BN_new(3)

     BN_new(3)              0.9.6h (2002-09-25)              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 memory 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 allocation
          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.

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