Function linuxcnc_hal_sys::hal_malloc

pub unsafe extern "C" fn hal_malloc(size: c_long) -> *mut c_void

hal_malloc() allocates a block of memory from the main HAL shared memory area. It should be used by all components to allocate memory for HAL pins and parameters. It allocates 'size' bytes, and returns a pointer to the allocated space, or NULL (0) on error. The returned pointer will be properly aligned for any variable HAL supports (see HAL_TYPE below.) The allocator is very simple, and there is no 'free'. It is assumed that a component will allocate all the memory it needs during initialization. The entire HAL shared memory area is freed when the last component calls hal_exit(). This means that if you continuously install and remove one component while other components are present, you eventually will fill up the shared memory and an install will fail. Removing all components completely clears memory and you start fresh.