PtrArray.steal

Frees the data in the array and resets the size to zero, while the underlying array is preserved for use elsewhere and returned to the caller.

Even if set, the GDestroyNotify function will never be called on the current contents of the array and the caller is responsible for freeing the array elements.

An example of use:

g_autoptr(GPtrArray) chunk_buffer = g_ptr_array_new_with_free_func (g_bytes_unref);

// Some part of your application appends a number of chunks to the pointer array.
g_ptr_array_add (chunk_buffer, g_bytes_new_static ("hello", 5));
g_ptr_array_add (chunk_buffer, g_bytes_new_static ("world", 5));

…

// Periodically, the chunks need to be sent as an array-and-length to some
// other part of the program.
GBytes **chunks;
gsize n_chunks;

chunks = g_ptr_array_steal (chunk_buffer, &n_chunks);
for (gsize i = 0; i < n_chunks; i++)
{
// Do something with each chunk here, and then free them, since
// [glib.PtrArray.PtrArray.steal|PtrArray.steal] transfers ownership of all the elements and the
// array to the caller.
…

g_bytes_unref (chunks[i]);
}

g_free (chunks);

// After calling [glib.PtrArray.PtrArray.steal|PtrArray.steal], the pointer array can be reused for the
// next set of chunks.
g_assert (chunk_buffer->len == 0);