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.

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

       The BN_CTX_free() function frees  the  components  of  the
       BN_CTX,  and  if  it was created by BN_CTX_new(), also the
       structure itself. If BN_CTX_start() has been used  on  the
       BN_CTX,  BN_CTX_end() 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().

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

HISTORY    [Toc]    [Back]

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

SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]

       Functions: bn(3), err(3), BN_add(3), BN_CTX_start(3)



                                                    BN_CTX_new(3)