Derived Type Constructors

Can support default values, optional and keyword arguments. Subsequent modifications of the type internal structure can be made invisible to the user.

 
module d3  
 ! 
 type coords  
  private  
  real :: x,y,z  
 end type coords  
 ! 
contains 
 ! 
 type(coords) function init_coords(x,y,z)  
  real, intent(in), optional :: x,y,z  
  init\_coords = coords(0.0,0.0,0.0)  
  if(present(x)) init\_coords%x = x  
  if(present(y)) init\_coords%y = y  
  if(present(z)) init\_coords%z = z  
 end function init_coords  
 ! 
 subroutine print_coords(c)  
  type(coords), intent(in) :: c  
  print*, c%x,c%y,c%z  
 end subroutine print_coords  
 ! 
end module d3

The components of a Coords type object are not visible to the user; they can only be accessed through the functions contained in the module d3. In particular, the components cannot be printed in a normal IO statement; a module procedure Print_Coords is needed for this.