I hope this is less contentious than adding 'const' keywords... I would like to propose a new built-in type MPI_OFFSET, defined to be a type corresponding to INTEGER(KIND=MPI_OFFSET_KIND) or MPI_Offset This is a minor addition to the standard, which would have no impact on existing code while serving to simplify code which exchanges file offsets among processes. There is a workaround in the standard: a user can define a type from MPI_BYTE: MPI_Type_contiguous(sizeof(MPI_Offset), MPI_BYTE, &offtype); However, it would clearly be more convienient to operate on built-in types. MPI Datatype: MPI_OFFSET Corresponding C type: long long int Corresponding Fortran type: INTEGER(KIND=MPI_OFFSET_KIND) Thanks ==rob -- Rob Latham Mathematics and Computer Science Division A215 0178 EA2D B059 8CDF Argonne National Lab, IL USA B29D F333 664A 4280 315B