Fortran READ returns iostat=98 error

When the Fortran READ statement returns iostat=98 the error message is, "cannot allocate memory for the file buffer - out of memory". This error is caused by the runtime library attempting to create a buffer large enough to hold the output of the read. This will happen for unformatted files opened for sequential access. This error can be seen, for example, on a Windows XP, 32-bit system when attempting to read from virtual memory if the pagefile is set too small. This error can affect any operating system, though 32-bit platforms are more likely to hit it.

There are several ways to work around this error. One option is making more virtual memory available by increasing the pagefile size on the system where you are running the application. If you have control over the file creation, and don’t require a record structure to the file, adding ACCESS=’STREAM’ to the OPEN for both the file creation and use will usually avoid this problem. For more details on stream access, see the compiler documentation topic ‘File Access and File Structure’.

This article applies to: Intel® Fortran Compiler for Linux* Knowledge Base, Intel® Fortran Compiler for Mac OS X* Knowledge Base, Intel® Visual Fortran Compiler for Windows* Knowledge Base