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From: rich@boreas.whoi.edu
Newsgroups: comp.lang.fortran
Subject: Re: MS-FORTRAN bug in string concatenation
Message-ID: <1991Feb16.143646.3332@netnews.whoi.edu>
Date: 16 Feb 91 14:36:46 GMT
References: <2PWGG2@MPLVAX.SRI.COM> <1991Feb14.185049.3535@convex.com>
Sender: news@netnews.whoi.edu
Organization: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Lines: 57

In article <1991Feb14.185049.3535@convex.com> dodson@convex.COM (Dave Dodson) writes:
>In article <2PWGG2@MPLVAX.SRI.COM> HUESTIS@MPLVAX.SRI.COM (David L. Huestis) writes:
>>Under Microsoft FORTRAN the following simple program
>>
>>       character string*4/'abc'/
>>       string = '*'//string
>>       write(*,*)string
>>       end
>>
>>produces the output '**bb' while LAHEY and VAX yield '*abc'
>
>The above program is non-standard.  In a standard-conforming program, string
>variables cannot appear on both the left- and right-hand side of an assignment
>statement. 

>Dave Dodson		                             dodson@convex.COM


This is interesting...according to my Vax-Fortran manual (which describes
how they implement fortran 77)

"the character assignment statement has the form

   v=e
   
 where
 
 v as a character variable, array element, or substring
 
 e is a character expression
 
 If the length of the character expression is greater than the length of the 
 character variable [...] then the character expression is truncated on the
 right.
 
 If the length of the character expression is less than the length of the 
 character variable [...] then the character expression is filled on the
 right with spaces.
 
(similar rules hold true for DATA statements).


Nowhere does it mention that this is not standard conforming. However, if
this is indeed the case, then is the statement

	string='*'//string(1:3)
	
also non-conforming?




--
Rich Pawlowicz ----------------- INTERNET: rich@boreas.whoi.edu
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
"Home of the 59-cent squid burger (cheese extra)"
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