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Groups > comp.lang.c > #43831

Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL

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Johannes Bauer <dfnsonfsduifb@gmx.de> wrote:
> On 22.04.2014 23:37, Keith Thompson wrote:

(snip)

>> After free(ptr), the value of ptr is *indeterminate*, meaning that any
>> attempt to refer to its value has undefined behavior.
 
> Woo, really? I find that rather surprising. Does this mean that free()
> specifically is a special case or was this just a writing error on your
> part? If free behaved like all other functions, the value of ptr would
> be well defined after the free (to be the same value as before the free,
> since pointers are call-by-value).
 
> Defererencing that pointer after a free has obviously indeterminate
> consequences, but is also the pointer *value* indeterminate?

For protected mode x86 (80286 and up) loading a segment selector
for a non-allocated segment will fail. That is, a segmentation
violation. (You always wondered where the name came from?)

Now, most compilers won't actually load one into a segment
register when not needed to actually reference data, but the
standard allows it to fail.

(Selector zero is reserved as the null segment, so there is some
value to use when there is nothing else to load.)

-- glen

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free a pointer and have it point to NULL G G <gdotone@gmail.com> - 2014-04-22 14:22 -0700
  Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2014-04-22 17:32 -0400
  Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL G G <gdotone@gmail.com> - 2014-04-22 14:36 -0700
  Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2014-04-22 14:37 -0700
    Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL Johannes Bauer <dfnsonfsduifb@gmx.de> - 2014-04-29 13:10 +0200
      Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL Richard <rgrdev_@gmail.com> - 2014-04-29 13:14 +0200
        Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2014-04-29 13:19 +0100
          Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL Kaz Kylheku <kaz@kylheku.com> - 2014-04-29 13:57 +0000
      Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL Kaz Kylheku <kaz@kylheku.com> - 2014-04-29 13:43 +0000
      Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2014-04-29 09:59 -0400
        Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2014-04-29 07:58 -0700
          Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2014-04-29 11:50 -0700
            Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2014-04-29 15:47 -0400
        Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2014-04-29 12:41 -0400
          Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL Robert Wessel <robertwessel2@yahoo.com> - 2014-04-29 13:15 -0500
            Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2014-04-29 21:29 +0000
      Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2014-04-29 15:26 +0000
  Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL jt@toerring.de (Jens Thoms Toerring) - 2014-04-22 21:43 +0000
    Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2014-04-22 14:53 -0700
      Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL Öö Tiib <ootiib@hot.ee> - 2014-04-24 00:38 -0700
        Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2014-04-24 07:52 -0400
          Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL <william@wilbur.25thandClement.com> - 2014-04-24 16:13 -0700
            Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2014-04-25 12:02 +1200
              Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL <william@wilbur.25thandClement.com> - 2014-04-24 22:03 -0700
                Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2014-04-25 17:22 +1200
                Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL <william@wilbur.25thandClement.com> - 2014-04-24 23:00 -0700
          Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL Öö Tiib <ootiib@hot.ee> - 2014-04-27 08:32 -0700
    Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2014-04-22 16:19 -0600
      Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL Kaz Kylheku <kaz@kylheku.com> - 2014-04-22 22:41 +0000
        Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2014-04-22 18:17 -0600
          Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2014-04-24 08:48 -0600
    non-NULL pointers which have the value 0 (Was: Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL) Andrew Cooper <root@127.0.0.1> - 2014-04-23 03:28 +0100
      Re: non-NULL pointers which have the value 0 (Was: Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL) Kaz Kylheku <kaz@kylheku.com> - 2014-04-23 04:37 +0000
      Re: non-NULL pointers which have the value 0 glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2014-04-23 06:14 +0000
  Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL Kaz Kylheku <kaz@kylheku.com> - 2014-04-22 22:18 +0000
  Re: free a pointer and have it point to NULL Michael Angelo Ravera <maravera@prodigy.net> - 2014-05-03 01:00 -0700

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