J3/04-255

To:          J3
From:        Craig Dedo
Date:        February 16, 2004
Subject:     Piecewise Construction of Named Constant Arrays

Number:

Title:                Piecewise Construction of Named Constant Arrays

Submitted By:    Craig Dedo

Status:            For Consideration

References:


Basic Functionality:
    Fortran should allow a programmer to construct arrays which are
named constants (i.e., have the PARAMETER attribute) in several statements.

Rationale:
    The Fortran 95 standard and Fortran 2003 FCD require that arrays
which are named constants be completely constructed in the same
statement in which they are declared.  This restriction places a
stringent limit on the length of such an array.  It also increases
program complexity and decreases program understandability since such
declarations sometimes require lengthy declaration statements with many
continuation lines.

    Large sized arrays of named constants are useful in certain fields
of research and engineering.

Estimated Impact:
    There should be no interaction with other features.  It should not
be difficult to implement this feature.

Detailed Specification:
    One possible method would be to remove the restriction that named
constants need to be initialized in the same statement in which they are
declared.  Then the application developer could use successive PARAMETER
statements to initialize successive parts of the array.

History: