NAME    [Toc]    [Back]

       BN_new, BN_init, BN_clear, BN_free, BN_clear_free - allocate
 and free BIGNUMs

SYNOPSIS    [Toc]    [Back]

        #include <openssl/bn.h>

        BIGNUM *BN_new(void);

        void BN_init(BIGNUM *);

        void BN_clear(BIGNUM *a);

        void BN_free(BIGNUM *a);

        void BN_clear_free(BIGNUM *a);

DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]

       BN_new() allocated and initializes a BIGNUM structure.
       BN_init() initializes an existing uninitialized BIGNUM.

       BN_clear() is used to destroy sensitive data such as keys
       when they are no longer needed. It erases the memory used
       by a and sets it to the value 0.

       BN_free() frees the components of the BIGNUM, and if it
       was created by BN_new(), also the structure itself.
       BN_clear_free() additionally overwrites the data before
       the memory is returned to the system.

RETURN VALUES    [Toc]    [Back]

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

       BN_init(), BN_clear(), BN_free() and BN_clear_free() have
       no return values.

SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]

       bn(3), ERR_get_error(3)

HISTORY    [Toc]    [Back]

       BN_new(), BN_clear(), BN_free() and BN_clear_free() are
       available in all versions on SSLeay and OpenSSL.
       BN_init() was added in SSLeay 0.9.1b.


OpenBSD 3.6                 2000-04-03                          1