Python ctypes: how to free memory? Getting invalid pointer error

Question

I want to get some string from a C/C++ library with ctypes into python. My code looks like this:

Code in lib:

const char* get(struct something *x) 
{         


        

Answer 1

a cheap hack around freeing the memory is to allocate it statically in C and never free it. only works if you know the maximum amount you need, of course, and if you know that you're done with before a second call to your routine.

static char _externalStringBuffer[MAX_BUFFER_SIZE];
char *get() {
    // put characters in _externalStringBuffer
    return _externalStringBuffer;
}