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From: shenkin@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (Peter S. Shenkin)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.fortran
Subject: Re: Fortran 90 status
Message-ID: <1991May16.195414.25217@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu>
Date: 16 May 91 19:54:14 GMT
Organization: Columbia University
Lines: 31

In article <23881@lanl.gov> jlg@cochiti.lanl.gov (Jim Giles) writes:
>9) H edit descriptors.
>   I disagree here.  The proposed standard claims this edit descriptor can
>   be a source of error.  So can all others.  The issue here is that people
>   can miscount the number of characters in a string and the H descriptor
>   requires an accurate count...

Just a coding tidbit which allows an accurate count but avoids Hollerith,
for those inclined to do so.  I started using the following technique a few 
years ago, and like it a lot.  Suppose you wish to provide headers for a set 
of columns each row of which will be printed by a statement that looks 
something like this:

      WRITE( 6, '(x,2f8.3,3x,i4)' ) val1(i), val2(i), i(i)

I would print the header in the follwing manner:

      WRITE( 6, '(x,2a8,3x,a4)' ) 'val1', 'val2', 'i'

What I like about it is that to get your header format, you just copy the 
format statement you're going to use for your numeric output, changing each 
numeric field to a character field of the same width.  This ensures proper 
lining up of the headers.  (Of course, this works just as well with numbered 
FORMAT statements.)

	-P.

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Peter S. Shenkin, Department of Chemistry, Barnard College, New York, NY  10027
(212)854-1418  shenkin@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu(Internet)  shenkin@cunixf(Bitnet)
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