NAME

       MPI_Comm_free -  Marks the communicator object for deallocation

SYNOPSIS

       int MPI_Comm_free(MPI_Comm *comm)

INPUT PARAMETERS

       comm   - Communicator to be destroyed (handle)

NOTES

       This  routine frees a communicator.  Because the communicator may still be in use by other
       MPI routines, the actual communicator storage will not be freed until  all  references  to
       this  communicator are removed.  For most users, the effect of this routine is the same as
       if it was in fact freed at this time of this call.

NULL HANDLES

       The MPI 1.1 specification, in the section on opaque objects, explicitly

DISALLOWS FREEING A NULL COMMUNICATOR. THE TEXT FROM THE STANDARD IS

       A null handle argument is an erroneous IN argument in MPI calls, unless an
       exception is explicitly stated in the text that defines the function. Such
       exception is allowed for handles to request objects in Wait and Test calls
       (sections Communication Completion and Multiple Completions ). Otherwise, a
       null handle can only be passed to a function that allocates a new object and
       returns a reference to it in the handle.

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.

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.
       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_ARG
              -  Invalid  argument.  Some argument is invalid and is not identified by a specific
              error class (e.g., MPI_ERR_RANK ).

                                            11/12/2016                           MPI_Comm_free(3)