When you create a new project, you need to select the appropriate Fortran project type. You can build four basic kinds of executable programs:
You can also create a Fortran COM server project or a library project that contains subprograms (functions or subroutines) called from your main application:
Code that works in one application may not work in others. For example, graphics calls are not appropriate in a Fortran console application.
Fortran console applications are the most portable to other systems because they are text-only and do not support graphics.
With Fortran standard graphics (QuickWin single document) applications, you can add graphics to your text without the additional overhead of menus and other interface features of typical programs for Windows. Fortran QuickWin (QuickWin multiple document) graphics applications provide a simple way to use some features of Windows in a Visual Fortran program with graphics.
Fortran Windows applications give users full access to the Win32 Application Programming Interface (API), giving you a larger set of functions than QuickWin offers. With Windows applications, you can access low-level system services directly, or access higher level system services such as OpenGL.
None of the graphics functions in Visual Fortran, except for those in the OpenGL library, are directly portable to operating systems offered by other vendors. A graphical interface does, however, offer certain advantages to the application designer and to the person who will use the program. The choice of what kind of program to build is a trade-off between performance, portability, ease of coding, and ease of use. The advantages and disadvantages of each type of application are summarized in the following sections.
All four kinds of main applications can be maximized, minimized, resized, and moved around the screen when displayed in a window. If the drawing area of a window in your application is larger than the window in which it is displayed, scroll bars are automatically added to the bottom and right edges of the window.
You can write any of the applications with one section of the program beginning execution before another has completed. These threads of execution run either concurrently on a computer with one processor or simultaneously on a computer with multiple processors. (See Creating Multithread Applications.)
For more information on the Visual Fortran application project types, see Types of Projects.