std::realloc

 

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Defined in header <cstdlib>
void* realloc( void* ptr, std::size_t new_size );

Reallocates the given area of memory. It must be previously allocated by std::malloc(), std::calloc() or std::realloc() and not yet freed with std::free(), otherwise, the results are undefined.

The reallocation is done by either:

a) expanding or contracting the existing area pointed to by ptr, if possible. The contents of the area remain unchanged up to the lesser of the new and old sizes. If the area is expanded, the contents of the new part of the array are undefined.

b) allocating a new memory block of size new_size bytes, copying memory area with size equal the lesser of the new and the old sizes, and freeing the old block.

If there is not enough memory, the old memory block is not freed and null-pointer is returned.

If ptr is NULL, the behavior is the same as calling std::malloc(new_size).

If new_size is zero, the behavior is implementation defined (null pointer may be returned, or some non-null pointer may be returned that may not be used to access storage).

Notes

Because reallocation may involve bytewise copying (regardless of whether it's to expand or to contract), only the objects of TriviallyCopyable types are safe to access in the preserved part of the memory block after a call to realloc.

Some non-standard libraries define a type trait "BitwiseMovable" or "Relocatable", which describes a type that

• does not have to register with an observer that maintains a pointer to this object (e.g. nodes of a list or a tree)
• has no members of pointer type that point to members of the same object

Objects of such type can be accessed after their storage is reallocated even if their copy constructors are not trivial.

Parameters

ptr	-	pointer to the memory area to be reallocated
new_size	-	new size of the array

Return value

Pointer to the beginning of newly allocated memory or NULL if error has occurred. The pointer must be deallocated with std::free().

Example

Run this code

#include <cstdlib>
#include <iostream>
#include <ostream>
#include <new>
#include <cassert>
 
class MallocDynamicBuffer
{
    char *p;
 
public:
    explicit MallocDynamicBuffer(std::size_t initial = 0);
    ~MallocDynamicBuffer();
 
    void resize(std::size_t newSize);
    char *ptr();
};
 
MallocDynamicBuffer::MallocDynamicBuffer(std::size_t initial)
    : p(NULL)
{
    resize(initial);
}
 
MallocDynamicBuffer::~MallocDynamicBuffer()
{
    std::free(p);
}
 
void MallocDynamicBuffer::resize(std::size_t newSize)
{
    if (!newSize)
    {
        // realloc to size zero is implementation-defined.
        // We don't know portably what happens when it fails.
        // So, we instead use free().
        std::free(p);
        p = NULL;
    }
    else
    {
        void *mem = std::realloc(p, newSize);
        if (!mem)
            throw std::bad_alloc();
 
        p = static_cast<char*>(mem);
    }
    std::cout << "    Buffer now has size " << newSize 
              << " starting at address " << static_cast<void*>(p) << '\n';
}
 
char *MallocDynamicBuffer::ptr()
{
    return p;
}
 
int main() 
{
    std::cout << "buf1:\n";
    MallocDynamicBuffer buf1(1024);
    buf1.ptr()[5] = 'f';
    buf1.resize(10);
    assert(buf1.ptr()[5] == 'f');
 
    std::cout << "buf2:\n";
    MallocDynamicBuffer buf2(512);
 
    std::cout << "buf1:\n";
    buf1.resize(1024);
    assert(buf1.ptr()[5] == 'f');
 
    return 0;
}

Output:

buf1:
    Buffer now has size 1024 starting at address 0063D3B8
    Buffer now has size 10 starting at address 0063D3B8
buf2:
    Buffer now has size 512 starting at address 0063D3F0
buf1:
    Buffer now has size 1024 starting at address 0063DCD8

See also

C documentation for realloc