_set_new_handler
Transfers control to your error-handling mechanism if the new operator fails to allocate memory. The Microsoft C++ compiler uses this function to implement std::set_new_handler in the standard library.
Syntax
_PNH _set_new_handler( _PNH pNewHandler );
Parameters
pNewHandler
Pointer to the application-supplied memory handling function. An argument of 0 or nullptr causes the new handler to be removed.
Return value
Returns a pointer to the previous exception handling function registered by _set_new_handler, so that the previous function can be restored later. If no previous function has been set, the return value can be used to restore the default behavior. This value can be nullptr or 0.
Remarks
The C++ _set_new_handler function specifies an exception-handling function that gains control if the new operator fails to allocate memory. If new fails, the run-time system automatically calls the exception-handling function that was passed as an argument to _set_new_handler. _PNH, defined in <new.h>, is a pointer to a function that returns type int and takes an argument of type size_t. Use size_t to specify the amount of space to be allocated.
There's no default handler.
_set_new_handler is essentially a garbage-collection scheme. The run-time system retries allocation each time your function returns a nonzero value and fails if your function returns 0.
An occurrence of the _set_new_handler function in a program registers the exception-handling function specified in the argument list with the run-time system:
// _set_new_handler1.cpp
#include <new.h>
int handle_program_memory_depletion( size_t )
{
// Your code
}
int main( void )
{
_set_new_handler( handle_program_memory_depletion );
int *pi = new int[BIG_NUMBER];
}
By default, the _set_new_handler function's global state is scoped to the application. To change it, see Global state in the CRT.
You can save the function address that was last passed to the _set_new_handler function and reinstate it later:
_PNH old_handler = _set_new_handler( my_handler );
// Code that requires my_handler
// . . .
_set_new_handler( old_handler )
// Code that requires old_handler
// . . .
The C++ _set_new_mode function sets the new handler mode for malloc. The new handler mode indicates whether, on failure, malloc is to call the new handler routine as set by _set_new_handler. By default, malloc doesn't call the new handler routine on failure to allocate memory. You can override this default behavior so that, when malloc fails to allocate memory, malloc calls the new handler routine in the same way that the new operator does when it fails for the same reason. To override the default, call _set_new_mode(1); early in your program or link with newmode.obj.
If a user-defined operator new is provided, the new handler functions aren't automatically called on failure.
For more information, see new and delete in the C++ Language Reference.
There's a single _set_new_handler handler for all dynamically linked DLLs or executables in a single process. Even if you call _set_new_handler, your handler might be replaced by another. Or, your new handler may replace a handler set by another DLL or executable in your process.
Requirements
| Function | Required header |
|---|---|
_set_new_handler |
<new.h> |
For more compatibility information, see Compatibility.
Example
In this example, when the allocation fails, control is transferred to MyNewHandler. The argument passed to MyNewHandler is the number of bytes requested. The value returned from MyNewHandler is a flag indicating whether allocation should be retried: a nonzero value indicates that allocation should be retried, and a zero value indicates that allocation has failed.
// crt_set_new_handler.cpp
// Build for x86.
// WARNING: This code intentionally allocates memory until an allocation fails.
// Running this code can cause your system to become non-responsive.
#include <iostream>
#include <new>
#include <new.h>
static const int Big_number = 0x03FFFFFF;
struct MemoryHog {
int pork[Big_number];
};
class MemoryReserve {
MemoryHog* reserved = nullptr;
public:
MemoryReserve() {
reserved = new MemoryHog();
}
~MemoryReserve() noexcept {
if (reserved != nullptr)
delete reserved;
}
bool free_reserve() noexcept {
if (reserved != nullptr) {
delete reserved;
reserved = nullptr;
return true; // return true if memory freed
}
return false; // reserved memory exhausted.
}
};
// Global singleton for a MemoryReserve object
static MemoryReserve reserve{};
// Define a function to be called if new fails to allocate memory.
int MyNewHandler(size_t /* unused */)
{
// Call a function to recover some heap space. Return 1 on success.
if (reserve.free_reserve()) {
std::cerr << "MyNewHandler: Released reserved memory.\n";
return 1;
}
std::cerr << "MyNewHandler: Reserved memory exhausted.\n";
return 0;
}
static const int max_depth = 16; // recursion depth limiter
static int depth = 0;
void RecurseAlloc() {
MemoryHog* piggy = new MemoryHog{};
if (++depth < max_depth) // Recurse until memory exhausted or max_depth
RecurseAlloc();
depth--;
delete piggy;
return;
}
int main()
{
try {
_set_new_handler(MyNewHandler); // Set handler for new.
RecurseAlloc();
}
catch (std::bad_alloc& ex) {
std::cerr << "bad_alloc caught: " << ex.what() << '\n';
}
}
/* Output:
MyNewHandler: Released reserved memory.
MyNewHandler: Reserved memory exhausted.
bad_alloc caught: bad allocation
*/