README.md

February 9, 2026 · View on GitHub

Name

M_anything(3fm) - [M_anything] procedures that use polymorphism to allow arguments of different types generically (LICENSE:MIT)

Synopsis

use M_anything,only : anyscalar_to_string  
use M_anything,only : anyscalar_to_int64   
use M_anything,only : anyscalar_to_real    
use M_anything,only : anyscalar_to_real128 
use M_anything,only : anyscalar_to_double 
use M_anything,only : anything_to_bytes
use M_anything,only : anyinteger_to_string  
use M_anything,only : bytes_to_anything
use M_anything,only : empty, assignment(=)

Generic routines are generally more efficient than casting but can generate a large amount of duplicate code. These procedures show how to use casting instead for input parameters. Future versions of Fortran are planned to allow for templating as another alternative.

anyscalar_to_string     convert intrinsic types to a a string
anyscalar_to_int64      convert integer parameter of any kind to 64-bit integer
anyscalar_to_real       convert integer or real parameter of any kind to real
anyscalar_to_real128    convert integer or real parameter of any kind to real128
anyscalar_to_double     convert integer or real parameter of any kind to doubleprecision
anyinteger_to_string    convert integer parameter of any kind to string
anything_to_bytes       convert anything to bytes
empty                   create an empty array

Example

Sample program:

      program demo_anyscalar_to_double
      use, intrinsic :: iso_fortran_env, only : int8, int16, int32, int64
      use, intrinsic :: iso_fortran_env, only : real32, real64, real128
      implicit none
         ! call same function with many scalar input types
         write(*,*)squareall(2_int8)
         write(*,*)squareall(2_int16)
         write(*,*)squareall(2_int32)
         write(*,*)squareall(2_int64)
         write(*,*)squareall(2.0_real32)
         write(*,*)squareall(2.0_real64)
         write(*,*)squareall(2.0_real128)
      contains

      function squareall(invalue) result (dvalue)
      use M_anything, only : anyscalar_to_double
      class(*),intent(in)  :: invalue
      doubleprecision      :: invalue_local
      doubleprecision      :: dvalue
         invalue_local=anyscalar_to_double(invalue)
         dvalue=invalue_local*invalue_local
      end function squareall

      end program demo_anyscalar_to_double

Results:

        4.00000000000000
        4.00000000000000
        4.00000000000000
        4.00000000000000
        4.00000000000000
        4.00000000000000
        4.00000000000000

Author

John S. Urban

License

MIT

Building the Module Using make(1)

 git clone https://github.com/urbanjost/M_anything.git
 cd M_anything/src
 # change Makefile if not using one of the listed compilers
 
 # for gfortran
 make clean
 make F90=gfortran gfortran
 
 # for ifort
 make clean
 make F90=ifort ifort

 # REMOVE REFERENCES TO 128-BIT REALS
 # for nvfortran
 make clean
 make F90=nvfortran nvfortran

This will compile the Fortran module and basic example program that exercise the routine.

Build and Test with fpm

Alternatively, download the github repository and build it with fpm ( as described at Fortran Package Manager )

     git clone https://github.com/urbanjost/M_anything.git
     cd M_anything
     fpm run "*"
     fpm run --example "*"
     fpm test

or just list it as a dependency in your fpm.toml project file.

        [dependencies]
        M_anything        = { git = "https://github.com/urbanjost/M_anything.git" }

Documentation

User

man-pages

a simple index to the man-pages in HTML form for the routines
A single page that uses javascript to combine all the HTML descriptions of the man-pages is at BOOK_M_anything.
There are man-pages in the repository download in the docs/ directory that may be installed on ULS (Unix-Like Systems).

CHANGELOG provides a history of significant changes