Using F2PY¶

F2PY can be used either as a command line tool f2py or as a Python module numpy.f2py. While we try to provide the command line tool as part of the numpy setup, some platforms like Windows make it difficult to reliably put the executables on the PATH. We will refer to f2py in this document but you may have to run it as a module:

python -m numpy.f2py

If you run f2py with no arguments, and the line numpy Version at the end matches the NumPy version printed from python -m numpy.f2py, then you can use the shorter version. If not, or if you cannot run f2py, you should replace all calls to f2py here with the longer version.

Command `f2py`¶

When used as a command line tool, f2py has three major modes, distinguished by the usage of -c and -h switches:

Signature file generation¶

To scan Fortran sources and generate a signature file, use
```
f2py -h <filename.pyf> <options> <fortran files>   \
  [[ only: <fortran functions>  : ]                \
   [ skip: <fortran functions>  : ]]...            \
  [<fortran files> ...]
```
Note

A Fortran source file can contain many routines, and it is often not necessary to allow all routines be usable from Python. In such cases, either specify which routines should be wrapped (in the only: .. : part) or which routines F2PY should ignored (in the skip: .. : part).

If <filename.pyf> is specified as stdout then signatures are written to standard output instead of a file.

Among other options (see below), the following can be used in this mode:

--overwrite-signature
Overwrites an existing signature file.

Extension module construction¶

To construct an extension module, use
```
f2py -m <modulename> <options> <fortran files>   \
  [[ only: <fortran functions>  : ]              \
   [ skip: <fortran functions>  : ]]...          \
  [<fortran files> ...]
```
The constructed extension module is saved as <modulename>module.c to the current directory.

Here <fortran files> may also contain signature files. Among other options (see below), the following options can be used in this mode:
--debug-capi
Adds debugging hooks to the extension module. When using this extension module, various diagnostic information about the wrapper is written to the standard output, for example, the values of variables, the steps taken, etc.

-include'<includefile>'
Add a CPP #include statement to the extension module source. <includefile> should be given in one of the following forms
"filename.ext" <filename.ext>
The include statement is inserted just before the wrapper functions. This feature enables using arbitrary C functions (defined in <includefile>) in F2PY generated wrappers.

Note

This option is deprecated. Use usercode statement to specify C code snippets directly in signature files.
--[no-]wrap-functions
Create Fortran subroutine wrappers to Fortran functions. --wrap-functions is default because it ensures maximum portability and compiler independence.

--include-paths <path1>:<path2>:..
Search include files from given directories.

--help-link [<list of resources names>]
List system resources found by numpy_distutils/system_info.py. For example, try f2py --help-link lapack_opt.

Building a module¶

To build an extension module, use
```
f2py -c <options> <fortran files>       \
  [[ only: <fortran functions>  : ]     \
   [ skip: <fortran functions>  : ]]... \
  [ <fortran/c source files> ] [ <.o, .a, .so files> ]
```
If <fortran files> contains a signature file, then the source for an extension module is constructed, all Fortran and C sources are compiled, and finally all object and library files are linked to the extension module <modulename>.so which is saved into the current directory.

If <fortran files> does not contain a signature file, then an extension module is constructed by scanning all Fortran source codes for routine signatures, before proceeding to build the extension module.

Among other options (see below) and options described for previous modes, the following options can be used in this mode:

--help-fcompiler
List the available Fortran compilers.

--help-compiler [depreciated]
List the available Fortran compilers.

--fcompiler=<Vendor>
Specify a Fortran compiler type by vendor.

--f77exec=<path>
Specify the path to a F77 compiler

--fcompiler-exec=<path> [depreciated]
Specify the path to a F77 compiler

--f90exec=<path>
Specify the path to a F90 compiler

--f90compiler-exec=<path> [depreciated]
Specify the path to a F90 compiler

--f77flags=<string>
Specify F77 compiler flags

--f90flags=<string>
Specify F90 compiler flags

--opt=<string>
Specify optimization flags

--arch=<string>
Specify architecture specific optimization flags

--noopt
Compile without optimization flags

--noarch
Compile without arch-dependent optimization flags

--debug
Compile with debugging information

-l<libname>
Use the library <libname> when linking.

-D<macro>[=<defn=1>]
Define macro <macro> as <defn>.

-U<macro>
Define macro <macro>

-I<dir>
Append directory <dir> to the list of directories searched for include files.

-L<dir>
Add directory <dir> to the list of directories to be searched for -l.

link-<resource>
Link the extension module with <resource> as defined by numpy_distutils/system_info.py. E.g. to link with optimized LAPACK libraries (vecLib on MacOSX, ATLAS elsewhere), use --link-lapack_opt. See also --help-link switch.

Note

The f2py -c option must be applied either to an existing .pyf file (plus the source/object/library files) or one must specify the -m <modulename> option (plus the sources/object/library files). Use one of the following options:
```
f2py -c -m fib1 fib1.f
```
or
```
f2py -m fib1 fib1.f -h fib1.pyf
f2py -c fib1.pyf fib1.f
```
For more information, see the Building C and C++ Extensions Python documentation for details.

When building an extension module, a combination of the following macros may be required for non-gcc Fortran compilers:
```
-DPREPEND_FORTRAN
-DNO_APPEND_FORTRAN
-DUPPERCASE_FORTRAN
```
To test the performance of F2PY generated interfaces, use -DF2PY_REPORT_ATEXIT. Then a report of various timings is printed out at the exit of Python. This feature may not work on all platforms, currently only Linux platform is supported.

To see whether F2PY generated interface performs copies of array arguments, use -DF2PY_REPORT_ON_ARRAY_COPY=<int>. When the size of an array argument is larger than <int>, a message about the coping is sent to stderr.

Other options¶

-m <modulename>: Name of an extension module. Default is untitled.

Warning

Don’t use this option if a signature file (*.pyf) is used.
--[no-]lower: Do [not] lower the cases in <fortran files>. By default, --lower is assumed with -h switch, and --no-lower without the -h switch.
--build-dir <dirname>: All F2PY generated files are created in <dirname>. Default is tempfile.mkdtemp().
--quiet: Run quietly.
--verbose: Run with extra verbosity.
-v: Print the F2PY version and exit.

Execute f2py without any options to get an up-to-date list of available options.

Python module `numpy.f2py`¶

Warning

The current Python interface to the f2py module is not mature and may change in the future.

Fortran to Python Interface Generator.

numpy.f2py.compile(source, modulename='untitled', extra_args='', verbose=True, source_fn=None, extension='.f', full_output=False)[source]¶

Build extension module from a Fortran 77 source string with f2py.

Parameters

sourcestr or bytes: Fortran source of module / subroutine to compile

Changed in version 1.16.0: Accept str as well as bytes
modulenamestr, optional: The name of the compiled python module
extra_argsstr or list, optional: Additional parameters passed to f2py

Changed in version 1.16.0: A list of args may also be provided.
verbosebool, optional: Print f2py output to screen
source_fnstr, optional: Name of the file where the fortran source is written. The default is to use a temporary file with the extension provided by the extension parameter
extension{‘.f’, ‘.f90’}, optional: Filename extension if source_fn is not provided. The extension tells which fortran standard is used. The default is f, which implies F77 standard.

New in version 1.11.0.
full_outputbool, optional: If True, return a subprocess.CompletedProcess containing the stdout and stderr of the compile process, instead of just the status code.

New in version 1.20.0.

Returns

resultint or subprocess.CompletedProcess: 0 on success, or a subprocess.CompletedProcess if full_output=True

Examples

>>> import numpy.f2py
>>> fsource = '''
...       subroutine foo
...       print*, "Hello world!"
...       end 
... '''
>>> numpy.f2py.compile(fsource, modulename='hello', verbose=0)
0
>>> import hello
>>> hello.foo()
 Hello world!

numpy.f2py.get_include()[source]¶

Return the directory that contains the fortranobject.c and .h files.

Note

This function is not needed when building an extension with numpy.distutils directly from .f and/or .pyf files in one go.

Python extension modules built with f2py-generated code need to use fortranobject.c as a source file, and include the fortranobject.h header. This function can be used to obtain the directory containing both of these files.