---
name: "gd_close"
section: "3"
platform: "linux"
package: "libgetdata-doc"
version: "0.11.0-15"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/gd_close"
---

# gd\_close(3)

close a Dirfile and free associated memory

## NAME

gd\_close, gd\_discard — close a Dirfile and free associated memory

## SYNOPSIS

**#include \<getdata.h\>**

**int gd\_close(DIRFILE \****dirfile***);**

**int gd\_discard(DIRFILE \****dirfile***);**

## DESCRIPTION

The **gd\_close**() and **gd\_discard**() attempt to close the open Dirfile *dirfile* and free all memory associated with it.

The **gd\_close**() function first flushes all pending metadata updates to disk.  This step is skipped by **gd\_discard**(), which simply discards metadata changes.  For dirfiles opened read-only, these two functions are equivalent.

Next, all pending data is flushed to disk and all open data files closed. In order to ensure that modified data files associated with **RAW** fields are properly terminated, changes to **RAW** data files are still flushed to disk by **gd\_discard**().

Finally, if the above didn't encounter an error, these functions free memory associated with the DIRFILE object.

If *dirfile* is NULL, nothing happens, and the call succeeds.

One of these functions should be called on all pointers returned by [**gd\_cbopen**(3)](/gd_cbopen/3.md), [**gd\_open**(3)](/gd_open/3.md), and [**gd\_invalid\_dirfile**(3)](/gd_invalid_dirfile/3.md), even if the call to those function failed.  After **gd\_close**() or **gd\_discard**() returns successfully, the pointer *dirfile* should be considered invalid.

Metadata is written to disk using the current Standards Version as stored in the *dirfile* object.  See [**gd\_dirfile\_standards**(3)](/gd_dirfile_standards/3.md) to change or report the current Standards Version.  If the dirfile metadata conforms to no known Standards Version, Standards non-compliant metadata will be written.

## RETURN VALUE

**gd\_close**() and **gd\_discard**() return zero on success.  On error, they do not de-allocate *dirfile* and instead return a negative-valued error code.  Possible error codes are:\
  .TP 8 **GD\_E\_ALLOC** The library was unable to allocate memory.\
  .TP 8 **GD\_E\_LINE\_TOO\_LONG** While attempting to flush modified metadata to disk, a field specification line exceeded the maximum allowed length.  On most platforms, the maximum length is at least 2\*\*31 bytes, so this typically indicates something pathological happening.\
  .TP 8 **GD\_E\_IO** An I/O error occurred while trying to write modified data or metadata to disk. In this case, another call to **gd\_close**() or **gd\_discard**() may be attempted.

The error code is also stored in the **DIRFILE** object and may be retrieved after this function returns by calling [**gd\_error**(3)](/gd_error/3.md). A descriptive error string for the error may be obtained by calling [**gd\_error\_string**(3)](/gd_error_string/3.md).

## HISTORY

The function **dirfile\_close**() appeared in GetData-0.3.0.

The function **dirfile\_discard**() appeared in GetData-0.6.0.

In GetData-0.7.0 these functions were renamed to **gd\_close**() and **gd\_discard**().

In GetData-0.10.0, the error return from these functions changed from -1 to a negative-valued error code.

## SEE ALSO

[**gd\_dirfile\_standards**(3)](/gd_dirfile_standards/3.md), [**gd\_error**(3)](/gd_error/3.md), [**gd\_error\_string**(3)](/gd_error_string/3.md), [**gd\_flush**(3)](/gd_flush/3.md), [**gd\_invalid\_dirfile**(3)](/gd_invalid_dirfile/3.md), [**gd\_open**(3)](/gd_open/3.md)