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From: mcdonald@aries.scs.uiuc.edu (Doug McDonald)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.fortran
Subject: Re: I/O
Message-ID: <1991Jan30.150622.16144@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>
Date: 30 Jan 91 15:06:22 GMT
References: <27a6aacc@ThreeL.co.uk>
Sender: news@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (News)
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Lines: 31


In article <27a6aacc@ThreeL.co.uk> jf@threel.co.uk (John Fisher) writes:
>mkh6317@rigel.tamu.edu (HOWARD, MATTHEW KENDALL) asks:
>
>> Ok, ok. Uncle.  Since I don't have a copy of the "standard" I
>> will have to take your word that "equivalencing a character
>> variable to a non-character variable" is a violation of the
>> standard.    Now tell me why.
>
>Why the sneer quotes round standard?
>
>Reason: because it's very unportable.  Why?
>
>1) Endian problems

That is not the reasson. You CAN equivalence real and double precision,
which has the same problem - or, for that matter, integer and logical!!


>3) Character-code problems

Not a problem either. So long as you don't try to read a character as
an integer or vice-versa, which is not conforming anyway.

>2) Word-length problems

This is the apparent hang-up. Actually, it really isn't a problem, but
IS why Sigmund Freud invented the term "anal retentive personality".


Doug McDonald