OSSL_ITEM(3ossl)

📦 version 3.5.0, in opensuse-leap 16.0

✨ NAME ✨

okay so this is the OSSL_ITEM(3ossl) page, and OSSL_ITEM is the OpenSSL Core type for generic itemized data — iconic little descriptor behavior, no cap. 🎀

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

#include <openssl/core.h>

typedef struct ossl_item_st OSSL_ITEM;
struct ossl_item_st {
    unsigned int id;
    void *ptr;
};

💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

This type is a tuple of integer and pointer. It's a generic type used as a generic descriptor, and its exact meaning is defined by how it's used — so it's giving "main character energy, but make it context-dependent." ✨

Arrays of this type are passed between the OpenSSL libraries and the providers, and they must be terminated with a tuple where the integer is zero and the pointer NULL. fr fr, do not skip the terminator.

🚨 bestie warning: the terminator tuple is the integer zero and the pointer NULL. That's non-negotiable, periodt.

This is currently mainly used for the return value of the provider's error reason strings array, see "Provider Functions" in provider-base(7). iykyk. 💜

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

👑 HISTORY 👑

OSSL_ITEM was added in OpenSSL 3.0 — a whole era, honestly. 🫶

Copyright 2022 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.

Licensed under the Apache License 2.0 (the "License"). You may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You can obtain a copy in the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at <https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html>.

source/version 3.5.0, date 2026-09-25 — bye bestie, mwah 💜🫶

📦 where this page comes from