# MPI_Op_create

Creates a user-defined combination function handle

## Synopsis

    int MPI_Op_create(MPI_User_function *function, int commute, MPI_Op *op)

## Input Parameters

function
  user defined function (function)
commute
  true if commutative; false otherwise. (logical)

## Output Parameter

op
  operation (handle)

## Notes on the user function

The calling list for the user function type is

     typedef void (MPI_User_function) ( void * a,
                   void * b, int * len, MPI_Datatype * );

where the operation is `b[i] = a[i] op b[i]`, for `i=0,...,len-1`. A pointer to the datatype given to the MPI collective computation routine (i.e., `MPI_Reduce`, `MPI_Allreduce`, `MPI_Scan`, or `MPI_Reduce_scatter`) is also passed to the user-specified routine.

## 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 `malloc` or 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. `ierr` is 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 `INTEGER` in Fortran.

## Notes on collective operations

The reduction functions (`MPI_Op`) do not return an error value. As a result, if the functions detect an error, all they can do is either call `MPI_Abort` or silently skip the problem. Thus, if you change the error handler from `MPI_ERRORS_ARE_FATAL` to something else, for example, `MPI_ERRORS_RETURN`, then no error may be indicated.

The reason for this is the performance problems in ensuring that all collective routines return the same error value.

## 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 guarentee 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.

## See Also

MPI_Op_free

Location:op_create.c