15.1.3 ATTRIBUTES Directive

 cDEC$ ATTRIBUTES att [,att]... :: object [,object]...

c

Is one of the following: C (or c), !, or * (see Section 15.1.1).

att

Is one of the following:

ADDRESS64 [1]	DESCRIPTOR32 [3]	REFERENCE
ALIAS	DESCRIPTOR64 [3]	REFERENCE32 [3]
ARRAY_VISUALIZER [2]	DLLEXPORT [2]	REFERENCE64 [3]
C	DLLIMPORT [2]	STDCALL
DEFAULT	EXTERN	VALUE
DESCRIPTOR [3]	NO_ARG_CHECK	VARYING
[1] VMS, WNT [2] WNT, W9* [3] VMS only

object

Is the name of a data object or procedure.

The following table shows which properties can be used with various objects:

Property	Variable and Array Declarations	Common Block Names [1]	Subprogram Specification and EXTERNAL Statements
ADDRESS64	Yes	Yes	No
ALIAS	No	Yes	Yes
ARRAY_VISUALIZER[2]	Yes	No	No
C	No	Yes	Yes
DEFAULT	No	Yes	Yes
DESCRIPTOR	Yes[3]	No	No
DESCRIPTOR32	Yes[3]	No	No
DESCRIPTOR64	Yes[3]	No	No
DLLEXPORT	Yes[4]	Yes	Yes
DLLIMPORT	Yes	Yes	Yes
EXTERN	Yes	No	No
NO_ARG_CHECK	Yes	No	Yes[5]
REFERENCE	Yes	No	Yes
REFERENCE32	Yes	No	No
REFERENCE64	Yes	No	No
STDCALL	No	Yes	Yes
VALUE	Yes	No	No
VARYING	No	No	Yes
[1] A common block name is specified as [/]common-block-name[/] [2] This property can only be applied to arrays. [3] This property can only be applied to INTERFACE blocks. [4] Module-level variables and arrays only. [5] This property cannot be applied to EXTERNAL statements.

These properties can be used in function and subroutine definitions, in type declarations, and with the INTERFACE and ENTRY statements.

Properties applied to entities available through use or host association are in effect during the association. For example, consider the following:

MODULE MOD1
  INTERFACE
    SUBROUTINE SUB1
    !DEC$ ATTRIBUTES C, ALIAS:'othername' :: NEW_SUB
    END SUBROUTINE
  END INTERFACE
  CONTAINS
    SUBROUTINE SUB2
    CALL NEW_SUB
    END SUBROUTINE
END MODULE

• ADDRESS64 (VMS, WNT)

  Specifies that the object has a 64-bit address. This property can be specified for any variable or dummy argument, including ALLOCATABLE and deferred-shape arrays. However, variables with this property cannot be data-initialized.

  It can also be specified for COMMON blocks or for variables in a COMMON block. If specified for a COMMON block variable, the COMMON block implicitly has the ADDRESS64 property.

  ADDRESS64 is not compatible with the AUTOMATIC attribute.

• ALIAS

  Specifies an alternate external name to be used when referring to external subprograms. Its form is:

      ALIAS:external-name
  

  external-name

  Is a character constant delimited by apostrophes or quotation marks. The character constant is used as is; the string is not changed to uppercase, nor are blanks removed.

  The ALIAS property overrides the C (and STDCALL) property. If both C and ALIAS are specified for a subprogram, the subprogram is given the C calling convention, but not the C naming convention. It instead receives the name given for ALIAS, with no modifications.

  ALIAS cannot be used with internal procedures, and it cannot be applied to dummy arguments.

  cDEC$ ATTRIBUTES ALIAS has the same effect as the cDEC$ ALIAS directive (see Section 15.1.2).

• ARRAY_VISUALIZER (WNT, W9*)

  Enhances the performance of the Array Visualizer.

  When declaring allocatable arrays to be viewed using the Array Viewer, this option can improve the performance of the Array Viewer. For example:

    real(4), allocatable :: MyArray(:, :)
    !DEC$ ATTRIBUTES array_visualizer :: MyArray
  

  When this option is used, array memory is shared between the Array Viewer and your application. Otherwise, the array data is copied during each faglUpdate call.

  This option is not useful unless the array is viewed in the Array Visualizer by using fagl* calls.

  For more information on fagl* routines, see your online documentation for Array Visualizer.

• C and STDCALL

  Specify how data is to be passed when you use routines written in C or assembler with FORTRAN or Fortran 95/90 routines.

  On x86 processors, C and STDCALL have slightly different meanings; on all other platforms, they are interpreted as synonyms.

  When applied to a subprogram, these properties define the subprogram as having a specific set of calling conventions.

  The following table summarizes the differences between the calling conventions:

  Convention	C [1]	STDCALL [1]	Default [2]
  Arguments passed by value	Yes	Yes	No
  Case of external subprogram names	VMS: Uppercase U*X: Lowercase WNT: Lowercase W9*: Lowercase	VMS: Uppercase U*X: Lowercase WNT: Lowercase W9*: Lowercase	VMS: Uppercase U*X: Lowercase WNT: Uppercase W9*: Uppercase
  U*X only:
  Trailing underscore added	No	No	Yes
  WNT, W9*:
  Leading underscore added	Yes	Yes	Yes
  Number of arguments added	No	Yes	Yes
  Caller stack cleanup	Yes	No	No
  Variable number of arguments	Yes	No	No
  [1] C and STDCALL are synonyms on OpenVMS, Tru64 UNIX, and Linux systems, and Windows NT systems on Alpha processors [2] The Fortran 95/90 calling convention

  If C or STDCALL is specified for a subprogram, arguments (except for arrays and characters) are passed by value. Subprograms using standard Fortran 95/90 conventions pass arguments by reference.

  On x86 processors, an underscore ( _ ) is placed at the beginning of the external name of a subprogram. If STDCALL is specified, an at sign (@) followed by the number of argument bytes being passed is placed at the end of the name. For example, a subprogram named SUB1 that has three INTEGER(4) arguments and is defined with STDCALL is assigned the external name _sub1@12.

  Character arguments are passed as follows:

  • By default:

    • On OpenVMS, Tru64 UNIX, and Linux systems, hidden lengths are put at the end of the argument list.

    • On Windows NT and Windows 9* Systems, hidden lengths immediately follow the variable. You can get the OpenVMS, Tru64 UNIX, and Linux behavior by specifying the appropriate compiler option.

  • If C or STDCALL (only) is specified:

    On all systems, the first character of the string is passed (and padded with zeros out to INTEGER(4) length).

  • If C or STDCALL is specified, and REFERENCE is specified for the argument:

    On all systems, the string is passed with no length.

  • If C or STDCALL is specified, and REFERENCE is specified for the routine (but REFERENCE is not specified for the argument, if any):

    On all systems, the string is passed with the length.

  For more details, see information on mixed-language programming in your user's manual or programmer's guide. See also the following description of REFERENCE.

• DEFAULT

  Overrides certain compiler options that can affect external routine and COMMON block declarations.

  It specifies that the compiler should ignore compiler options that change the default conventions for external symbol naming and argument passing for routines and COMMON blocks. For example, in Visual Fortran the options ignored would be: /iface, /names, and /assume:underscore.

  This option can be combined with other cDEC$ ATTRIBUTES options, such as STDCALL, C, REFERENCE, ALIAS, etc. to specify attributes different from the compiler defaults.

  This option is useful when declaring INTERFACE blocks for external routines, since it prevents compiler options from changing calling or naming conventions.

• DESCRIPTOR (VMS only)

  Specifies that the argument is passed by VMS descriptor. This property can be specified only for dummy arguments in an INTERFACE block (not for a routine name).

• DESCRIPTOR32 (VMS only)

  Specifies that the argument is passed as a 32-bit descriptor.

• DESCRIPTOR64 (VMS only)

  Specifies that the argument is passed as a 64-bit descriptor.

• DLLEXPORT and DLLIMPORT (WNT, W9*)

  Define a dynamic-link library's (DLL) interface for processes that use them. The properties can be assigned to data objects or procedures.

  DLLEXPORT specifies that procedures or data are being exported to other applications or DLLs. This causes the compiler to produce efficient code, eliminating the need for a module definition (.def) file to export symbols.

  If a procedure (or data) is declared with the DLLEXPORT property, it must be defined in the same module of the same program.

  Symbols defined in a DLL are imported by programs that use them. The program must link with the import DLL and use the DLLIMPORT property inside the program unit that imports the symbol. DLLIMPORT is specified in a declaration, not a definition, since you cannot define a symbol you are importing.

• EXTERN

  Specifies that a variable is allocated in another source file. EXTERN can be used in global variable declarations, but it must not be applied to dummy arguments.

  EXTERN must be used when accessing variables declared in other languages.

• NO_ARG_CHECK

  Specifies that type and shape matching rules related to explicit interfaces are to be ignored. This permits the construction of an INTERFACE block for an external procedure or a module procedure that accepts an argument of any type or shape; for example, a memory copying routine.

  NO_ARG_CHECK can appear only in an INTERFACE block for a non-generic procedure or in a module procedure. It can be applied to an individual dummy argument name or to the routine name, in which case the property is applied to all dummy arguments in that interface.

  NO_ARG_CHECK can not be used for procedures with the PURE or ELEMENTAL prefix. If an argument has an INTENT or OPTIONAL attribute, any NO_ARG_CHECK specification is ignored.

• REFERENCE and VALUE

  Specify how a dummy argument is to be passed.

  REFERENCE specifies a dummy argument's memory location is to be passed instead of the argument's value.

  VALUE specifies a dummy argument's value is to be passed instead of the argument's memory location.

  When a dummy argument has the VALUE property, the actual argument passed to it can be of a different type. If necessary, type conversion is performed before the subprogram is called.

  When a complex (KIND=4 or KIND=8) argument is passed by value, two floating-point arguments (one containing the real part, the other containing the imaginary part) are passed by immediate value.

  Character values, substrings, assumed-size arrays, and adjustable arrays cannot be passed by value.

  If REFERENCE (only) is specified for a character argument, the following occurs:

  • On OpenVMS, Tru64 UNIX, and Linux systems, the string is passed with no length.

  • On Windows NT and Windows 9* systems, hidden lengths immediately follow the variable. You can get the OpenVMS, Tru64 UNIX, and Linux behavior by specifying the appropriate compiler option.

  If REFERENCE is specified for a character argument, and C (or STDCALL) has been specified for the routine, the string is passed with no length. This is true even if REFERENCE is also specified for the routine.

  If REFERENCE and C (or STDCALL) are specified for a routine, but REFERENCE has not been specified for the argument, the string is passed with the length.

  VALUE is the default if the C or STDCALL property is specified in the subprogram definition.

  For more details, see information on mixed-language programming in your user's manual or programmer's guide.

• REFERENCE32 (VMS only)

  Specifies that the argument is accepted only by 32-bit address.

• REFERENCE64 (VMS only)

  Specifies that the argument is accepted only by 64-bit address.

• VARYING

  Allows a variable number of calling arguments. If VARYING is specified, the C property must also be specified.

  Either the first argument must be a number indicating how many arguments to process, or the last argument must be a special marker (such as -1) indicating it is the final argument. The sequence of the arguments, and types and kinds must be compatible with the called procedure.

For More Information:

• On syntax rules for all general directives, see Section 15.1.1.

• On using the cDEC$ ATTRIBUTES directive, see your user manual or programmer's guide.