sjc@key.COM (Steve Correll) (11/30/89)
I need some more help reading the Fortran 88 S8.112 draft.
Section 5.4 says that a namelist group object must not be an array
dummy argument with nonconstant bounds, a variable with assumed
parameters, an automatic object, a pointer, or an allocatable array.
These restrictions would simplify the implementer's task considerably
by not requiring the I/O system to deal with objects whose bounds are
unknown at compilation time. But one of my colleagues points out that
it doesn't explicitly forbid a derived type which happens to have a
component which is a pointer or an allocatable array.
By contrast, a similar prohibition on EQUIVALENCE in 5.5.1 specifically
mentions derived types containing pointers or allocatable arrays.
This appears to mean that the I/O system _does_ have to deal with objects
having variable bounds after all.
Does anybody know why pointers and allocatable arrays are forbidden but
derived types containing pointers and allocatable arrays are not? Is it
an oversight, or are we reading the standard too literally?
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...{sun,pyramid}!pacbell!key!sjc Steve Correll