Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!rutgers!ames!sdcsvax!ucbvax!drao.nrc.CDN!gac
From: gac@drao.nrc.CDN.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: re: language question
Message-ID: <58*gac@drao.nrc.cdn>
Date: Mon, 25-May-87 17:42:34 EDT
Article-I.D.: drao.58*gac
Posted: Mon May 25 17:42:34 1987
Date-Received: Tue, 26-May-87 03:04:24 EDT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Distribution: world
Organization: The ARPA Internet
Lines: 33


	You will not be able to get away with that little overhead.
An approach that does work is as follows:
1. In your calling program equivalence the array(s) to character
   strings and, in the subroutine calls pass the character string
   names, rather than the array names;
2. Write your subroutine as follows:

	subroutine foo ( c, type)
	character *(*) c	! array equivalence
	integer type		! type of array (real*4, int*2, etc
! ****************
	parameter maxlength = 200
	character*maxlength ctmp
	real*4	rtmp(maxlength/4)
	integer*2 itmp(maxlength/2)
	equivalence( ctmp, rtmp, itmp)

	ctmp = c
	if (type .eq. 1) then		! real*4
	...
	else if (type .eq. 2) then	! integer*2
	...
	end if
	end

	There is, of course, a triple overhead: a string copy, a check
	on type and wasted space for the dummy character string. An
	alternative, which I prefer, is to do the local declarations
	above in a common block and do the string copy in the
	calling program, bu then, some people are alergic to global
	variables ...
			Geoff Croes