4.12.7. Attributes

Attribute keys can be allocated in one language and freed in another. Similarly, attribute values can be set in one language and accessed in another. To achieve this, attribute keys will be allocated in an integer range that is valid all languages. The same holds true for system-defined attribute values (such as MPI_TAG_UB, MPI_WTIME_IS_GLOBAL, etc.)

Attribute keys declared in one language are associated with copy and delete functions in that language (the functions provided by the MPI_{TYPE,COMM,WIN}_KEYVAL_CREATE call). When a communicator is duplicated, for each attribute, the corresponding copy function is called, using the right calling convention for the language of that function; and similarly, for the delete callback function.

Advice to implementors.

This requires that attributes be tagged either as ``C,'' ``C++'' or ``Fortran,'' and that the language tag be checked in order to use the right calling convention for the callback function. ( End of advice to implementors.)
The attribute manipulation functions described in Section 5.7 of the MPI-1 standard define attributes arguments to be of type void* in C, and of type INTEGER, in Fortran. On some systems, INTEGERs will have 32 bits, while C/C++ pointers will have 64 bits. This is a problem if communicator attributes are used to move information from a Fortran caller to a C/C++ callee, or vice-versa.

MPI will store, internally, address sized attributes. If Fortran INTEGERs are smaller, then the Fortran function MPI_ATTR_GET will return the least significant part of the attribute word; the Fortran function MPI_ATTR_PUT will set the least significant part of the attribute word, which will be sign extended to the entire word. (These two functions may be invoked explicitly by user code, or implicitly, by attribute copying callback functions.)

As for addresses, new functions are provided that manipulate Fortran address sized attributes, and have the same functionality as the old functions in C/C++. These functions are described in Section New Attribute Caching Functions . Users are encouraged to use these new functions.

MPI supports two types of attributes: address-valued (pointer) attributes, and integer valued attributes. C and C++ attribute functions put and get address valued attributes. Fortran attribute functions put and get integer valued attributes. When an integer valued attribute is accessed from C or C++, then MPI_xxx_get_attr will return the address of (a pointer to) the integer valued attribute. When an address valued attribute is accessed from Fortran, then MPI_xxx_GET_ATTR will convert the address into an integer and return the result of this conversion. This conversion is lossless if new style ( MPI-2) attribute functions are used, and an integer of kind MPI_ADDRESS_KIND is returned. The conversion may cause truncation if old style ( MPI-1)attribute functions are used.

Example

A. C to Fortran

  C code 
 
static int i = 5; 
void *p; 
p = &i; 
MPI_Comm_put_attr(..., p); 
.... 
 
 Fortran code 
 
INTEGER(kind = MPI_ADDRESS_KIND) val 
CALL MPI_COMM_GET_ATTR(...,val,...) 
IF(val.NE.5) THEN CALL ERROR 

   Fortran code 
 
INTEGER(kind=MPI_ADDRESS_KIND) val 
val = 55555 
CALL MPI_COMM_PUT_ATTR(...,val,ierr) 
 
   C code 
 
int *p; 
MPI_Comm_get_attr(...,&p, ...); 
if (*p != 55555) error(); 

The predefined MPI attributes can be integer valued or address valued. Predefined integer valued attributes, such as MPI_TAG_UB, behave as if they were put by a Fortran call. I.e., in Fortran, MPI_COMM_GET_ATTR(MPI_COMM_WORLD, MPI_TAG_UB, val, flag, ierr) will return in val the upper bound for tag value; in C, MPI_Comm_get_attr(MPI_COMM_WORLD, MPI_TAG_UB, &p, &flag) will return in p a pointer to an int containing the upper bound for tag value.

Address valued predefined attributes, such as MPI_WIN_BASE behave as if they were put by a C call. I.e., in Fortran, MPI_WIN_GET_ATTR(win, MPI_WIN_BASE, val, flag, ierror) will return in val the base address of the window, converted to an integer. In C, MPI_Win_get_attr(win, MPI_WIN_BASE, &p, &flag) will return in p a pointer to the window base, cast to (void *).

Rationale.

The design is consistent with the behavior specified in MPI-1 for predefined attributes, and ensures that no information is lost when attributes are passed from language to language. ( End of rationale.)

Advice to implementors.

Implementations should tag attributes either as address attributes or as integer attributes, according to whether they were set in C or in Fortran. Thus, the right choice can be made when the attribute is retrieved. ( End of advice to implementors.)