From: garylscott@sbcglobal.net   
      
   On 10/16/2024 7:51 PM, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:   
   > It’s annoying to find that if you try to DEALLOCATE an ALLOCATABLE   
   > variable that has not been ALLOCATEd (or that has already been   
   > DEALLOCATEd), this is an error.   
   >   
   > The usual practice is for storage-disposal calls to be harmless no-ops if   
   > called with a NULL pointer (or equivalent). This is true of the C/POSIX   
   > free(3) call , for example,   
   > and also for the “delete” statement in C++.   
   >   
   > This way, one can simplify cleanup by 1) ensuring all temporary pointers   
   > are initialized to NULL at the start, and 2) unconditionally freeing all   
   > of them at the end.   
   >   
   > I suppose Fortran tries to simplify things by handling both conventions   
   > automatically, but this still causes irritations in other places, like   
   > loops.   
   The way these things are handled in Fortran is to add a "stat="   
   specifier.  Having a run time error message is standard (meaning   
   typical) operating behavior for Fortran.  I like it that way.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)