[MATRIX-SIG] Python/Fortran interface

[Kevin Rodgers]

At 07:39 AM 8/18/97 -0700, motteler@laura.llnl.gov wrote:
>FORTRAN arrays are stored in column-major order whereas
>(contiguous) NumPy arrays are stored in row-major order.
>Thus to communicate a NumPy array to FORTRAN, make it
>contiguous and take its transpose. 
>
This may seem a minor nit, but "row-major" and "column-major" seem to imply
two-dimensional arrays only; it would be more correct to say, "Fortran
stores arrays contiguously with the leftmost index varying fastest and the
rightmost index varying slowest; C is just the opposite."  This generalizes
to arrays of more than two dimensions, which is one of the real advantages
of NumPy over Matlab or Xmath (yes, I know that Matlab 5 has "true"
multidimensional arrays, and Xmath (of which I am a devoted user) has some
specialized arrays of more than two dimensions).  So plllleeeeezzzzzeeeee
let's not restrict ourselves to two-d, linear algebra stuff here!

On the more general subject of extending/embedding/interfacing NumPy with
whatever, does anybody have a reasonably straightforward and concise
explanation of how NumPy arrays are stored (i.e., an annotated structure
definition)?  I've looked through the source, plus a fairly substantial
library that has NumPy interfaces (PyOpenGL), and I've been able to piece
it together somewhat, but it still has a bit of the
fumbling-in-the-pea-soup feeling to it.  Thanks in advance . . .
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Kevin Rodgers     Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical  krodgers@tdyryan.com
"This one goes up to eleven."  --  Nigel Tufnel
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