BN_new(3)                   OpenSSL                   BN_new(3)





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

SYNOPSIS
        #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
       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 mem-
       ory 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
       BN_new() returns a pointer to the BIGNUM. If the alloca-
       tion 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
       bn(3), ERR_get_error(3)

HISTORY
       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.



0.9.7c                     2002-09-25                 BN_new(3)
