Return dynamically allocated memory from C++ to C

Question

I have a dll that must be useable from C etc, so I cant use string objects etc as a normal would, but I\'m not sure on how to do this safely..

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Answer 1

You have to allocate the string on the heap if you want to safely return it, also allocate with malloc() i.s.o. new() when writing C functions.

When you return pointers (and, unlike in C++, in C you have no real choice many times), deallocation is always a concern. There isn't really a definitive solution.

One way of handling this I've seen in quite some API's is calling all function either

CreateString()

When memory needs to be deallocated by the caller, and

GetString()

when that's not an issue.

This is anything but foolproof of course, but given enough discipline it's the best method I've seen to be honest...