FORTRAN PowerStation README.TXT: Installing and Using FL32

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft FORTRAN PowerStation for MS-DOS, version 1.0 and 1.0a

SUMMARY

The following information is from parts 1 and 2 of the Microsoft FORTRAN PowerStation README.TXT file located in the \F32\README\ directory.

   Part 1: Installing
   Part 2: Using the FL32 Compiler

MORE INFORMATION

Part 1: Installing

Using SHARE

If you are going to use Windows 3.1, you must start the share utility prior to starting Windows in order to use the Browser. This is not necessary if you will be using Windows for Workgroups (WFW), because WFW has its own internal version of SHARE.

Modifications to SYSTEM.INI

Setup modifies the SYSTEM.INI file in your Windows directory. It adds the following information in the [386ENH] section:

   device=c:\f32\bin\dosxnt.386
   device=c:\f32\bin\mmd.386

Running Setup from MS-DOS or Windows

The DOSSETUP program installs all of the files necessary to run Microsoft FORTRAN PowerStation under MS-DOS. To use the product, however, you need to ensure that your environment variables in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file are set to run the product correctly.

DOSSETUP has created a file called F32ENV.BAT. This file sets the current environment of your MS-DOS session to the necessary values. If you want Microsoft FORTRAN PowerStation to be configured when your machine starts, you need to copy the lines from F32ENV.BAT to the end of your AUTOEXEC.BAT.

If you want to use the Integrated Debugging Environment, you need to run the SETUP.EXE program from the Program Manager in Microsoft Windows (version 3.1 or later). Running the Microsoft Windows Setup program will not affect your ability to run in the MS-DOS environment; it merely installs extra files used in the Microsoft Windows environment. Although it is possible to run the browser tools (SBRPACK.EXE and BSCMAKE.EXE) from the MS-DOS command line, these tools are not installed by DOSSETUP.

Libraries Replaced by Setup

If you have older versions of the LIBC.LIB, KERNEL32.LIB, FP.LIB, or NTDLL.LIB libraries in your installation directory, Setup replaces them only if the ones on the distribution disk are newer than the ones on your hard disk. The only library that Setup always replaces is LIBF.LIB.

Running Setup from Windows for Workgroups (WFW)

If you install FORTRAN PowerStation from a PC running Windows for Workgroups, you may get a warning message from Windows when you allow Setup to restart Windows. If another user is connected to your PC, you should make certain that restarting Windows on your PC does not cause him or her to lose data before proceeding. Some network connections may have to be re-established manually after Windows has restarted.

Using a Video Seven Graphics Card

Video Seven provides a utility called V7VGA to enable extended resolutions of their card. These extended capabilities are enabled by default in MS-DOS, but are disabled by default in a Windows MS-DOS session.

To use VESA modes in Windows, you must first run the command line "V7VESA /1" using the utility supplied with FORTRAN PowerStation. You can put this in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, or run it in a Windows MS-DOS session. In addition to running this program in a Windows MS-DOS session, you must give the command line "V7VGA pure:off" inside the Windows MS-DOS session. This enables the extended capabilities used by VESA. V7VGA.EXE is provided on the utilities disk with the Video 7 card. V7VESA.COM is also provided. Microsoft provides V7VESA.COM, but not V7VGA.EXE.

Problems Using 256-Color VESA Modes

Some video adapters do not execute a FLOODFILL correctly if they are running in 256-color VESA modes. Instead of filling polygons completely with the specified color, these adapters fill only the lower half of the polygon. (You can check how your video adapter executes FLOODFILL by running the GRDEMO project in the ..F32\SAMPLES\DEMO directory.

Possible MS-DOS Extender Conflicts

Several Microsoft language products provide 32-bit MS-DOS-extended tools that use the Microsoft DOSXNT MS-DOS Extender. The version of DOSXNT used by Microsoft FORTRAN PowerStation version 1.0 is not compatible with the version used by Microsoft MASM version 6.1.

To ensure that all MS-DOS-extended tools run successfully, it is recommended that you install each language product in a separate directory and that you leave each version of DOSXNT.EXE in the subdirectory that contains the tools it supports. This allows each MS-DOS-extended tool to locate the appropriate version of DOSXNT.EXE. Make sure that the PATH environment variable specifies the directory in which you installed FORTRAN PowerStation version 1.0 before the directory that contains MASM 6.1. This ensures that you can run the latest versions of tools that are in common to both products.

If you install both FORTRAN PowerStation 1.0 and MASM 6.1 in one directory, you will not be able to run MASM.EXE and ML.EXE from the command line. However, you will be able to run these tools as commands executed by NMAKE.

The DOS extender used by Version 1.0a of FORTRAN PowerStation is compatable with MASM Version 6.11, Visual C++ 32-bit Edition Version 1.0, and Visual C++ 16-bit Edition Version 1.5.

Part 2: Using the FL32 Compiler

Temporary Files Created by FL32

The FORTRAN PowerStation compiler creates temporary files during compilation. These files are normally stored in a directory identified by the TMP environment variable. (If a TMP environment variable has not been set, these temporary files are stored in the directory where FORTRAN PowerStation was installed.) If the directory identified by the TMP environment variable does not exist, or there is not enough space to create the temporary files, compilation will fail with the message "F1914: cannot open internal files."

To check the location of the TMP environment variable, type SET at the MS-DOS prompt. All currently set environment variables are listed. You can use the Windows File Manager to locate the directory specified in the TMP environment variable.

Using Assumed-size Arrays of Structures

Writing an assumed-size array without specifying element indices should produce an error, but does not if the array is an array of structures.

     subroutine sub(s)
     structure /struc/
       real r
     end structure
     record /struc/ s(*)

      write(*,*) s(i).r

      write(*,*) (s(i).r, i=1,10)

Loop Counter Limitation

The largest number of iterations that a loop can perform is 2,147,483,647. This is because the tripcounter is an Integer*4 variable; the compiler does not check for overflow as a means of increasing execution speed.

Notes on the Random Number Generator

The random number generator provided with FORTRAN PowerStation is different from the one provided with the 16-bit FORTRAN 5.1. The sequence of numbers produced by RANDOM is different from that produced by the same seed in the FORTRAN 5.1 random number generator.

The value -1 is an exception to the rule that a given seed always produces the same sequence of values from RANDOM. Instead, -1 is equivalent to RND$TIMESEED, which produces a different sequence each time it is used.

Differences in Substring/Concatenation Operations

There is a difference in how FORTRAN 5.1 and FORTRAN PowerStation handle substring/concatenation operations. FORTRAN PowerStation produces the same results that VAX FORTRAN produces if the VAX extensions (-4Yv) are enabled. If the VAX extensions are not enabled, these operations are handled in the same way that FORTRAN 5.1 does. For example, if you define

          CHARACTER*10    BUFFER1
          CHARACTER*11    BUFFER2, BUFFER3
          CHARACTER*1     CHAR1
          BUFFER1 = '0123456789'
          BUFFER2 = '0123456789 '
          BUFFER3 = '0123456789 '
          CHAR1 = 'X'

   BUFFER1 = BUFFER1(6:10)//BUFFER1(1:5)

The statement

   BUFFER2 = CHAR1//BUFFER2

The Statement

   BUFFER3 = BUFFER3(1:10)//CHAR1

The assignment statements for BUFFER1 and BUFFER2 violate the ANSI Standard. Section 10.4 of the Standard says that for a Character Assignment Statement of the form

   v = e

Handling Mismatched Type and Length Warnings

The FL32 compiler generates a mismatched type warning (F2606) if the type of a formal argument is different from the type of the actual argument used in the subprogram call. Under most conditions, this situation will not prevent a program from executing, but certain automatic type conversions, such as between REAL*4 and REAL*8, can cause the program to crash. It is good practice to resolve mismatched type warnings prior to running a program.