MPI_Bsend

Basic send with user-provided buffering

Synopsis

int MPI_Bsend(const void *buf, int count, MPI_Datatype datatype, int dest,
              int tag, MPI_Comm comm)

int MPI_Bsend_c(const void *buf, MPI_Count count, MPI_Datatype datatype,
                int dest, int tag, MPI_Comm comm)

Input Parameters

buf: initial address of send buffer (choice)
count: number of elements in send buffer (non-negative integer)
datatype: datatype of each send buffer element (handle)
dest: rank of destination (integer)
tag: message tag (integer)
comm: communicator (handle)

Notes

This send is provided as a convenience function; it allows the user to send messages without worring about where they are buffered (because the user must have provided buffer space with MPI_Buffer_attach).

In deciding how much buffer space to allocate, remember that the buffer space is not available for reuse by subsequent MPI_Bsends unless you are certain that the message has been received (not just that it should have been received). For example, this code does not allocate enough buffer space

    MPI_Buffer_attach(b, n*sizeof(double) + MPI_BSEND_OVERHEAD);
    for (i=0; i<m; i++) {
        MPI_Bsend(buf, n, MPI_DOUBLE, ...);
    }

because only enough buffer space is provided for a single send, and the loop may start a second MPI_Bsend before the first is done making use of the buffer.

In C, you can force the messages to be delivered by

    MPI_Buffer_detach(&b, &n);
    MPI_Buffer_attach(b, n);

(The MPI_Buffer_detach will not complete until all buffered messages are delivered.)

Thread and Interrupt Safety

This routine is thread-safe. This means that this routine may be safely used by multiple threads without the need for any user-provided thread locks. However, the routine is not interrupt safe. Typically, this is due to the use of memory allocation routines such as mallocor other non-MPICH runtime routines that are themselves not interrupt-safe.

Notes for Fortran

All MPI routines in Fortran (except for MPI_WTIME and MPI_WTICK) have an additional argument ierr at the end of the argument list. ierris an integer and has the same meaning as the return value of the routine in C. In Fortran, MPI routines are subroutines, and are invoked with the call statement.

All MPI objects (e.g., MPI_Datatype, MPI_Comm) are of type INTEGERin Fortran.

Errors

All MPI routines (except MPI_Wtime and MPI_Wtick) return an error value; C routines as the value of the function and Fortran routines in the last argument. Before the value is returned, the current MPI error handler is called. By default, this error handler aborts the MPI job. The error handler may be changed with MPI_Comm_set_errhandler (for communicators), MPI_File_set_errhandler (for files), and MPI_Win_set_errhandler (for RMA windows). The MPI-1 routine MPI_Errhandler_set may be used but its use is deprecated. The predefined error handler MPI_ERRORS_RETURN may be used to cause error values to be returned. Note that MPI does not guarantee that an MPI program can continue past an error; however, MPI implementations will attempt to continue whenever possible.

MPI_SUCCESS: No error; MPI routine completed successfully.

MPI_ERR_BUFFER: Invalid buffer pointer. Usually a null buffer where one is not valid.

MPI_ERR_COMM: Invalid communicator. A common error is to use a null communicator in a call (not even allowed in MPI_Comm_rank).

MPI_ERR_COUNT: Invalid count argument. Count arguments must be non-negative; a count of zero is often valid.

MPI_ERR_RANK: Invalid source or destination rank. Ranks must be between zero and the size of the communicator minus one; ranks in a receive (MPI_Recv, MPI_Irecv, MPI_Sendrecv, etc.) may also be MPI_ANY_SOURCE.

MPI_ERR_TAG: Invalid tag argument. Tags must be non-negative; tags in a receive (MPI_Recv, MPI_Irecv, MPI_Sendrecv, etc.) may also be MPI_ANY_TAG. The largest tag value is available through the the attribute MPI_TAG_UB.

MPI_ERR_TYPE: Invalid datatype argument. Additionally, this error can occur if an uncommitted MPI_Datatype (see MPI_Type_commit) is used in a communication call.

MPI_ERR_OTHER: Other error; use MPI_Error_string to get more information about this error code.