How to partially free() memory

This function takes a pointer to pointer argument, or, a pointer to a character string and does two things:
1) Returns the first character of this string
2) Makes the pointer point to the next character

This means next time it is called, it always returns the next character.

Code:

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char getToken(char **inputString){
    char returnCharacter = **inputString;
    *inputString = *inputString + 1;    //How do we fix this memory leak???
    return returnCharacter;
}

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The problem? In this functions caller, input string has been malloc()'ed.

If I understand correctly, every time I shift the pointer in getToken, Im losing reference to Heap memory and therefore lose any way to free it in future. How can I free it in this function?

Just save a copy of the original pointer in the caller. BTW. the function looks pretty useless, exactly the kind of thing that makes a program more complicated (yet another function) while adding no real benefit.

Really? This function is critical in my programme. The caller handles a string and needs to iterate through the tokens. It needs to "pop" a character out every time it calls it. Any ideas on how to make it better?

Well, your function is essentially equivalent to:

Code:

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char c = *p++;

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So why is it a function?

Hmmmm, good point. I guess initially it probably did more things then I refactored it to just do what I mentioned in the OP. But now that I think about it, I could just do that.