Operator New
 
Operator to dynamically allocate memory and construct data of a specified type.

Syntax
Usage

result = New datatype
or
result = New datatype ( initializers, ... )
or
result = New datatype[ count ]

Parameters

size
Number of bytes to allocate.
initializers
Initial value(s) for the variable.
datatype
Name of the data type to create.
count
Exact number of elements to allocate.

Return Value

A pointer of type datatype to the newly allocated data.

Description

The New operator dynamically allocates memory and constructs a specified data type. For simple types, like integers, an initial value can be given. For types without constructors, initial values can be specified for each field. Types that have constructors can have their constructors called by New as well. If no initializers are given, the default values for those types will be set.

New[] is the array-version of the New operator and allocates enough memory for the specified number of objects. The default constructor for the type will be used to set the initial values for each item.

Objects created with New must be freed with Delete. Memory allocated with New[] must be freed with Delete[], the array-version of Delete. You cannot mix and match the different versions of the operators.

Specifying an initial value of Any, as in New datatype(Any) will allocate memory for the type, but not initialize the data. This is only valid on data types that do not have constructors (otherwise for data types with constructors, syntax of simple memory allocation with pointer conversion, like Cptr(datatype Ptr, Allocate(Sizeof(datatype))), can be substituted to the invalid use of New...Any).

Specifying an initial value of Any, as in New datatype[count]{Any} will allocate memory for the array, but not initialize the data. This is only valid on data types that do not have constructors (otherwise for data types with constructors, syntax of simple memory allocation with pointer conversion, like Cptr(datatype Ptr, Allocate(count * Sizeof(datatype))), can be substituted to the invalid use of New...Any).

Example

Type Rational
    As Integer    numerator, denominator
End Type

Scope

    ' Create and initialize a "rational" and store its address.
    Dim p As Rational Ptr = New Rational(3, 4)

    Print p->numerator & "/" & p->denominator

    ' Destroy the rational and give its memory back to the system. 
    Delete p

End Scope

Scope

    ' Allocate memory for 100 integers and store the address of the first one.
    Dim p As Integer Ptr = New Integer[100]

    ' Assign some values to the integers in the array.
    For i As Integer = 0 To 99
        p[i] = i
    Next

    ' Free the entire integer array.
    Delete[] p

End Scope

Dialect Differences

  • Only available in the -lang fb dialect.

Differences from QB

  • New to FreeBASIC

See also