Getting Started

The Simply Fortran Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is designed to be simple for new users to understand. Simply Fortran operates using a project-centric paradigm. All development is driven by the user’s project. The following sections describe how to quickly build a simple Fortran executable from an empty project.

Creating a New Project

When Simply Fortran initially starts, the user will be presented with the Start tab. This view offers a quick route to getting started, including empty projects, some sample project types, and a list of any recent projects opened with Simply Fortran.

If a new project is selected via this page, Simply Fortran will ask for a location to save the project file, then close the dialog, presenting the user with the Simply Fortran interface.

Adding a File

To get started with compiling Fortran code, at least one file must first be added to the project. If an example project was selected as a new project, a file may already be present in the project.

To add your own existing Fortran source code, select Add File(s)… in the Project menu. Using the file selection dialog, the user can select an existing file. After selecting Ok, the new file should appear in the Project panel.

On Windows, the above procedure can be used to add a previously nonexistant file. To add a completely new file, select Add File(s)… in the Project menu, navigate to an appropriate directory using the file selection dialog, and type the name of the new file into the file selection dialog. The new file should now appear in the Project panel.

On macOS and GNU/Linux, a new, previously nonexistant file can be added by selecting Add New File… in the Project menu.

Opening a File in the Project

To open a file located in the project tree, the file can simply be double-clicked. A new editor tab should appear containing the contents of the file. If the file is nonexistent (or new), the editor will be blank. The file can be edited, and changes must be saved either using the File menu.

For this example, it may be interesting to implement a simple “Hello World” program in the newly added file for demonstration purposes.

Configuring the Project

Simply Fortran supports three basic project types: executables, static libraries, and shared libraries. The default type is executable, meaning the end result should be a valid Fortran program named target. To modify the project type or the executable target name, the Project Options must be configured.

The Project Options dialog can be opened either from the Options or Project menus. While most of the default options are probably sufficient, a change to the Target Name is most likely desirable even for this simple example.

Saving the Project

Before any compilation can be performed, the project must first be saved. Selecting an appropriate location to save the project becomes important for two reasons: the build process will generate subdirectories in the location where the project is saved and the project files are referenced relative to this location. The cleanest way to handle this situation is to save each project and its associated source code files into a folder specific to the project.

To save the project, the user can select Save Project from the Project menu. Navigate to the desired project folder and enter an appropriate filename to save the project.

Compiling

Once the project has been saved, this simple project can now be compiled. Compilation can be achieved either by selecting Build Project from the Build menu or clicking the small gear button on the toolbar. Either method should result in a Build Status tab opening in the editor. In the case that any errors are encountered during compilation, the error messages should appear in the window. If compilation is successful, the program should be ready to launch.

Launching the Result

After successful compilation, the user-created program can be launch from the IDE either via the Launch Project item in the Build menu or the triangle button, signifying “play,” on the toolbar. If compilation was successful, a Console tab should open immediately with the running program.