is created object can then be used when loading binary data using <b>d2i_<i>TYPE</i></b>().</p>

<p><b><i>TYPE</i>_dup</b>() copies an existing object, leaving it untouched. Note, however, that the internal representation of the object may contain (besides the ASN.1 structure) further data, which is not copied. For instance, an <b>X509</b> object usually is augmented by cached information on X.509v3 extensions, etc., and losing it can lead to wrong validation results. To avoid such situations, better use <b