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
andendcol
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. TheBY
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 theBY
clause of theFIELD
specification. If you omit theBY
clause and do not specify a format on theFORMAT
specification,READ
assumes that values are separated by blanks or commas within the designated field.