forums.silverfrost.com

[alex21]

New C# language features no longer work in VS2015 with MS seemingly having written the version off and out of maintinance already...

However support for VS2017 seems great and it is being updated frequently, so I was wondering if there is currently a plan to support it with the FTN95 plugin? Otherwise to suggest that VS2017 plugin would be a great help to people who want to use new C# language features alongside their FTN95 projects.

Thanks,
Alex.

[KL]

I completely agree and support the suggestion of Alex.

It seems that with the FTN95 .NET compiler option Fortran has become one of several .NET languages which communicate through the Common Intermediated Language. Recent own tests show that it is possible to call within Visual Studio a Fortran program (project) as dll from another project written in another .NET language, in my case C#. This is similar to call a C# project from a Visual Basic project which for instance organizes the GUI.

For doing this, the Fortran main program should best be condensed to a subroutine, say �Subroutine DriverProgramxy�. This subroutine is just called as method from the C# project (� DRIVERPROGRAMXY(); �). That is all. Any single subroutine could be called in a similar way. Does this .NET multilingual approach not seem to be extremely promising? It could help keeping older Fortran programs alive with a very reasonable effort.

The Fortran project which I used for testing is of small to medium size but of rather high complexity, i.e. all �interesting� Fortran features are included. As Fortran program it has been tested successfully also with other Fortran compilers.

The good message is -as mentioned above- that calling the Fortran program from a C# program finally worked. The less good message is that during the analyses I experienced numerous problems, for example:

For Plato 4.83 only 8 of the compiler options work; Checkmate x64 fails. For Visual Studio Community 2015 with the Ftn95 plug-in Checkmate .NET fails.

The result for producing dlls is even more problematic:

Plato 4.83 does not produce any of the win32 dlls (error message is �Cannot create DLL: nothing to export�). However, the .NET and win64 dlls are produced which indicates that for these options the defaults are set correctly. The .NET Release dll has been used for testing.

For Visual Studio Community 2015 with the Ftn95 plug-in the Fortran dlls cannot be created. The error message is either again �Cannot create DLL: nothing to export� or an *.pdb file is created instead of the dll file set in the project property window. Here my knowledge is simply insufficient and as user I would need more detailed information.

It is relatively unclear what additional libraries must be added as reference. I have referenced ftn95lib.dll. However, there are two further libraries (ftn95lib.mdl and ftn95lib1.mdl), which are not accepted by Visual Studio to be included as reference. I have simply copied both into the directories Debug and Release of the C# project.

In summary: The multilingual .NET approach seems to be promising, but the Ftn95 plug-in for Visual Studio needs further attention and documentation. A revised plug-in for Visual Studio Community 2017 could be an important contribution for using the many older Fortran programs in a modern environment.

Klaus

[narayanamoorthy_k]

KL/Paul

Is there PLATO 4.83 Available for download in our SilverFrost site. Please let me know. I am still using 4.81.

Thanks,
_________________
Thanks and Regards
Moorthy

[PaulLaidler]

The current release is v4.83 and I am pretty sure that it is available to everyone.

[narayanamoorthy_k]

Is this part of FTN95 PE 8.30?
_________________
Thanks and Regards
Moorthy

[PaulLaidler]

Yes. You should find it there.

[alex21]

[DanRRight]

[alex21]

[DanRRight]

This OxyPlot is a joke to even try it. Such projects typically die in few years taking down your code with them because users typically do not pay a single cent for such primitive XY plot utilities alone:

"OxyPlot is primarily focused on two-dimensional coordinate systems, that�s the reason for the �xy� in the name!"... ROTFL

I have seen a dozen such dead projects in 3 decades, most of them were much more sophisticated. Even damn dead Simpleplot was like a PhD student versus this one from kindergarden.

Right now native %PL is in development with FTN95. This essentially brings Fortran in par or even more with the leader of simplicity and usability in scientific and engineering MATLAB which obviously with its huge users base will never be down. You better start using native %PL and join other users to suggest its developers any new features you would like to see. Even now native %PL can make plots way better then many other utilities and it is done very simple way. If there will be bigger demand and a lot of interested users we will convince developers to implement not just XY and Surface plots but also Contour plots and 3D plots and hopefully all professional quality plots will be done in one single line of Fortran code. There are a lot of options for improvement.

The key advantage is that this graphics is part of the compiler library done by the same compiler developers, that means zero chances that some part of your code will stop to be supported.

Here is one my example of plotted quality of native PL (though this was older version), and there are a lot more quality plots posted before using FTN95 OpenGL

[DanRRight]

[alex21]

[alex21]

[DanRRight]

[LitusSaxonicum]

I�m with Dan on this, simply for reasons of practicality.
Fortran has the great strength that source codes from decades ago are still compilable. It saves reinventing the wheel - a wheel that sometimes us oldies invented in the first place!
In order to keep FTN95 operational, Silverfrost need to cater for differences between versions of Windows. Microsoft like to change things, but the huge volume of commercial applications out there mean that MS have to keep much backward compatibility. If you then use Clearwin+, you can be pretty sure that your application will run, or will soon run on any new version of Windows.
Add to that the availability of Simdem, which is on top of Clearwin+, and thus is guaranteed to work with it, given that Clearwin+ and FTN95 are backward compatible, and you have as good a situation as one can hope for.
Using Oxyplot and Visual Studio with FTN95 is an altogether more complicated issue. Silverfrost need to keep their compiler working with VS, which we know from experience can change dramatically from version to version. So too do the originators of Oxyplot. Therefore, at the very least, you are requiring two organisations to keep abreast of changes in the platform, instead of one. Then, you have no guarantee that Oxyplot and FTN95 will continue to get along together � and if they don�t, whose responsibility is it to fix? It�s a risk that I don�t take.
Secondly, of course, there is the documentation issue. Without being rude about it, to understand the Oxyplot documentation you need to understand Visual Studio to even begin. Clearwin+ is understandable to anyone who understands Fortran � well, most people � and that is a prerequisite for using FTN95 in the first instance. So there�s a step you don�t need in one route, and you do in the other. Simdem documentation is also targeted at the Fortran user. (And if you use Clearwin+. You can do OpenGL graphics, if you want to.)
As for �I can draw contours�, well I still use most of the code I wrote back in the 1970�s, including contouring. It originally used manufacturer specific pen-plotters, then generic ones (Roland, HP) and now CW+ graphics primitives. You know, computer software solutions with old technology work brilliantly with new. All that needed to change were the graphics primitives.
Finally, as for old-timers, yes, I�m one. I still use codes I wrote nearly a half-century ago as well as things I�ve written since. You would be surprised at how much scientific and engineering software is still written in Fortran, or having been written in Fortran, is used and extended in the language. Whether you fly Airbus, Boeing, Embraer or Bombardier, the probability is that the airframe and engines were analysed with a Fortran program. You can tell how big the user base is by how many different Fortran compilers are on the market, just for the PC. There are 6 vendors on the Polyhedron website, plus several freeware compilers. More to the point, you can�t tell if an application uses Fortran after it has been compiled, and if written with the Clearwin+ interface to Windows, the look and feel is pure Windows. Source codes that I first compiled for Windows 2000 with FTN95�s 32-bit compiler version 3.90 run fine on Windows 10, and compile with FTN95 version 8.30 � and again run fine. If that�s not a great system, then I don�t know what is.
There is a great Fortran compiler system, and it�s FTN95.
PS. I�m not a software developer. It�s only an adjunct to my main skill set. Like being able to draw, write books, and troubleshoot aggravating engineering problems. A great man once said: "Simplicate, and add lightness". Fortran simplicates.