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This function frees a memory block allocated from a heap by the HeapAllocor HeapReAllocfunction.
BOOL HeapFree( HANDLE hHeap, DWORD dwFlags, LPVOID lpMem );
Parameters
- hHeap
- [in] Handle to the heap whose memory block is freed by the function. This parameter is a handle returned by the HeapCreateor GetProcessHeapfunction.
- dwFlags
- [in] Specifies several controllable aspects of freeing a memory
block. Only one flag is currently defined; however, all other flag
values are reserved for future use. Specifying this flag will
override the corresponding flag specified in the
flOptionsparameter when the heap was created using the
HeapCreatefunction.
Value Description HEAP_NO_SERIALIZE Specifies that mutual exclusion will not be used while HeapFreeis accessing the heap. This flag should not be specified when accessing the process heap. The system may create additional threads within the application's process that simultaneously access the process heap. - lpMem
- [in] Pointer to the memory block to be freed. This pointer is
returned by the
HeapAllocor
HeapReAllocfunction.
Return Values
Nonzero indicates success. Zero indicates failure. To get extended error information, call GetLastError.
Remarks
Serialization ensures mutual exclusion when two or more threads attempt to simultaneously allocate or free blocks from the same heap. There is a small performance cost to serialization, but it must be used whenever multiple threads allocate and free memory from the same heap. Setting the HEAP_NO_SERIALIZE flag eliminates mutual exclusion on the heap. Without serialization, two or more threads that use the same heap handle might attempt to allocate or free memory simultaneously, likely causing corruption in the heap. The HEAP_NO_SERIALIZE flag can, therefore, be safely used only in the following situations:
- The process has only one thread.
- The process has multiple threads, but only one thread calls the heap functions for a specific heap.
- The process has multiple threads, and the application provides
its own mechanism for mutual exclusion to a specific heap.
Requirements
Runs on Versions Defined in Include Link to Windows CE OS 1.0 and later Winbase.h Lmem.lib Note This API is part of the complete Windows CE OS package as provided by Microsoft. The functionality of a particular platform is determined by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and some devices may not support this API.
See Also
GetLastError, GetProcessHeap, HeapAlloc, HeapCreate, HeapDestroy, HeapReAlloc, HeapSize