The h2m-AutoFortran tool for facilitating C-Fortran interoperability

Abstract

Large, high-performance programs are often written in Fortran. Modern Fortran supports interoperability with C, which is beneficial because many useful libraries expose a C language interface. However, manually preparing the Fortran interfaces for each routine in a substantial C library to properly link a Fortran program can be time consuming. The h2m-AutoFortran tool can greatly simplify this process by harnessing the power of the Clang Compiler's abstract syntax tree to analyse C header files and translate them into corresponding interoperable Fortran modules. The resulting module may then be compiled and used in the Fortran program, providing correct access to procedures and data in the library.