SafeArrays are the only arrays allowed by COM/OLE Automation and Visual Basic. A Safe Array is a self describing data type; it contains a Descriptor, which characterizes the dimensions and contents of the array, and a Data Block, which contains the array's data. As you see, this concept is not completely foreign to Fortran. However, the descriptors used by Fortran arrays are incompatible with those used by COM/OLE Automation and Visual Basic.

f90VB's SafeArrays Library reconciles the differences between Safe Arrays and Fortran arrays. Using this library your Fortran programs can handle Safe Arrays easily, taking advantage of Fortran's built-in performance for array manipulation.

f90VB's SafeArrays Library contains about 290 functions and subroutines, conveniently overloaded into about 35 easy-to-use Fortran procedures. Each procedure has been carefully written and tested with the Fortran user in mind. You can create new Safe Arrays using Fortran arrays as templates, and you can map a Safe Array into a Fortran array. This last feature lets you manipulate the data of a Safe Array with the same efficiency and familiarity you expect from standard Fortran arrays. Our tests show that the SafeArrays Library allows you to handle most Safe Array operations from Fortran with at least a several-fold increase in performance compared to Visual Basic.

To learn more about the SafeArrays library, follow any of the links below.