SYNOPSIS

mixed *	allocate	(	int size	)
mixed *	allocate	(	int size,	mixed init_value	)
mixed *	allocate	(	int *sizes	)
mixed *	allocate	(	int *sizes,	mixed init_value	)

DESCRIPTION

Allocate an array of size elements. The number of elements must be >= 0 and not bigger than a system maximum (usually 1000).

If init_value is given, all array elements will be set to this value (if init_value is an array or mapping, a shallow copy will be created for each element), otherwise they all will be 0.

In the second form (using an array of sizes instead of one size), the efun will allocate a multidimensional array, that is an array of arrays.

Obsolete

this function is hardly needed anymore, because arrays can be added by the + operator, and can be constructed and initialized by the ({ }) operator. The functions only use is to construct big empty arrays.

USAGE

string *buffer;
buffer = allocate(50);
buffer = allocate(50, "");

buffer = allocate( ({ 2, 3 }) )
  --> ({ ({ 0, 0, 0 }), ({ 0, 0, 0 }) })

HISTORY

• changed (3.2.9) – added the initialization value and the multi-dimensional allocation.

SEE ALSO

sizeof(E)