=pod =head1 NAME BN_new, BN_init, BN_clear, BN_free, BN_clear_free - allocate and free BIGNUMs =head1 SYNOPSIS #include BIGNUM *BN_new(void); void BN_init(BIGNUM *); void BN_clear(BIGNUM *a); void BN_free(BIGNUM *a); void BN_clear_free(BIGNUM *a); =head1 DESCRIPTION BN_new() allocates and initializes a B structure. BN_init() initializes an existing uninitialized B. BN_clear() is used to destroy sensitive data such as keys when they are no longer needed. It erases the memory used by B and sets it to the value 0. BN_free() frees the components of the B, 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. =head1 RETURN VALUES BN_new() returns a pointer to the B. If the allocation fails, it returns B and sets an error code that can be obtained by L. BN_init(), BN_clear(), BN_free() and BN_clear_free() have no return values. =head1 SEE ALSO L, L =head1 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. =cut