Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!snorkelwacker!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!NLR.NL!FBUIJSEN
From: FBUIJSEN@NLR.NL
Newsgroups: comp.sys.sgi
Subject: RE: piping binary files
Message-ID: <9003050749.aa16077@SMOKE.BRL.MIL>
Date: 5 Mar 90 08:05:00 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 23

Tom Rohling writes:

>    When I do this:
>
>
>zcat foo.dat | foo
>
>
>    I get this response:
>
>
>sue: unformatted io not allowed
>apparent state: unit 5 named

My guess is that the problem is in the unit number: on IBM and like
mainframe machines units 5, 6 and 7 have special meanings:
unit 5 is, for example, standard designated to punch-card (!) input and
unit 6 to printer output. Of course, punch card input cannot be
unformatted :-). I am not sure whether this problem only occurs when you
READ (*,*) somewhere in your program (the * means 5, you know). My personal
solution is now not to touch units 5 and 6 in any program with a ten-foot
pole.
                  Frans Buijsen