From maine@altair.dfrf.nasa.gov Wed Mar 22 22:48:23 1995 Received: from altair.dfrc.nasa.gov (altair.dfrf.nasa.gov) by dkuug.dk with SMTP id AA22979 (5.65c8/IDA-1.4.4j for ); Wed, 22 Mar 1995 23:47:53 +0100 Received: by altair.dfrc.nasa.gov (5.0/SMI-SVR4) id AA06120; Wed, 22 Mar 1995 14:48:23 +0800 Date: Wed, 22 Mar 1995 14:48:23 +0800 From: maine@altair.dfrf.nasa.gov (Richard Maine) Message-Id: <9503222248.AA06120@altair.dfrc.nasa.gov> To: sc22wg5@dkuug.dk Cc: jens@chf.mit.edu Subject: Fortran Standardized Modules Content-Length: 2560 X-Charset: ASCII X-Char-Esc: 29 WG5, I'm forwarding (with permission) the following email that I got today from Jens Helmers. I've added a CC to him so that he will be included in followup discussions. Any discussion on the merits of pursuing this? I don't really know enough about the appropriate procedures to tell Jens exactly what the first steps would be. Forwarding his letter seemed like a good way to find out, though. -- Richard Maine maine@altair.dfrc.nasa.gov ------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Mar 1995 17:00:10 -0500 From: Jens Helmers To: maine@altair.dfrc.nasa.gov Dear Mr. Richard Maine, If my memory serves me well, you posted an article on comp.lang.fortran or comp-fortran-90@mailbase.ac.uk about the effort of defining ISO standardized Fortran modules. You told us that no new modules will surface unless someone is willing to spend a lot of time doing the 'dirty' work. Inspired by the beauty of f90 and the ISO standardized string module, I would like to propose/volunteer on two different modules under certain conditions. MODULES: -------- 1) Module for Low Level Basic Linear Algebra. ------------------------------------------ Define generic interface names and operators for typical low level operations. (The same level as BLAS.) 2) Advanced mathematical functions. -------------------------------- Define generic interface names for frequently used functions. (Bessel, Error, Gamma functions etc.) My intention is that these modules will make Fortran programs easier to read and write. It should also make them more robust and efficient. CONDITIONS: ----------- 1) At this stage I have no financial support for this activity, so I will have to do all my communication via Internet. 2) My commitment as a Marine Hydrodynamisist at DNV Research in Oslo/Norway must be given a higher priority. (I'm a Norwegian citizen.) 3) My 6 years of professional programming with F77, and 2 years with f90 is supposed to be sufficient in order to propose/participate in the development of these modules. 4) The fact that I have not participated in this kind of work before, is not consider to be fatal. QUESTIONS: ---------- 1) Do you think these modules could be standardized? 2) Any comments on my 'conditions'? 3) Should I abandon these ideas or do you have any suggestions on how to proceed? Best Regards, Jens Bloch Helmers, jens@chf.mit.edu Research Engineer/PhD.Student Det Norske Veritas Research/The Norwegian Institute of Tecnology