V10/cmd/f2c/release

.TL
\f(CWf2c\fP: A Fortran 77 to C Converter
.AU
S. I. Feldman
.AI
Bellcore
.AU
D. M. Gay
N. L. Schryer
.AI
.MH
.AU
M. W. Maimone
.AI
Carnegie Mellon University
.PP
Several Fortran to C converters are commercially available, but
none are useful for projects bigger than a few hundred lines;
their error rates are measured in percents.
For large-scale conversions, error rates near one in a million are needed.
Having a reliable Fortran to C converter is of immense interest and value
to our research, where we mix Fortran and C in various environments
and architectures.
.PP
We have produced a Fortran 77 (f77) to C converter,
with the aid of a summer student, Mark Maimone, from Carnegie-Mellon University.
The program is based on the original f77 compiler
that was written by S. I. Feldman
many years ago and is still in heavy use.
.PP
That compiler internally constructs a C parse-tree, then produces C
intermediate code for the second pass of the C compiler.
We produce a C program from the internal C tree.
.PP
The converter, dubbed \f(CWf2c\fP, has been used internally for some time
and is ready for distribution.
.PP
Feldman's collaboration in this project made it possible \(em
there is nothing like having the author of a program advise on its
alteration.
Since Feldman is at Bellcore and the work was done jointly at AT&T Bell Laboratories and Bellcore,
and since we undertook this project with the understanding
that its fruits would be made publicly available,
we propose putting the resulting f77 to C converter software in the public domain.
This will be accomplished by putting the program and its documentation,
see the attached "man page,"
through a publication release, from both AT&T and Bellcore.