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man pages section 3: Extended Library Functions, Volume 1

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Updated: Wednesday, July 27, 2022
 
 

BN_CTX_start (3openssl)

Name

BN_CTX_start - use temporary BIGNUM variables

Synopsis

#include <openssl/bn.h>

void BN_CTX_start(BN_CTX *ctx);

BIGNUM *BN_CTX_get(BN_CTX *ctx);

void BN_CTX_end(BN_CTX *ctx);

Description

BN_CTX_start(3openssl)              OpenSSL             BN_CTX_start(3openssl)



NAME
       BN_CTX_start, BN_CTX_get, BN_CTX_end - use temporary BIGNUM variables

SYNOPSIS
        #include <openssl/bn.h>

        void BN_CTX_start(BN_CTX *ctx);

        BIGNUM *BN_CTX_get(BN_CTX *ctx);

        void BN_CTX_end(BN_CTX *ctx);

DESCRIPTION
       These functions are used to obtain temporary BIGNUM variables from a
       BN_CTX (which can been created by using BN_CTX_new(3)) in order to save
       the overhead of repeatedly creating and freeing BIGNUMs in functions
       that are called from inside a loop.

       A function must call BN_CTX_start() first. Then, BN_CTX_get() may be
       called repeatedly to obtain temporary BIGNUMs. All BN_CTX_get() calls
       must be made before calling any other functions that use the ctx as an
       argument.

       Finally, BN_CTX_end() must be called before returning from the
       function.  When BN_CTX_end() is called, the BIGNUM pointers obtained
       from BN_CTX_get() become invalid.

RETURN VALUES
       BN_CTX_start() and BN_CTX_end() return no values.

       BN_CTX_get() returns a pointer to the BIGNUM, or NULL on error.  Once
       BN_CTX_get() has failed, the subsequent calls will return NULL as well,
       so it is sufficient to check the return value of the last BN_CTX_get()
       call. In case of an error, an error code is set, which can be obtained
       by ERR_get_error(3).


ATTRIBUTES
       See attributes(7) for descriptions of the following attributes:


       +---------------+--------------------------+
       |ATTRIBUTE TYPE |     ATTRIBUTE VALUE      |
       +---------------+--------------------------+
       |Availability   | library/security/openssl |
       +---------------+--------------------------+
       |Stability      | Pass-through uncommitted |
       +---------------+--------------------------+

SEE ALSO
       BN_CTX_new(3)

HISTORY
       BN_CTX_start(), BN_CTX_get() and BN_CTX_end() were added in OpenSSL
       0.9.5.



NOTES
       Source code for open source software components in Oracle Solaris can
       be found at https://www.oracle.com/downloads/opensource/solaris-source-
       code-downloads.html.

       This software was built from source available at
       https://github.com/oracle/solaris-userland.  The original community
       source was downloaded from
       https://www.openssl.org/source/openssl-1.0.2ze.tar.gz.

       Further information about this software can be found on the open source
       community website at https://www.openssl.org/.



1.0.2ze                           2022-05-03            BN_CTX_start(3openssl)