On 13/07/10 13:46, Hendrik Merx wrote:
Well, almost,
it's columns 1 through 5 for the label which is numeric and thus resembles a
line number. It isn't necessary, though, so the first five columns are empty
for most lines.
Comment lines have 'C' or '*' in the first column or '!' as the first character.
Continuation lines have any character but '0' in the sixth column, so it's
common to count the continuation lines by putting single digits in column 6.
Statements occupy columns 7 to 72, leaving eight characters for a line number
on a 80 character punched card. Most, if not all compilers allow more than that.
And, to quote from Annex B 2.6 on obsolescent features of the Fortran 2003
standard:
Fixed form source was designed when the principal machine-readable input medium
for new programs was punched cards. Now that new and amended programs are
generally entered via keyboards with screen displays, it is an unnecessary
overhead, and is potentially error-prone, to have to locate positions 6, 7, or
72 on a line. Free form source was designed expressly for this more modern
technology.
Cheers
Hendrik
I see. Wwell, I did some FORTRAN as a freshman in 1967-68 (using
Hollerith cards) and never since then: it's been a long time.
Best regards,
Tony.
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"You can not fix a machine by just power-cycling it with no
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