Steve, The error for the test
program p integer, parameter :: sh(2) = [2, 2] integer, parameter :: a(2,2) = reshape([1, 2, 3, 4], -sh) print *, a end is pr68153_2.f90:2:34: integer, parameter :: sh(2) = [2, 2] 1 Error: 'shape' argument of 'reshape' intrinsic at (1) has negative element (-2) I am pretty sure that some day a user will complain about a confusing error message!-( Dominique