FIELD Specification (MATRIX-END MATRIX command)

FIELD specifies the column positions of a fixed-format record where the data for matrix elements are located.

  • The FIELD specification is required.
  • Startcol is the number of the leftmost column of the input area.
  • Endcol is the number of the rightmost column of the input area.
  • Both startcol and endcol are required and both must be constants. For example, FIELD = 9 TO 72 specifies that values to be read appear between columns 9 and 72 (inclusive) of each input record.
  • The BY clause, if present, indicates that each value appears within a fixed set of columns on the input record; that is, one value is separated from the next by its column position rather than by a space or comma. Width is the width of the area designated for each value. For example, FIELD = 1 TO 80 BY 10 indicates that there are eight possible values per record and that one will appear between columns 1 and 10 (inclusive), another between columns 11 and 20, and so on, up to columns 71 and 80. The BY value must evenly divide the length of the field. That is, endcol-startcol+1 must be a multiple of the width.
  • You can use the FORMAT specification to supply the same information as the BY clause of the FIELD specification. If you omit the BY clause and do not specify a format on the FORMAT specification, READ assumes that values are separated by blanks or commas within the designated field.