5 BN_new, BN_init, BN_clear, BN_free, BN_clear_free - allocate and free BIGNUMs
9 #include <openssl/bn.h>
13 void BN_init(BIGNUM *);
15 void BN_clear(BIGNUM *a);
17 void BN_free(BIGNUM *a);
19 void BN_clear_free(BIGNUM *a);
23 BN_new() allocates and initializes a B<BIGNUM> structure. BN_init()
24 initializes an existing uninitialized B<BIGNUM>.
26 BN_clear() is used to destroy sensitive data such as keys when they
27 are no longer needed. It erases the memory used by B<a> and sets it
30 BN_free() frees the components of the B<BIGNUM>, and if it was created
31 by BN_new(), also the structure itself. BN_clear_free() additionally
32 overwrites the data before the memory is returned to the system.
33 If B<a> is NULL, nothing is done.
37 BN_new() returns a pointer to the B<BIGNUM> initialised to the value 0.
38 If the allocation fails,
39 it returns B<NULL> and sets an error code that can be obtained
40 by L<ERR_get_error(3)|ERR_get_error(3)>.
42 BN_init(), BN_clear(), BN_free() and BN_clear_free() have no return
47 L<bn(3)|bn(3)>, L<ERR_get_error(3)|ERR_get_error(3)>
51 BN_new(), BN_clear(), BN_free() and BN_clear_free() are available in
52 all versions on SSLeay and OpenSSL. BN_init() was added in SSLeay