In article <3m0ol1$gq6@fermat.mayo.edu>, stan@chirpa.mayo.edu (Andrew Staniszewski) writes:
[..]
|> since the compiler writer for a particular platform can easily handle the
|> conversions for functions calls (I admit that for character data this may
|> prove inefficient, but there again, I believe so would a user implimentation.)
|> since the fortran compilers are (as far as I have seen) compatible for at least
|> a particular platform, why not provide specifically for
|>
|> extern "FORTRAN" int func(...);
|>

Putting this into the C++standard would require every standard-conforming compiler
to implement this interface. So it will not happen.

It could be a favour for C++ to put it into an "annex", saying:
"If a compiler supports the Fortran intrafec, then it must look like this: ..."

As I've already heard of compilers supporting extern "Fortran", I wonder if
any organisation has standarded this interface (Maybe IEEE).

If such a standard has already been developed by someone AND if it already has
gained a wide acceptance by users and the current implementations of the Fortran
interface, then the C++committee just could addopt this standard as an annex.
(Like the C-libraries are addopted without modifications (?) - AFAIK).


|> just my personal opinion!
just my personal opinion!

Ulf Schuenemann

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Ulf Sch   nemann
Fakult   t f   r Informatik, Technische Universit   t M   nchen, Germany.
email: schuenem@informatik.tu-muenchen.de

I know a least a few members of the ANSI/ISO committies read this,
so I want to pitch for adding an additional caveat to the language. interfaceing
to fortran subroutines is something I and many other people end up doing.
Unfortunately, this is a machine dependant problem, some machines adding
underscores after fortran globals, handleing string and character data in differnt
ways etc.

The c++ language already has an interface to a another language, ie:

extern "C" int func(...);


since the compiler writer for a particular platform can easily handle the
conversions for functions calls (I admit that for character data this may
prove inefficient, but there again, I believe so would a user implimentation.)
since the fortran compilers are (as far as I have seen) compatible for at least
a particular platform, why not provide specifically for

extern "FORTRAN" int func(...);



just my personal opinion!
--
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Andrew Staniszewski
staniszewski@mayo.edu
" ... is everybody else going forwards,
 or are we just going backwards ??" MDE
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