Topic: Just got out of a time machine - mixing Visual Basic with Fortran

In the 1980s (last century) one could develop visual basic programs that would work with Fortran dynamic link libraries or DLLs. Is that still possible in 2021, or is there a better way to do things?

  • jeff
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Re: Just got out of a time machine - mixing Visual Basic with Fortran

Yes, what you described is absolutely possible.  Modern Fortran has made the process simpler and standard across platforms by introducing the ISO_C_BINDING module, which can be used to pass information using the "C" standard (most languages will understand this).

If you're working with 64-bit code, the whole process is even easier still since the binary calling conventions are much more standardized and less cryptic than 32-bit calling standards on Windows.  While the process isn't trivially simple, it isn't particularly complicated once you understand what is occurring.

Jeff Armstrong
Approximatrix, LLC

Re: Just got out of a time machine - mixing Visual Basic with Fortran

Many thanks have not tried it in years (decades) so just wanted to see if things had changed.