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(g77-295.info)Startup Code

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Startup Code
------------

   Unlike with some runtime systems, it shouldn't be necessary (unless
there are bugs) to use a Fortran main program unit to ensure the
runtime--specifically the I/O system--is initialized.

   However, to use the `g77' intrinsics `GETARG' and `IARGC', either
the `main' routine from the `libg2c' library must be used, or the
`f_setarg' routine (new as of `egcs' version 1.1 and `g77' version
0.5.23) must be called with the appropriate `argc' and `argv' arguments
prior to the program calling `GETARG' or `IARGC'.

   To provide more flexibility for mixed-language programming involving
`g77' while allowing for shared libraries, as of `egcs' version 1.1 and
`g77' version 0.5.23, `g77''s `main' routine in `libg2c' does the
following, in order:

  1. Calls `f_setarg' with the incoming `argc' and `argv' arguments, in
     the same order as for `main' itself.

     This sets up the command-line environment for `GETARG' and `IARGC'.

  2. Calls `f_setsig' (with no arguments).

     This sets up the signaling and exception environment.

  3. Calls `f_init' (with no arguments).

     This initializes the I/O environment, though that should not be
     necessary, as all I/O functions in `libf2c' are believed to call
     `f_init' automatically, if necessary.

     (A future version of `g77' might skip this explicit step, to speed
     up normal exit of a program.)

  4. Arranges for `f_exit' to be called (with no arguments) when the
     program exits.

     This ensures that the I/O environment is properly shut down before
     the program exits normally.  Otherwise, output buffers might not
     be fully flushed, scratch files might not be deleted, and so on.

     The simple way `main' does this is to call `f_exit' itself after
     calling `MAIN__' (in the next step).

     However, this does not catch the cases where the program might
     call `exit' directly, instead of using the `EXIT' intrinsic
     (implemented as `exit_' in `libf2c').

     So, `main' attempts to use the operating environment's `onexit' or
     `atexit' facility, if available, to cause `f_exit' to be called
     automatically upon any invocation of `exit'.

  5. Calls `MAIN__' (with no arguments).

     This starts executing the Fortran main program unit for the
     application.  (Both `g77' and `f2c' currently compile a main
     program unit so that its global name is `MAIN__'.)

  6. If no `onexit' or `atexit' is provided by the system, calls
     `f_exit'.

  7. Calls `exit' with a zero argument, to signal a successful program
     termination.

  8. Returns a zero value to the caller, to signal a successful program
     termination, in case `exit' doesn't exit on the system.

   All of the above names are C `extern' names, i.e. not mangled.

   When using the `main' procedure provided by `g77' without a Fortran
main program unit, you need to provide `MAIN__' as the entry point for
your C code.  (Make sure you link the object file that defines that
entry point with the rest of your program.)

   To provide your own `main' procedure in place of `g77''s, make sure
you specify the object file defining that procedure *before* `-lg2c' on
the `g77' command line.  Since the `-lg2c' option is implicitly
provided, this is usually straightforward.  (Use the `--verbose' option
to see how and where `g77' implicitly adds `-lg2c' in a command line
that will link the program.  Feel free to specify `-lg2c' explicitly,
as appropriate.)

   However, when providing your own `main', make sure you perform the
appropriate tasks in the appropriate order.  For example, if your
`main' does not call `f_setarg', make sure the rest of your application
does not call `GETARG' or `IARGC'.

   And, if your `main' fails to ensure that `f_exit' is called upon
program exit, some files might end up incompletely written, some
scratch files might be left lying around, and some existing files being
written might be left with old data not properly truncated at the end.

   Note that, generally, the `g77' operating environment does not
depend on a procedure named `MAIN__' actually being called prior to any
other `g77'-compiled code.  That is, `MAIN__' does not, itself, set up
any important operating-environment characteristics upon which other
code might depend.  This might change in future versions of `g77', with
appropriate notification in the release notes.

   For more information, consult the source code for the above routines.
These are in `egcs/libf2c/libF77/', named `main.c', `setarg.c',
`setsig.c', `getarg_.c', and `iargc_.c'.

   Also, the file `egcs/gcc/f/com.c' contains the code `g77' uses to
open-code (inline) references to `IARGC'.