int MPI_Scatter(
  void *sendbuf,
  int sendcnt,
  MPI_Datatype sendtype,
  void *recvbuf,
  int recvcnt,
  MPI_Datatype recvtype,
  int root,
  MPI_Comm comm
);

Parameters

sendbuf

[in] address of send buffer (choice, significant only at root)

sendcount

[in] number of elements sent to each process (integer, significant only at root)

sendtype

[in] data type of send buffer elements (significant only at root) (handle)

recvbuf

[out] address of receive buffer (choice)

recvcount

[in] number of elements in receive buffer (integer)

recvtype

[in] data type of receive buffer elements (handle)

root

[in] rank of sending process (integer)

comm

[in] communicator (handle)

Remarks

MPI_SCATTER is the inverse operation to MPI_GATHER.

The outcome is as if the root executed n send operations,

and each process executed a receive,

An alternative description is that the root sends a message with MPI_Send(sendbuf, sendcount n, sendtype, ...). This message is split into n equal segments, the ith segment is sent to the ith process in the group, and each process receives this message as above.

The send buffer is ignored for all non-root processes.

The type signature associated with sendcount, sendtype at the root must be equal to the type signature associated with recvcount, recvtype at all processes (however, the type maps may be different). This implies that the amount of data sent must be equal to the amount of data received, pairwise between each process and the root. Distinct type maps between sender and receiver are still allowed.

All arguments to the function are significant on process root, while on other processes, only arguments recvbuf, recvcount, recvtype, root, comm are significant. The arguments root and comm must have identical values on all processes.

The specification of counts and types should not cause any location on the root to be read more than once.

The "in place" option for intracommunicators is specified by passing MPI_IN_PLACE as the value of recvbuf at the root. In such case, recvcount and recvtype are ignored, and root "sends" no data to itself. The scattered vector is still assumed to contain n segments, where n is the group size; the root-th segment, which root should "send to itself," is not moved.

If comm is an intercommunicator, then the call involves all processes in the intercommunicator, but with one group (group A) defining the root process. All processes in the other group (group B) pass the same value in argument root, which is the rank of the root in group A. The root passes the value MPI_ROOT in root. All other processes in group A pass the value MPI_PROC_NULL in root. Data is scattered from the root to all processes in group B. The receive buffer arguments of the processes in group B must be consistent with the send buffer argument of the root.

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 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_COUNT

Invalid count argument. Count arguments must be non-negative; a count of zero is often valid.

MPI_ERR_TYPE

Invalid datatype argument. May be an uncommitted MPI_Datatype (see MPI_Type_commit).

MPI_ERR_BUFFER

Invalid buffer pointer. Usually a null buffer where one is not valid.

Example Code

The following sample code illustrates MPI_Scatter.