## 11.2.6 Character Editing (A)

The A data edit descriptor transfers character or Hollerith values. It takes the following form:

  A[w]

If the corresponding I/O list item is of type character, character data is transferred. If the list item is of any other type, Hollerith data is transferred.

The G edit descriptor can be used to edit character data; it follows the same rules as Aw.

Rules for Input Processing

On input, the A data edit descriptor transfers w characters from an external field and assigns them to the corresponding I/O list item.

The maximum number of characters that can be stored depends on the size of the I/O list item, as follows:

- For character data, the maximum size is the length of the corresponding I/O list item.
- For noncharacter data, the maximum size depends on the data type, as shown in Table 11-3.

Table 11-3 Size Limits for Noncharacter Data Using A Editing

I/O List Element | Maximum Number of Characters
--- | ---
BYTE | 1
LOGICAL(1) or LOGICAL*1 | 1
LOGICAL(2) or LOGICAL*2 | 2
LOGICAL(4) or LOGICAL*4 | 4
LOGICAL(8) or LOGICAL*8 | 8
INTEGER(1) or INTEGER*1 | 1
INTEGER(2) or INTEGER*2 | 2
INTEGER(4) or INTEGER*4 | 4
INTEGER(8) or INTEGER*8 | 8
REAL(4) or REAL*4 | 4
DOUBLE PRECISION | 8
REAL(8) or REAL*8 | 8
REAL(16) or REAL*16 | 16 1
COMPLEX(4) or COMPLEX*8 | 8 2
DOUBLE COMPLEX | 16 2
COMPLEX(8) or COMPLEX*16 | 16 2
COMPLEX(16) or COMPLEX*32 | 32 1,2
1 VMS, U*X 2 Complex values are treated as pairs of real numbers, so complex editing requires a pair of real edit descriptors. (See Section 11.2.4.6.)

If w is equal to or greater than the length (len) of the input item, the rightmost characters are assigned to that item. The leftmost excess characters are ignored.

If w is less than len, or less than the number of characters that can be stored, w characters are assigned to the list item, left-justified, and followed by trailing blanks.

The following shows input using the A edit descriptor (the symbol ^ represents a nonprinting blank character):

    Format     Input      Value        Data Type
    A6         PAGE^#     #            CHARACTER(LEN=1)
    A6         PAGE^#     E^#          CHARACTER(LEN=3)
    A6         PAGE^#     PAGE^#       CHARACTER(LEN=6)
    A6         PAGE^#     PAGE^#^^     CHARACTER(LEN=8)
    A6         PAGE^#     #            LOGICAL(1)
    A6         PAGE^#     ^#           INTEGER(2)
    A6         PAGE^#     GE^#         REAL(4)
    A6         PAGE^#     PAGE^#^^     REAL(8)

Rules for Output Processing

On output, the A data edit descriptor transfers the contents of the corresponding I/O list item to an external field that is w characters long.

If w is greater than the size of the list item, the data is transferred to the output field, right-justified, with leading blanks. If w is less than or equal to the size of the list item, the leftmost w characters are transferred.

The following shows output using the A edit descriptor (the symbol ^ represents a nonprinting blank character):

    Format     Value         Output
    A5         OHMS          ^OHMS
    A5         VOLTS         VOLTS
    A5         AMPERES       AMPER

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