subroutine compare_var(vari, varo)

   use fill_positions, only: varspec_t

   implicit none

   include 'netcdf.inc'

   ! Input arguments
   type(varspec_t), intent(in) :: vari
   type(varspec_t), intent(in) :: varo

   ! Local workspace
   logical isfloatingi
   logical isfloatingo
   !------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   if (vari%name /= varo%name) then
      write(6,*)'compare_var: names do not match: ', trim(vari%name), trim(varo%name)
      stop 999
   end if

   isfloatingi = vari%xtype == nf_float .or. vari%xtype == nf_double
   isfloatingo = varo%xtype == nf_float .or. varo%xtype == nf_double

   if (vari%xtype /= varo%xtype .and. .not. (isfloatingi .and. isfloatingo)) then
      write(6,*)'compare_var: types are incompatible for: ', &
                trim(vari%name), ' ', trim(varo%name)
      stop 999
   end if

end subroutine compare_var