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##### 3.2.4.9 Alignment of Data in Obstacks

Each obstack has an alignment boundary; each object allocated in the obstack automatically starts on an address that is a multiple of the specified boundary. By default, this boundary is aligned so that the object can hold any type of data.

To access an obstack's alignment boundary, use the macro `obstack_alignment_mask`, whose function prototype looks like this:

— Macro: int obstack_alignment_mask (struct obstack *obstack-ptr)

> The value is a bit mask; a bit that is 1 indicates that the corresponding bit in the address of an object should be 0. The mask value should be one less than a power of 2; the effect is that all object addresses are multiples of that power of 2. The default value of the mask is a value that allows aligned objects to hold any type of data: for example, if its value is 3, any type of data can be stored at locations whose addresses are multiples of 4. A mask value of 0 means an object can start on any multiple of 1 (that is, no alignment is required).

> The expansion of the macro `obstack_alignment_mask` is an lvalue, so you can alter the mask by assignment. For example, this statement:

>               obstack_alignment_mask (obstack_ptr) = 0;

> has the effect of turning off alignment processing in the specified obstack.

Note that a change in alignment mask does not take effect until after the next time an object is allocated or finished in the obstack. If you are not growing an object, you can make the new alignment mask take effect immediately by calling `obstack_finish`. This will finish a zero-length object and then do proper alignment for the next object.