NAME
BN_CTX_new, BN_CTX_init, BN_CTX_free — allocate and free BN_CTX structures
Synopsis
#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
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
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
bn(3), ERR_get_error(3), BN_add(3), BN_CTX_start(3)
HISTORY
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.
