Variable string (#60)

* Remove need for string length

Remove the "requestedLength" arguments and use allocatable strings now that these are available.

* Update the documentation

The readme is updated. Add users guide in markdown format and remove latex version.

* Add more allocatable strings

Remove more dependences on fixed length character variables.

* Update UsersGuide.md

Add links to examples. Add info about optData functionality to the documentation.

* bump minimal CMake version

* Update UsersGuide.md

Align code blocks.

* Update UsersGuide.md

More code formatting. Fix link to Apple.

* Update UsersGuide.md

Caught a couple more alignment errors.

* Update UsersGuide.md

Fix an escape for a single underscore.

* Update UsersGuide.md

Fix code examples formatting.

* Update UsersGuide.md

Fix code example object names.

* AddLegacyCall

Add back the legacy calls to stringValue and stringValueForKey so that the changes in this version are non-breaking. Those functions are now generic with either the requested length or not. Going forward, one should use the versions without the requested length and use allocated strings.

* CharacterTruncation

Change the returned character length in the legacy function to what was originally there to get rid of the string truncation warning issue.

* Increase coverage

Increase coverage in stringValueForKey

* Logical return

Fix logical return and add test for it.

* Update ValueClassTests.f90

cover more stringValue tests

* Add a News.md section

A news page hanging off of the readme page is added for the latest and future news about changes.

* Update FTValueClass.f90

Just change the comments to reflect that stringValueA and stringValueR are overloaded as stringValue() and that the latter is deprecated but will still work with stringValue(requestedLength)

---------

Co-authored-by: Andrew Winters <andrew.ross.winters@liu.se>

Author: DavidAKopriva

CMakeLists.txt

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-CMAKE_MINIMUM_REQUIRED(VERSION 3.5)
+CMAKE_MINIMUM_REQUIRED(VERSION 3.15.0)
 # Default compiler gfortran, otherwise cmake Fortran package will set it to f95
 # You can override the compiler with cmake -DFTOBJ_COMPILER=
 #set(FTOBJ_AR "/usr/bin/gcc-ar" CACHE STRING "Static archive command")

Docs/FTObjectLibrary.tex

@@ -17,13 +17,6 @@ predocmark:>
  facilitate writing generic object oriented Fortran programs. Reference counting
  is implemented to assist with memory management so that the lifespans of objects
  are properly maintained and are so that objects are deleted only when no other references are made to them.
-
-
- FTObjectLibrary tries, as much as the maturity of Fortran compilers allow, to
- use the new F2003/2008 features to make generic programming possible. The LCD
- for the library is gfortran, and as modern features get implemented in the
- compiler, FTObjectLibrary will be updated to include those features. In the meantime, there
- are a few workarounds that exist in the code.
 
  The library includes three categories of classes:
 
@@ -53,11 +46,11 @@ values.
 
 # Documentation
 
-Documentation can be found in the linked pages, and in the user's guide *FTObjectLibrary.pdf* found in the Docs directory.
+Documentation can be found in the [user's guide](UsersGuide.md).
 
 # Examples
 
-Examples can be found in the Examples directory and in the Testing directory. The examples include a simple reverse Polish calculator using a stack, and another showing the use of a linked list. The testing directory includes tests that can be run on the library, which themselves serve as examples of the use of all of the classes.
+Examples can be found in the [Examples](../Examples) directory and in the [Testing](../Testing) directory. The examples include a simple reverse Polish calculator using a stack, and another showing the use of a linked list. The testing directory includes tests that can be run on the library, which themselves serve as examples of the use of all of the classes.
 
 # Building the Library
 

Docs/FTObjectLibraryProject.md

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# News
+
+May 11, 2025
+
+The stringValue() and stringValueForKey() functions now use allocated strings, so the requestedLength argument is no longer necessary. Existing code can continue to use the older versions, but those versions are deprecated and undocumented.