MPI_FILE_GET_POSITION(3)

💅 MPI_FILE_GET_POSITION(3) 💅

okay so bestie, welcome to the Open MPI manual page for MPI_File_get_position and honestly? it's giving "where am I again" energy and we're obsessed 🎀

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✨ NAME ✨

MPI_File_get_position — returns the current position of the individual file pointer. literally just "where's my file pointer at" but make it MPI 💖

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🌸 SYNTAX 🌸

🦋 C Syntax

#include <mpi.h>

int MPI_File_get_position(MPI_File fh, MPI_Offset *offset)

🦋 Fortran Syntax

USE MPI
! or the older form: INCLUDE 'mpif.h'
MPI_FILE_GET_POSITION(FH, OFFSET, IERROR)
     INTEGER FH, IERROR
     INTEGER(KIND=MPI_OFFSET_KIND)   OFFSET

🦋 Fortran 2008 Syntax

USE mpi_f08
MPI_File_get_position(fh, offset, ierror)
     TYPE(MPI_File), INTENT(IN) :: fh
     INTEGER(KIND=MPI_OFFSET_KIND), INTENT(OUT) :: offset
     INTEGER, OPTIONAL, INTENT(OUT) :: ierror

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🎀 INPUT PARAMETER 🎀

• fh — file handle (handle). the little id card for your file, bestie 🪪

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💜 OUTPUT PARAMETERS 💜

• offset — offset of the individual file pointer (integer). the actual answer to "where are we" 📍
• ierror — Fortran only: error status (integer). Fortran's lil way of telling you how it went 🍼

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⭐ DESCRIPTION ⭐

okay so here's the tea ☕ MPI_File_get_position returns, in offset, the current position of the individual file pointer — and the important part (do not miss this, iykyk) is that it's measured in etype units relative to the current displacement and file type. so it's not just raw bytes like some kind of feral gremlin, it's the etype-flavored version with the displacement and file type baked in 🌈

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🔥 ERRORS 🔥

ngl almost all MPI routines return an error value, and the vibes differ by language, so:

• C routines → the error value comes back as the return result of the function
• Fortran routines → the error value shows up in the last argument

Before the error value is returned, the current MPI error handler associated with the communication object (e.g., communicator, window, file) is called. If no communication object is associated with the MPI call, then the call is considered attached to MPI_COMM_SELF and will call the associated MPI error handler. When MPI_COMM_SELF is not initialized (i.e., before MPI_Init/MPI_Init_thread, after MPI_Finalize, or when using the Sessions Model exclusively) the error raises the initial error handler. The initial error handler can be changed by calling MPI_Comm_set_errhandler on MPI_COMM_SELF when using the World model, or the mpi_initial_errhandler CLI argument to mpiexec or info key to MPI_Comm_spawn/MPI_Comm_spawn_multiple. If no other appropriate error handler has been set, then the MPI_ERRORS_RETURN error handler is called for MPI I/O functions and the MPI_ERRORS_ABORT error handler is called for all other MPI functions. 😭

Open MPI includes three predefined error handlers that can be used:

• MPI_ERRORS_ARE_FATAL — causes the program to abort all connected MPI processes. yeah. everybody. gone. 💀
• MPI_ERRORS_ABORT — an error handler that can be invoked on a communicator, window, file, or session. When called on a communicator, it acts as if MPI_Abort was called on that communicator. If called on a window or file, acts as if MPI_Abort was called on a communicator containing the group of processes in the corresponding window or file. If called on a session, aborts only the local process. 🫶
• MPI_ERRORS_RETURN — returns an error code to the application. the chill one, respectfully 🧚

MPI applications can also implement their own error handlers by calling:

• MPI_Comm_create_errhandler then MPI_Comm_set_errhandler
• MPI_File_create_errhandler then MPI_File_set_errhandler
• MPI_Session_create_errhandler then MPI_Session_set_errhandler or at MPI_Session_init
• MPI_Win_create_errhandler then MPI_Win_set_errhandler

⚠️ note that MPI does not guarantee that an MPI program can continue past an error. no cap, this is a real caveat, not a vibe — plan accordingly 🙈

See the MPI man page for a full list of MPI error codes. 🔍

See the Error Handling section of the MPI-3.1 standard for more information. 📚

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👑 COPYRIGHT 👑

2003-2026, The Open MPI Community

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and that's the whole page bestie, you ate 💅✨ — this Open MPI moment was brought to you by the MPI_FILE_GET_POSITION(3) manual page, dated Sep 11, 2026, mwah 🫶🎀