Deleting Strings

Before an IDL_STRING can be discarded or re-used, it is important to release any dynamic memory it might be using. The IDL_StrDelete() function should be used to delete strings:

void IDL_StrDelete(IDL_STRING *str, IDL_MEMINT n) 

where:

str

Pointer to one or more IDL_STRING descriptors which need their contents freed.

n

The number of descriptors.

IDL_StrDelete() deletes all dynamic memory used by the IDL_STRINGs. The descriptors contain garbage once this has been done, and their contents should not be used.

The IDL_Deltmp() function automatically calls IDL_StrDelete() when returning temporary variables of type IDL_TYP_STRING, so it is not necessary or desirable to call IDL_StrDelete() explicitly in this case.