NAME    [Toc]    [Back]

       BN_CTX_new, BN_CTX_init, BN_CTX_free - allocate and free
       BN_CTX structures

SYNOPSIS    [Toc]    [Back]

        #include <openssl/bn.h>

        BN_CTX *BN_CTX_new(void);

        void BN_CTX_init(BN_CTX *c);

        void BN_CTX_free(BN_CTX *c);

DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]

       A BN_CTX is a structure that holds BIGNUM temporary variables
 used by library functions. Since dynamic memory
       allocation to create BIGNUMs is rather expensive when used
       in conjunction with repeated subroutine calls, the BN_CTX
       structure is used.

       BN_CTX_new() allocates and initializes a BN_CTX structure.
       BN_CTX_init() initializes an existing uninitialized
       BN_CTX.

       BN_CTX_free() frees the components of the BN_CTX, and if
       it was created by BN_CTX_new(), also the structure itself.
       If BN_CTX_start(3) has been used on the BN_CTX,
       BN_CTX_end(3) must be called before the BN_CTX may be
       freed by BN_CTX_free().

RETURN VALUES    [Toc]    [Back]

       BN_CTX_new() returns a pointer to the BN_CTX. If the allocation
 fails, it returns NULL and sets an error code that
       can be obtained by ERR_get_error(3).

       BN_CTX_init() and BN_CTX_free() have no return values.

SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]

       bn(3), ERR_get_error(3), BN_add(3), BN_CTX_start(3)

HISTORY    [Toc]    [Back]

       BN_CTX_new() and BN_CTX_free() are available in all versions
 on SSLeay and OpenSSL. BN_CTX_init() was added in
       SSLeay 0.9.1b.


OpenBSD 3.6                 2000-04-03                          1