IP Address Control Text Freeing?

Okay, I get the string version of an IP address ("." delimitted) using this:

Code:

---

in_addr iaIP;
iaIP.S_un.S_un_b.s_b1 = (u_char)FIRST_IPADDRESS(dwIPVal);
iaIP.S_un.S_un_b.s_b2 = (u_char)SECOND_IPADDRESS(dwIPVal);
iaIP.S_un.S_un_b.s_b3 = (u_char)THIRD_IPADDRESS(dwIPVal);
iaIP.S_un.S_un_b.s_b4 = (u_char)FOURTH_IPADDRESS(dwIPVal);

char *ip = inet_ntoa(iaIP);

---

With dwIPVal correctly filled in. I successfully get the ip in "ip" but I have a simple question: Do I have to free() it? Its a pointer to a char array and I dont see how itd get freed otherwise...

:)

EDIT: Actually... I don't even need the ip variable. But that's okay, I'd like to know if I have to free it anway :p

>> Do I have to free() it? <<

No, inet_ntoa returns a pointer to a static buffer. A static variable is similar to a global, in that there is only one copy and its lifetime is the duration of the program. This string is valid until you next call inet_ntoa or another winsock function. After that it may be overwritten. If you want to keep the string longer than that you should copy it to your own buffer.

Thank you :) That answers my question perfectly.