More on array dummy arguments

Last updated on 2026-02-21 | Edit this page

Estimated time: 20 minutes

Overview

Questions

  • What do I need to take into consideration when passing an array as an argument?
  • Can I pass arrays which haven’t yet been allocated?
  • How do I implement optional dummy arguments?

Objectives

  • Understand the meaning of an assumed shape array and where care needs to be taken with its bounds.
  • Be able to use the intrinsic lbound() and ubound() functions.
  • Understand the conditions around the usage of allocatable arrays as dummy arguments.
  • Make some arguments optional and be able to provide them using keyword arguments.

Array dummy arguments

When a dummy argument is an array, we need to think about how we want the procedure to know about its shape.

Explicit shape

One is entitled to make explicit the shape of an array in a procedure definition, e.g.,

FORTRAN 

  subroutine array_action1(nmax, a)
    integer, intent(in)                    :: nmax
    real, dimension(1:nmax), intent(inout) :: a
    ...
  end subroutine array_action1

and similarly for arrays of higher rank. As before, if the lower bound of the array is unspecified, it takes on the default value of 1.

Assumed shape

However, it may be more desirable to leave the exact shape implicit in the array itself, e.g.,

FORTRAN 

  subroutine array_action2(a, b)
    real, dimension(:,:), intent(in) :: a
    real, dimension(:,:), intent(inout) :: b
    ...
  end subroutine array_action2

Note that the rank is always explicit.

There are pros and cons to this: it is slightly more concise and general, but some care may need to be exercised with the distinction between extents and bounds. It is the shape that is passed along with the actual arguments, and not the bounds.

Callout

Bounds, extents and shapes

Remember from the earlier lesson on arrays that the number of elements an array has in a given dimension is that dimension’s extent. The ordered set of extents is the array’s shape. The bounds are the minimum and maximum indices used in each dimension.

lbound() and ubound() again

You will have seen the lbound() and ubound() functions being used during the example in the earlier episode on arrays. These functions return a rank one array which is the relevant bound in each dimension. The optional argument dim can be used to obtain the bound in the corresponding rank or dimension e.g.,

FORTRAN 

  real, dimension(:,:), intent(in) :: a
  integer :: lb1, lb2

  lb1 = lbound(a, dim = 1)  ! lower bound in first dimension
  lb2 = ubound(a, dim = 2)  ! upper bound in second dimension

Exercise (4 minutes)

Discussion

Checking array bounds

Consider the accompanying example in program1.f90 and module1.f90. Is the code correct? Add calls to lbound() and ubound() in the subroutine to check.

What do you think was the intention of the programmer? What remedies are available?

Automatic arrays

One is allowed to bring into existence ‘automatic’ arrays on the stack. These are usually related to temporary workspace, e.g.,

FORTRAN 

subroutine array_swap1(a, b)
  integer, dimension(:), intent(inout) :: a, b
  integer, dimension(size(a))          :: tmp

  tmp(:) = a(:)
  a(:)   = b(:)
  b(:)   = tmp(:)
end subroutine array_swap1

In this example, the same effect could have been achieved using a loop and a temporary scalar.

Allocatable dummy arguments

It may occasionally be appropriate to have a dummy argument with both an intent and allocatable attribute.

FORTRAN 

  subroutine my_storage(lb, ub, a)

    integer, intent(in) :: lb, ub
    integer, dimension(:), allocatable, intent(out) :: a

    allocate(a(lb:ub))

  end subroutine my_storage

There are a number of conditions to such usage.

  1. The corresponding actual argument must also be allocatable (and have the same type and rank);
  2. If the intent is intent(in) the allocation status cannot be changed;
  3. If the intent is intent(out) and the array is allocated on entry, the array is automatically deallocated.

The intent applies to both the allocation status and to the array itself. Some care may be required.

A function may have an allocatable result which is an array; this might be thought of as returning a temporary array which is automatically deallocated when the relevant calling expression has been evaluated.

Optional arguments

We have encountered a number of intrinsic procedures with optional dummy arguments. Such procedures may be constructed with the optional attribute for a dummy argument, e.g.:

FORTRAN 

  subroutine do_something(a, flag, ierr)
    integer, intent(in)            :: a
    logical, intent(in),  optional :: flag
    integer, intent(out), optional :: ierr

  end subroutine do_something

Any operations on such optional arguments should guard against the possibility that the corresponding actual argument was not present using the intrinsic function present(). E.g.,

FORTRAN 

  local_flag = some_default_value
  if (present(flag)) local_flag = flag

Any attempt to reference a missing optional argument will generate an error.

The one exception is that an optional argument may be passed directly as an actual argument to another procedure where the corresponding dummy argument is also optional.

Positional and keyword arguments

Procedures will often have a combination of a number of mandatory (non-optional) dummy arguments, and optional arguments. These may be mixed via the use of keywords, which are the dummy argument name. E.g., using the subroutine defined above:,

FORTRAN 

  call do_something(a, ierr = my_error_var)

Here, a is appearing as a conventional positional argument, while a keyword argument is used to select the appropriate optional argument ierr. The rules are:

  1. no further positional arguments can appear after the first keyword argument;
  2. positional arguments must appear exactly once, keyword arguments at most once.

Exercise (10 minutes)

Challenge

Tri-diagonal modules

Consider again the problem of the tri-diagonal matrix.

Refactor your existing stand-alone program (or use the template exercise.f90) to provide a module subroutine such as

FORTRAN 

  subroutine tridiagonal_solve(b, a, c, rhs, x)

where b, a, and c are arrays of the relevant extent to represent the diagonal elements, the lower diagonal elements and the upper diagonal elements respectively. Use the size() intrinsic to determine the current size of the matrix in the subroutine. The extent of the off-diagonal arrays should be one less element. The rhs is the vector of right-hand side elements, and x should hold the solution on exit. Assume, in the first instance, that all the arrays are of the correct extent on entry.

Check your result by calling the subroutine from a main program with some test values. (You may wish to take two copies of the template exercise.f90 and use one as the basis of a module, and the other as the basis of the main program.)

What do you need to do if the diagonal b and the right-hand side d arrays should be declared intent(in)?

What checks would be required in a robust implementation of such a routine?

In the original implementation, the diagonal and right-hand side are destroyed during the calculation. To use intent(in) with the dummy arguments, we have to leave them untouched. That means making copies in local automatic arrays and using those instead.

A robust implementation would need to include checks on the bounds of the dummy arrays to make sure that they correctly conform to one another.

Sample solutions are available in the later episode on derived types in exercise_program.f90 and exercise_module.f90.

Key Points
  • There are some additional considerations to think about when dummy arguments are arrays.
  • You may wish to pass the shape of the array explicitly, at the cost of providing more dummy arguments.
  • Arrays may have an assumed shape, but remember that they only receive the shape and not the original bounds of its dimensions.
  • Allocatable arrays can also be used as dummy arguments.
  • Dummy arguments can have the optional attribute. The corresponding actual arguments can be positional or provided as a keyword argument.