Glossary N
- name
- Identifies an entity within a Fortran program unit (such as a variable, function result, common block, named constant, procedure, program unit, namelist group, or dummy argument).
A name can contain letters, digits, underscores ( _ ), and the dollar sign ($) special character. The first character must be a letter or a dollar sign. In FORTRAN 77, this term was called a symbolic name.
- name association
- Pertains to argument, host, or use association. See also argument association, host association, and use association.
- named common block
- A common block (one or more contiguous areas of storage) with a name. Common blocks are defined by a COMMON statement.
- named constant
- A constant that has a name. In FORTRAN 77, this term was called a symbolic constant.
- namelist I/O statement
- An implicit, formatted I/O statement that uses a namelist group specifier rather than an explicit format specifier. See also formatted I/O statement and list-directed I/O statement.
- NaN
- Not-a-Number. The condition that results from a floating-point operation that has no mathematical meaning; for example, zero divided by zero.
- natural boundary
- The virtual address of a data item that is the multiple of the size of its data type. For example, a REAL(8) (REAL*8) data item aligned on natural boundaries has an address that is a multiple of eight.
- naturally aligned record
- A record that is aligned on a hardware-specific natural boundary; each field is naturally aligned. (For more information, see Optimizing Applications: Setting Data Type and Alignment.) Contrast with packed record.
- nesting
- The placing of one entity (such as a construct, subprogram, format specification, or loop) inside another entity of the same kind. For example, nesting a loop within another loop (a nested loop), or nesting a subroutine within another subroutine (a nested subroutine).
- nonexecutable statement
- A Fortran 95/90 statement that describes program attributes, but does not cause any action to be taken when the program is executed.
- nonsignaled
- The state of an object used for synchronization in one of the wait functions is either signaled or nonsignaled. A nonsignaled state can prevent the wait function from returning. See also wait function.
- numeric expression
- A numeric constant, variable, or function value, or combination of these, joined by numeric operators and parentheses, so that the entire expression can be evaluated to produce a single numeric value. For example, -L or X+(Y-4.5*Z).
- numeric operator
- A symbol designating an arithmetic operation. In Fortran 95/90, the symbols +, -, *, /, and ** are used to designate addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and exponentiation, respectively.
- numeric storage unit
- The unit of storage for holding a non-pointer scalar value of type default real, default integer, or default logical. One numeric storage unit corresponds to 4 bytes of memory.
- numeric type
- Integer, real, or complex type.