Pointers and targets

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

Estimated time: 20 minutes

Overview

Questions

  • How do I use a pointer to reference another variable?
  • Can I alias variable names?
  • Can I change the sizes of allocatable arrays?

Objectives

  • Understand how to create pointers, targets, and how to associate the two to create references.
  • Learn how to use an associate block to provide aliases to variables.
  • Learn how to efficiently reallocate storage for an allocatable array if its size needs to be changed.

Pointer attribute

A pointer may be declared by adding the pointer attribute to the relevant data type, e.g.,

FORTRAN 

integer, pointer :: p => null()

In this case we declare a pointer to integer p, which is initialised to the special value null(). The pointer is said to be unassociated. This is a different state to undefined (i.e., without initialisation).

Note that pointer assignment uses => and not =. A common cause of errors is to forget the > if pointer assignment is intended.

It is important to be able to check that a given pointer is not null(). This is done with the associated() intrinsic; schematically,

FORTRAN 

   integer, pointer :: p => null()
   ...
   if (associated(p)) ... do something

If a pointer is not initialised as pointing to a target variable, it should be initialised with null() to avoid undefined behaviour when testing with associated(). Pointers may otherwise be used in expressions and assignments in the usual way.

If one wishes to have a pointer to an array, the rank of the pointer should be the same as the target:

FORTRAN 

  real, dimension(:),   pointer :: p1
  real, dimension(:,:), pointer :: p2

and so on.

Targets

A pointer may be associated with another variable of the appropriate type (which is not itself a pointer) by using the target attribute:

FORTRAN 

  integer, target  :: datum
  integer, pointer :: p => null()

  ...

  p => datum

The pointer is now said to be associated with the target. We can now perform operations on datum vicariously through p. E.g., a standard assignment would be

FORTRAN 

  integer, target  :: datum = 1
  integer, pointer :: p => null()

  ...

  p => datum     ! pointer assignment
  p = 2          ! normal assignment

leaves us with datum = 2. There is no dereferencing in the C fashion; the data is moved as the result of the normal assignment.

The target attribute is there to provide information to the compiler about which variables may be, and which variables may not be, associated with a pointer. This somewhat in the same spirit as the C restrict qualifier.

Note that there is an optional target argument to the associated() intrinsic, which allows the programmer to inquire whether a pointer is associated with a specific target, e.g.,

FORTRAN 

   associated(p, target = datum)   ! .true. if p => datum

Exercise (2 minutes)

Challenge

Associating a pointer

Try to compile the accompanying example1.f90, which is an erroneous version of the code above. See what compiler message you get (if any). Fix the problem.

Check you can use the associated() function to print out the status of p before and after the pointer assignment.

The p pointer can’t be associated with datum as the latter doesn’t have the target attribute; the compilation should fail with an error. If you add the attribute, it should compile and run:

FORTRAN 

  integer, target  :: datum = 1

Check the associated() status of p along these lines:

FORTRAN 

  print *, "p associated?", associated(p)

Pointers as aliases

One common use of pointers is to provide a temporary alias to another variable (where no copying takes place). As a convenience, one can use the associate construct, e.g.:

FORTRAN 

  real :: improbably_or_tediously_long_variable_name
  ...
  associate(p => improbably_or_tediously_long_variable_name)
     ! ... lots of operations involving p ...
  end associate

Note that there is no requirement here to have the target attribute in the original declaration (and there’s no explicit declaration of p). Any update to p in the associate block will be reflected in the target on exit.

Multiple associations can be made in the same block; simply provide a comma separated list in the parentheses. Also of note is that the selector on the right hand side of the association can be either a variable or an expression.

Exercise (2 minutes)

Challenge

Using an associate construct

Compile, and check the output of the accompanying code in example2.f90.

You should see that the association is made to a strided section of the array r1:

FORTRAN 

associate(p => r1(2::2))

Within the associate block p acts to point to the second, fourth and sixth elements of r1.

Pointers to establish storage

One common use of pointers is for linked data structures. For example, an entry in a linked list might be represented by the type

FORTRAN 

  type :: my_node
    integer                 :: datum
    type (my_node), pointer :: next
  end type my_node

This sort of dynamic data structure requires that we establish or destroy storage as entries are added to the list, or removed from the list.

FORTRAN 

  subroutine my_list_add_node(head, datum)

    ! Insert new datum at head of list

    type (my_node), pointer, intent(inout) :: head
    integer,                 intent(in)    :: datum

    type (my_node), pointer :: pnode

    allocate(pnode)       ! assume no error
    pnode%datum = datum
    pnode%next => head
    head => pnode

  end subroutine my_list_add_node

In the subroutine, we can see the pointer pnode is allocated. This dynamically creates a my_node variable to contain the new datum. At the end of the procedure, the pnode pointer is itself used as a target for the head pointer.

Pointer or allocatable array?

The question may now arise: should you use pointers or allocatable arrays? If you just want to establish storage for arrays, the answer is almost certainly that you should use allocatable. An allocatable array will almost certainly be held contiguously in memory, whereas pointers are a more general data structure which may have to accommodate a stride.

If an allocatable array is not appropriate, then a pointer may be required.

If you just require a temporary alias, the associate construct is recommended.

Reallocating array storage

If one needs to increase (or decrease) the size of an existing allocatable array, the move_alloc() intrinsic is useful. E.g., if we have an integer rank one array

FORTRAN 

  integer, dimension(:), allocatable :: iorig

and establish storage of a given size, and some relevant initialisations, we may then wish to increase the size of it.

FORTRAN 

  integer :: nold
  integer, dimension(:), allocatable :: itmp

  nold = size(iorig)
  allocate(itmp(2*nold))           ! double size; assume no error
  itmp(1:nold) = iorig(1:nold)     ! copy existing contents explicitly
  call move_alloc(itmp, iorig)
  ! itmp deallocated, iorig now refers to the memory that had been itmp

This minimises the number of copies involved in re-assigning the original storage.

Challenge

move_alloc() efficiency

A thought exercise. How many copies would be required if move_alloc() was not available when enlarging the size of an existing allocatable array?

If move_alloc() were not available, we would need to make two copies rather than one. Analogously to the above example, we would have to perform the following to double the storage in iorig:

FORTRAN 

  integer :: nold
  integer, dimension(:), allocatable :: itmp

  nold = size(iorig)
  allocate(itmp(nold))             ! allocate temporary storage for original data
  itmp(:) = iorig(:)               ! first copy from original storage into the temporary
  deallocate(iorig)                ! deallocate the original array
  allocate(iorig(2*ndold))         ! and then reallocate at twice the size
  iorig(1:nold) = itmp(:)          ! second copy from the temporary into the new storage
  deallocate(itmp)                 ! deallocate the temporary

Arrays of pointers

A small trick is required to arrange an array of pointers. Recall that

FORTRAN 

  real, dimension(:), pointer :: a

is a pointer to a rank one array, and not a rank one array of pointers. If one did want an array of such objects, it can be achieved by wrapping it in a type:

FORTRAN 

  type :: pointer_rr1
    real, dimension(:), pointer :: p => null()
  end type pointer_rr1

  type (pointer_rr1), dimension(10) :: a

  a(1)%p => null()

So a is a rank one array of the new type, each element having the component p which is a pointer to a real rank one type.

Key Points
  • Pointers are extremely useful for certain types of operations: they provide a way to refer indirectly to other variables or names (they act as an _alias_), or can be used for establishing dynamic data structures.
  • Remember to always initialise a pointer, to null() if necessary.
  • If a pointer is allocated, memory for its type is allocated and the pointer becomes associated.
  • The move_alloc() intrinsic function moves a memory allocation from one allocatable variable to another.