The A data edit descriptor transfers character or Hollerith values. It takes the following form:
A[w]
If the corresponding I/O list item is of type character, character data is transferred. If the list item is of any other type, Hollerith data is transferred.
The G edit descriptor can be used to edit character data; it follows the same rules as Aw.
On input, the A data edit descriptor transfers w characters from an external field and assigns them to the corresponding I/O list item.
The maximum number of characters that can be stored depends on the size of the I/O list item, as follows:
I/O List Element | Maximum Number of Characters |
---|---|
BYTE | 1 |
LOGICAL(1) or LOGICAL*1 | 1 |
LOGICAL(2) or LOGICAL*2 | 2 |
LOGICAL(4) or LOGICAL*4 | 4 |
LOGICAL(8) or LOGICAL*8 | 8[1] |
INTEGER(1) or INTEGER*1 | 1 |
INTEGER(2) or INTEGER*2 | 2 |
INTEGER(4) or INTEGER*4 | 4 |
INTEGER(8) or INTEGER*8 | 8[1] |
REAL(4) or REAL*4 | 4 |
DOUBLE PRECISION | 8 |
REAL(8) or REAL*8 | 8 |
REAL(16) or REAL*16 | 16[2] |
COMPLEX(4) or COMPLEX*8 | 8[3] |
DOUBLE COMPLEX | 16[3] |
COMPLEX(8) or COMPLEX*16 | 16[3] |
[1] Alpha only
|
If w is equal to or greater than the length (len) of the input item, the rightmost characters are assigned to that item. The leftmost excess characters are ignored.
If w is less than len, or less than the number of characters that can be stored, w characters are assigned to the list item, left-justified, and followed by trailing blanks.
The following shows input using the A edit descriptor (the symbol ^ represents a nonprinting blank character):
Format Input Value Data Type A6 PAGE^# # CHARACTER(LEN=1) A6 PAGE^# E^# CHARACTER(LEN=3) A6 PAGE^# PAGE^# CHARACTER(LEN=6) A6 PAGE^# PAGE^#^^ CHARACTER(LEN=8) A6 PAGE^# # LOGICAL(1) A6 PAGE^# ^# INTEGER(2) A6 PAGE^# GE^# REAL(4) A6 PAGE^# PAGE^#^^ REAL(8)
On output, the A data edit descriptor transfers the contents of the corresponding I/O list item to an external field that is w characters long.
If w is greater than the size of the list item, the data is transferred to the output field, right-justified, with leading blanks. If w is less than or equal to the size of the list item, the leftmost w characters are transferred.
The following shows output using the A edit descriptor (the symbol ^ represents a nonprinting blank character):
Format Value Output A5 OHMS ^OHMS A5 VOLTS VOLTS A5 AMPERES AMPER