.help zmfree May84 "System Interface" .ih NAME zmfree -- free memory .ih SYNOPSIS .nf zmfree (buffer, status) int buffer # buffer address int status .fi .ih DESCRIPTION Free a buffer previously allocated with \fBzmaloc\fR or \fBzraloc\fR, i.e., return the space so that it may be reused by the same process or by another process. The integer argument \fIbuffer\fR must be the buffer address returned by the primitive which originally allocated the buffer. .ih RETURN VALUE ERR is returned if there is something wrong with \fIbuffer\fR. OK is returned if the operation is successful. .ih NOTES When a buffer is deallocated memory space may or may not be returned to the host operating system depending upon the address of the buffer and upon the characteristics of the host system. If physical memory space can be efficiently allocated to a process at runtime it is desirable to immediately return deallocated space to the host so that it may be reused by another process. Otherwise the space will remain physically allocated to the process but will be placed on the memory allocator free list so that it may be reallocated in a subsequent call to \fBmalloc\fR. .ih SEE ALSO zmaloc, zraloc, zlocva .endhelp