**************************************************************************

* Absoft Pro Fortran 2018 for Windows

* Release Notes
*
* Version 18.0.2
*
* Copyright 2005-2018 Absoft Corporation
*
**************************************************************************

--- Fixed/Updated in 18.0.2

1) Compilation failure for MAXLOC/MINLOC with DIM argument

2) Runtime failure for MAXLOC(-HUGE)
3) Runtime failure for MINLOC(array,MASK=(HUGE(kind(array))))
4) Compilation failure for COMPLEX raised to INTEGER
5) Runtime failure for large arrays in modules
6) AbsoftTools allows setting stack sizes greater than 2GB
7) Runtime failure for FLUSH with files opened with POSITION=”APPEND”
8) Fx3 restores breakpoints from Workspace files correctly
9) New MakeLicense18.0 license registration wizard

--- Fixed/Updated in 18.0.1

1) Offsets for 8 byte components in BIND(C)-derived types

2) Incorrect error issued for -Rc option when compiling PURE routines
3) Error not reported on missing ALLOCATABLE in deferred bound component
4) Writing whole array of derived type trigger bounds error with -Rb
5) INQUIRE(UNIT=,EXIST=) for negative unit number now sets EXIST to .FALSE.
6) Array operations on functions returning derived types smaller than 16 bytes
7) Interpretation of overloaded operators inside I/O implied do-loops
8) AbsoftTools sets incorrect PATH for VS2017/Fortran mixed projects
9) AWE Form File Selector returns Unix style paths on Windows
10) AWE Form File Selector no longer sticky if Choose Directory option is used
11) AbsoftTools inconsistent display of file modified icons on reopened projects
12) Lapack/Blas libraries no longer require OpenMP libraries
13) Qt5.6 components updated to Qt5.6.3

--- New In Absoft Pro Fortran 2018 ---

• CPU optimizations for AMD Ryzen architecture

• LAPACK 3.7.1 libraries
• LAPACK 95 libraries
• AMD Ryzen Optimized BLAS/LAPACK/LAPACK 95
• Microsoft MPI 8.1 support
• Fortran 2003 STREAM I/O
• OPEN statement NEWUNIT= I/O specifier
• OPEN statement DECIMAL= I/O specifier
• OPEN statement SIGN= I/O specifier
• OPEN statement ENCODING= I/O specifier
• INQUIRE statement POS= I/O specifier
• INQUIRE statement DECIMAL= I/O specifier
• INQUIRE statement SIGN= I/O specifier
• INQUIRE statement STREAM= specifier
• READ/WRITE statement BLANK= I/O specifier
• READ/WRITE statement DECIMAL= I/O specifier
• READ/WRITE statement DELIM= I/O specifier
• READ/WRITE statement PAD= I/O specifier
• READ/WRITE statement POS= I/O specifier
 • READ/WRITE statement SIGN= I/O specifier
• FORMAT statement DP and DC edit descriptors

---NOTES ON 18.0 Windows Series ---

1) Installing the Absoft Common License Manager as a Windows Service.

If you have purchased an Absoft network license and wish to run the license manager
on Windows, you will need to install the license manager as a Windows service.
After installing the Absoft Pro Fortran 2018 package, run the Absoft License
Manager Service installer from the CD Browser or by opening the folder named Absoft
License Manager and running setup_absoft_license_manager_service.exe.

To remove the license manger as a Windows service, run the Absoft License Manager
uninstall program from the Uninstaller menu located in the Absoft Pro Fortran 2018
entry in the Windows Start Menu.

Further information on the Absoft license manager can be found in the

Absoft License Management.pdf document located in C:\Absoft18.0\doc.

2) Building mixed C and Fortran code.

Although Pro Fortran 2018 (v18.0) does not include a C compiler, the Absoft Tools
development environment does support integration with the Microsoft C/C++ compiler.
After one of the supported Microsoft C/C++ development environments has been
installed, Absoft Tools IDE will automatically invoke the Microsoft C/C++
compiler to compile any C or C++ files added to a project.

The Microsoft C/C++ compiler is available at no cost as part of these two packages:

Microsoft ® Visual Studio Express 2013

Microsoft ® Windows Platform SDK 7.1.

Both of these packages can be downloaded from the Microsoft web site. For
supporting both 32 and 64 bit C development on Windows 10, Absoft recommends
using Microsoft ® Visual Studio Express 2013 as there are some difficulties getting
the Platform SDK installed on Windows 10. Visual Studio Express 2013 is available
from Microsoft after joining the free Microsoft Visual Studio Dev Essentials
program. See https://www.visualstudio.com/dev-essentials/

Absoft Pro Fortran 2018 also supports the same level integration with
the retail version of Microsoft Visual Studio 2010, Microsoft Visual Studio
2012, and Microsoft Visual Studio 2013.

Absoft Pro Fortran 2018 can also be used in a more limited manner with
Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 and 2017. Changes to the Microsoft Standard C Library
require that all mixed language applications be linked against the C libraries
include with Visual Studio package rather than those provided with the Absoft
compiler. This means that you cannot build AWE applications that include C or
C++ code compiled by the Microsoft 2015 or 2017 Visual Studio compiler. In
order to build mixed language AWE applications, you should use the Visual Studio
2013 compiler.
3) Parallel Makes Disabled

The current version of the Cygwin cygwin1.dll (2.5.1) does not provide the required
pipe/fifo support to enable parallel makes using the Absoft amake2 program. As a
result, parallel makes are disabled during installation by means of a registry
entry.

If a future version of the cygwin1.dll with enhanced pipe/fifo support is

released, parallel makes can be re-enabled as follows (note: You will need to
launch the Development Command Prompt with administrator privileges):

a) From the Absoft Pro Fortran 2018 sub-menu in your Windows

Start menu, select Development Command Prompt (32bit) and
enter this command:

amake2 --pmake-enable

Use this steps to undo this modification:

a) From the Absoft Pro Fortran 2018 sub-menu in your Windows

Start menu, select Development Command Prompt (32bit) and
enter this command:

amake2 –pmake-disable

4) Change in name decoration from 10.0 and earlier releases.

Users upgrading to Pro Fortran 2018 from releases prior to 10.1 should be aware
that the default name mangling and source code case sensitivity options were
changed in release 10.1 and these changes remain in place for Pro Fortran 2018.
By default, all source code identifiers are folded to lower case and external
routine names are output with a single underscore appended. This change applies
to both Fortran 77 and Fortran 95 compilation modes.

The following option sets can be used to match the behavior of earlier
Absoft compilers

Code compiled by previous Absoft f77 compiler drivers:

-YEXT_NAMES=ASIS -YEXT_SFX=""

Code compiled by previous Absoft f90 and f95 compiler drivers:

-YEXT_NAMES=UCS -YEXT_SFX=""
5) Absoft FORTRAN 77 Extension GLOBAL DEFINE obsolete

Support for the GLOBAL DEFINE extension was removed from Pro Fortran 2014 and later
compilers. The functionality provided by this extension has been replaced by
Fortran 90 modules. Converting code that uses the obsolete extension is a
straight forward process. A small example is given below:

OLD CODE:
GLOBAL DEFINE
INTEGER MAX_ITEMS
INTEGER MAX_RESULTS
PARAMETER (MAX_ITEMS = 100)
PARAMETER (MAX_RESULTS = 500)
END

PROGRAM MAIN
IMPLICIT NONE
END

NEW CODE:
MODULE GLOBAL_DEFINE
INTEGER MAX_ITEMS
INTEGER MAX_RESULTS
PARAMETER (MAX_ITEMS = 100)
PARAMETER (MAX_RESULTS = 500)
END MODULE GLOBAL_DEFINE

PROGRAM MAIN
USE GLOBAL_DEFINE
IMPLICIT NONE
END

5) Registering Microsoft Debug Information Services

The 32 and 64 bit Microsoft Debug Information Services DLLs (msdia120.dll) must be
registered in order to use the Fx3 Debugger. This is done as part of the
installation process. If you need to redo this registration, do the following:

To register the 32 bit version of msdia120.dll

a) From the Absoft Pro Fortran 2018 sub-menu in your Windows

Start menu, select Development Command Prompt (32bit). You
will need to launch the Development Command Prompt with
administrator privileges.

b) Enter cd bin

c) Enter reg_msdia32.bat

To register the 64 bit version of msdia120.dll

a) From the Absoft Pro Fortran 2018 sub-menu in your Windows

Start menu, select Development Command Prompt (64bit). You
will need to launch the Development Command Prompt with
administrator privileges.

b) Enter cd bin64

c) Enter reg_msdia64.bat
--- Disabling Automatic Update Checks ---

To disable the automatic check for updates feature in AbsoftTools, create an

empty file in the Absoft18.0/lib/atools directory named disable_updates.txt. When
AbsoftTools detects the presence of this file, no update checks are performed
and the interface elements associated with update checks are disabled. Removing
the disable_updates.txt file restores the check for updates feature. This file
can be automatically created at installation time when a silent installation
is performed – see /DISABLEUPDATES below.

--- Performing Silent Installation ---

Absoft Pro Fortran 2018 can be installed from the command line, bypassing the
interactive installation dialogs. To do this, launch a Windows Command Prompt
with administrator privileges and run the setup_profortran_2018.exe program
located in the Absoft Pro Fortran 2018 Setup folder in your electronic delivery
package or on your product USB drive. The setup_profortran_2018.exe accepts
the following command line switches:

/S - use this switch to run the installer in silent mode

/PORT=port_number
Give the integer port number used by the Absoft Common License
Manager. This option is used when you are setting up a license
server machine or performing a client installation that will
retrieve a license from a license server.

/SERVER=server_name
Give the name or IP address of the system running the Absoft
Common License Manager which will respond to license requests. This
option is used when you performing a client installation that will
retrieve a license from a license server.

/LICENSE=license_string
Give the product license for this installation. This option is
required for stand alone installations to work correctly. The
license_string portion is the complete license as delivered
from Absoft in the form XXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-X.

/ISSERVER
Indicate that this is a server installation on the machine that will run
the Absoft Common License Manager.

/INSTDIR=installation_directory
Give the directory in which to install the product. The installer will
append Absoft18.0/ to the specified directory. If the specified
directory contains spaces the entire path should be enclosed in
quotation marks. For example: /INSTDIR="C:/Program Files (x86)/"

/DISABLEUPDATES
Automatically create the Absoft18.0/lib/atools/disable_updates.txt
file which disables the AbsoftTools check for updates feature.

Note: You can also run the setup_profortran_2018.exe from an administrator

command prompt and specify only the /LICENSE=license_string option. This will
launch the GUI installer but skip the license validation dialog that prompts
for a license key, using the supplied license string instead.
---Implementation Notes ---

1) VAL intrinsic and CHARACTER arguments.

When the compiler encounters a CHARACTER variable or expression as the

argument to a VAL intrinsic, it passes the address of the storage for the
string. This may not be the desired behavior when interfacing with a C or
C++ routine. If a C/C++ routine expects C/C++ char value, the appropriate
way to pass a CHARACTER*1 FORTRAN variable (or a single character inside a
larger FORTRAN CHARACTER expression) is to use the ICHAR function along with
the VAL intrinsic. The following example illustrates this:

PROGRAM MAIN
CHARACTER*1 fortran_char_variable
fortran_char_variable = 'A'
CALL c_routine(VAL(ICHAR(fortran_char_variable)))
END

--- Contacting Absoft Technical Support ---

To report issues you encounter while using this product, please contact
Absoft Technical Support.

Absoft Technical Support engineers are available Monday-Friday,

9 a.m. - 3 p.m. EST at 248-220-1190 or via support@absoft.com.

Absoft offers support by telephone on a best efforts basis. This service is

for resolving problems related to operation of products purchased from Absoft.

Absoft offers support by email on a best efforts basis. This service is for
resolving problems related to operation of products purchased from Absoft.

Absoft Technical Support is not a consultation service nor can we respond to

questions we determine are outside the scope of resolving issues with
products purchased from Absoft.