Re: NEWBIE QUESTION

In article <433B1C69.21F1152@xxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Duane Bozarth <dp_bozarth@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>richard symonds wrote:
>> ...For example, today I
>> realized that a "C" in column 1 is not recognized as a comment in F90.
>
>That's not <quite> correct--it isn't exactly F90, it's free source form
>as opposed to fixed source form although free source form was introduced
>in F90. You can write F90/95-compliant Fortran in traditional fixed
>format source form. (Although I think the free source form is much more
>readable in general).

True. But Richard may not yet know that some compilers assume a program
name ending .f is in fixed source form, but in .f90 is free source form.
Some compilers have options like -free or -fixed for specifying it.
But that is a matter explained in a particular compiler's documentation;
it's not part of Fortran itself.

Comp.lang.fortran is also a good place for asking about particular
compilers and operating systems, though if you think you have found a
bug in a compiler it's a good idea to raise it first with your local
Fortran expert, if any, then with the compiler vendor. If it's not
clear whether it really is a bug, many people ask here. I have done
that more than once, and the answers have helped a lot. Several c.l.f
contributors are real experts, like standard-editors and compiler-
writers, and they often explain things much more clearly than the f95
standard does. It gets really interesting when they disagree:-)

John Harper, School of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science,
Victoria University, PO Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand
e-mail john.harper@xxxxxxxxx phone (+64)(4)463 5341 fax (+64)(4)463 5045
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Help requested troubleshooting code
    ... I suppose the reason why my program identifier contained a space as in prandtl meyer was because I had originally used prandtl_meyer and my compiler gfortran complained about the underscore, and I figured that it might have been an invalid character to use in the program statement. ... difference between fixed source form and this other form you prefer? ... about fixed source form, ... The simillar thing in free source form is that you can't go past ...
    (comp.lang.fortran)
  • Re: Converting fixed-to-free format
    ... would continue to work exactly as before in spite of the *crap* ... is to remove all the other *CRAP* past column 72. ... because compilers don't do that. ... Eventually fixed source form will become obsolete, ...
    (comp.lang.fortran)
  • Re: string concatenation
    ... number for source line length - at least in fixed source form. ... everybody here around use f77. ... F95 compilers are available even for free these days. ... You have run into one of the many "features" of Fortran 77 - the old fixed ...
    (comp.lang.fortran)
  • Re: Help requested troubleshooting code
    ... difference between fixed source form and this other form you prefer? ... about fixed source form, ... The simillar thing in free source form is that you can't go past ... So what do you do instead of the special columns of fixed source form? ...
    (comp.lang.fortran)
  • Re: Help requested troubleshooting code
    ... difference between fixed source form and this other form you prefer? ... about fixed source form, ... The simillar thing in free source form is that you can't go past ... So what do you do instead of the special columns of fixed source form? ...
    (comp.lang.fortran)