I am wondering if anyone has called Fortran models from Python or Java. We are currently using a fortran scientific model that we need to call from a workflow. The native Fortran is very difficult to interface with, I thought I would ask if anyone has done it in the past. Thanks!
Hi Ahmed,
Can't you just use f2py which comes with standard numpy/scipy?http://docs.scipy.org/doc/numpy-dev/f2py/
Cheers
Sina
Dear Dr Haeri,
Thanks for getting back!
I am not a Fortran programmer so never heard of it, but it seems like a very good resource. I will let you know if I get stuck. Is that ok?
Sincerely,
-Ahmed
It depends on what you mean by that. If it is just a function written in Fortran that you want to call Sina's approach will work. Most people would try to call the function directly. In Java you would need JNI for this task. Python has something similar. You can find how to call C functions in general. Then look in the manual of your Fortran compiler to figure out the final function name which is then C-compatible.
If, however, you have an entire program written in Fortran that you used to call from the command line you should keep it as a separate program. Use the exact same command line with Popen in Python, for example. I would guess that Java also has something similar.
The best way to use your fortran code from Java is to compile Fortran code into a library (depending on system architecture) and then use JNA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_Native_Access) framework to access it. JNA has a slight performance overhead over JNI, but it is much easier to implement.
The direct system calls from java is possible but discouraged due to memory and security issues.
If it is a complete Fortran program that you are trying to interact with, the simplest way is to obtain a windows or linux executable and then send the inputs to the code by means of text files. In the past I have done this for complex fortran codes by creating a graphical user interface in visual basic. The visual basic program lets you create the inputs to the fortran program as an input text file can calls the fortran executable from the command line. This is an old fashioned but a very simple method. Nowadays, Python lets you include the fortran functions or codes as a library into your python code. Python also lets you create excellent graphical user interfaces. If you want to invest in a modern infrastructure, I would recommend you go with python. It has a huge community that you can get support on any subject.
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