterns"
- </p>
+ with other existing terms, it can be difficult for the
+ programmer to maintain pointers to all such terms to
+ free them individually.</p>
+ <p><c><![CDATA[erl_free_compound()]]></c> recursively frees all of the
+ subterms associated with a specified Erlang term, regardless of
+ whether we are still holding pointers to the subterms.</p>
+ <p>For an example, see section
+ <seealso marker="building terms and patterns">Building Terms and
+ Patterns"></seealso> in the User's Guide.</p>
</desc>
</func>
+
<func>
<name><ret>void</ret><nametext>erl_free_term(t)</nametext></name>
- <fsummary>Frees an ETERM structure.</fsummary>
+ <fsummary>Free an ETERM structure.</fsummary>
+ <marker id="erl_free_term"/>
<type>
<v>ETERM *t;</v>
</type>
<desc>
- <p>Use this function to free an Erlang term.</p>
+ <p>Frees an Erlang term.</p>
</desc>
</func>
+
<func>
<name><ret>void</ret><nametext>erl_malloc(size)</nametext></name>
- <fsummary>Allocates some memory.</fsummary>
+ <fsummary>Allocate some memory.</fsummary>
<type>
<v>long size;</v>
</type>
<desc>
- <p>This function calls the standard
- <c><![CDATA[malloc()]]></c> function. </p>
+ <p>Calls the standard
+ <c><![CDATA[malloc()]]></c> function.</p>
</desc>
</func>
</funcs>