MPI I/O, mix of single- and multiple-process outpu

I need an MPI C code to write data to a binary file via MPI I/O. I need process 0 to write a short header, then I need the whole range of processes to write their own pieces of the array indicated by the header. Then I need process 0 to write another header, followed by all processes writing their pieces of the next array, etc. I came up with the following test code which actually does what I want. No one will be more surprised about that than me.

My question is, I am new at MPI I/O. So am I "getting it"? Am I doing this the "right way" or is there some more efficient or compact way to do it?

Code is: (BTW, if you think of testing this, try it with 4 procs only.)

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>

#include "mpi.h"

#define ROWS 9
#define COLS 10

int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {

   int size_mpi, rank_mpi, row_mpi, col_mpi;
   int i,j,p,ttlcols;
   int sizes[]= {2*ROWS,2*COLS};
   int subsizes[]= {ROWS,COLS};
   int starts[] = {0,0};
   int vals[ROWS][COLS];
   char hdr[] = "This is just a header.\n";
   MPI_Status stat_mpi;
   MPI_Datatype subarray;
   MPI_File fh;
   MPI_Offset offset, end_of_hdr;
   MPI_Info info_mpi;

   MPI_Init(&argc, &argv);
   MPI_Comm_size(MPI_COMM_WORLD,&size_mpi);
   MPI_Comm_rank(MPI_COMM_WORLD,&rank_mpi);

   ttlcols = 2*COLS;
   /* Where are we in the array of processes? */
   col_mpi = rank_mpi%2;
   row_mpi = rank_mpi/2;
   /* Populate the array */
   for (j=0; j<ROWS; j++){
      for (i=0; i<COLS; i++){
         vals[j][i] = ttlcols*(ROWS*row_mpi + j) +
                      COLS*col_mpi + i;
      }
   } 
   /* MPI derived datatype for setting a file view */    
   starts[0] = row_mpi*ROWS;
   starts[1] = col_mpi*COLS;
   MPI_Type_create_subarray(2, sizes, subsizes, starts,
                            MPI_ORDER_C, MPI_INT,
                            &subarray); 
   MPI_Type_commit(&subarray);
   /* open the file */    
   printf("opening file\n");
   MPI_File_open(MPI_COMM_WORLD, "arrdata.dat", 
                 MPI_MODE_WRONLY | MPI_MODE_CREATE,
                 MPI_INFO_NULL, &fh);
   printf("opened file\n");
   /* set the initial file view */    
   MPI_File_set_view(fh, 0, MPI_CHAR, MPI_CHAR, "native", MPI_INFO_NULL);
   /* proc 0 writes first header */    
   if (rank_mpi == 0) {
      MPI_File_write(fh, (void*)hdr, strlen(hdr), MPI_CHAR, &stat_mpi);
      MPI_File_get_position(fh, &offset);
      MPI_File_get_byte_offset(fh, offset, &end_of_hdr); 
   }
   /* everybody has to know where proc 0 stopped writing */    
   MPI_Bcast((void*)&end_of_hdr, 1, MPI_INT, 0, MPI_COMM_WORLD);
   /* re-set file view for writing first array */    
   MPI_File_set_view(fh, end_of_hdr, MPI_INT,
                     subarray, "native",
                     MPI_INFO_NULL);
   /* and write the array */    
   MPI_File_write(fh, (void*)vals, ROWS*COLS, MPI_INT,
                  &stat_mpi);

   /* now go through the whole thing again to test */
   MPI_File_get_position(fh, &offset);
   MPI_File_get_byte_offset(fh, offset, &end_of_hdr); 
   MPI_File_set_view(fh, end_of_hdr, MPI_CHAR, MPI_CHAR, "native", MPI_INFO_NULL);
   if (rank_mpi == 0) {
      MPI_File_write(fh, (void*)hdr, strlen(hdr), MPI_CHAR, &stat_mpi);
      MPI_File_get_position(fh, &offset);
      MPI_File_get_byte_offset(fh, offset, &end_of_hdr); 
   }

   MPI_Bcast((void*)&end_of_hdr, 1, MPI_INT, 0, MPI_COMM_WORLD);

   MPI_File_set_view(fh, end_of_hdr, MPI_INT,
                     subarray, "native",
                     MPI_INFO_NULL);
   MPI_File_write(fh, (void*)vals, ROWS*COLS, MPI_INT,
                  &stat_mpi);
   MPI_File_close(&fh);

   MPI_Finalize();

   return 0;

}

Your approach is fine and if you need something right now to put bits in a file, go ahead and call yourself done.

Here are some suggestions for more efficiency:

You can consult the status object for how many bytes were written, instead of getting the position and translating into bytes.
If you have the memory to hold all the data before you write, you could describe your I/O with an MPI datatype (admittedly, one that might end up being a pain to create). Then all processes would issue a single collective call.
You should use collective I/O instead of independent I/O. A "quality library" should be able to give you equal if not better performance (and if not, you could raise the issue with your MPI implementation).
If the processes have different amounts of data to write, MPI_EXSCAN is a good way to collect who has what data. Then you can call MPI_FILE_WRITE_AT_ALL to the correct offset in the file.