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BSD 3.0
Update to the f77 I/O Library
January 1980
David L. Wasley
University of California
Berkeley, Calif. 94720
The fortran-77 I/O library, libI77.a, has been exten-
sively updated. All known bugs have been fixed, and I/O
error reporting has been improved. Several non-standard
extensions to FORTRAN I/O have been added.
Some general concepts regarding f77 I/O deserve clarif-
ication. There are three forms of I/O: formatted, unformat-
ted, and list-directed. The last is related to formatted but
does not obey all the rules for formatted I/O. There are
two modes of access to external and internal files: direct
and sequential. The definition of a logical record depends
upon the combination of I/O form and mode specified by the
fortran I/O statement.
A logical record in direct access external files is a
string of bytes of a length specified when the file is
opened. Read and write statements must not specify logical
records longer than the original record size definition.
Shorter logical records are allowed. Unformatted direct
writes leave the unfilled part of the record undefined.
Formatted direct writes cause the unfilled record to be pad-
ded with blanks.
Logical records in sequentially accessed external files
may be of arbitrary and variable length. Logical record
length for unformatted sequential files is determined by the
size of items in the iolist. For formatted write state-
ments, logical record length is determined by the format
statement interacting with the iolist at execution time.
Formatted sequential access causes one or more logical
records ending with 'newline' characters to be read or writ-
ten.
Logical record length for list-directed I/O is rela-
tively meaningless. On output, the record length is depen-
dent on the magnitude of the data items. On input, the
record length is determined by the data types and the file
contents.
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The logical record length for "internal" files is the
length of the character variable or array element. Thus a
simple character variable is a single logical record. A
character variable array is similar to a fixed length direct
access file, and obeys the same rules. Unformatted I/O is
not allowed on "internal" files.
Note that each execution of a fortran unformatted I/O
statement causes a single logical record to be read or writ-
ten. Each execution of a fortran formatted I/O statement
causes one or more logical records to be read or written.
Any error detected during I/O processing will cause the
program to abort unless alternate action has been provided
for specifically in the program. Any I/O statement may
include an err= clause (and iostat= clause) to specify an
alternate branch to be taken on errors (and return the
specific error code). Read or write statements may include
end= to branch on end-of-file. File position and the value
of I/O list items is undefined following an error.
I. Implementation details.
The maximum number of logical units that a program may
have open at one time has been set to correspond with the
UNIX system limit, currently 20. However, the I/O library
uses UNIX file access for internal purposes. Therefore
fatal errors are possible if the maximum number of files are
open. Specifically, 'close' or 'endfile' on an old file,
and "'inquire' by file" may fail.
Vertical format control is implemented. The logical
unit must be opened for sequential access and "form =
'print'" (see below). Control codes '0' and '1' are
replaced in the output file with '\n' and '\f' respectively.
The control character '+' isn't implemented and, like any
other character in the first position of a record written to
a "print" file, is dropped. No vertical format control is
recognized for direct formatted output or list directed out-
put.
Default logical units 0, 5, and 6 can be re-defined
with an 'open' statement. To preserve error reporting, it
is an error to close logical unit 0. If you want to open
the default filename for any preconnected logical unit,
remember to 'close' the unit first. Redefining the standard
units may impair normal console I/O. An alternative is to
use shell re-direction to externally re-define the above
units. To re-define default blank control or format of the
standard input or output files, use the 'open' statement
specifying the unit number and no filename (see below).
An 'open' statement need not specify a filename. If it
refers to a logical unit that is already open, the "blank= "
- 3 -
and "form= " specifiers may be redefined without affecting
the current file position. Otherwise, if "status='scratch'"
is specified, a temporary file with a name of the form
'tmp.FXXXXXX' will be opened, and, by default, will be
deleted when closed or during termination of program execu-
tion. Any other "status= " specifier without an associated
filename results in opening a file named 'fort.N' where N is
the specified logical unit number. It is an error to try to
open an existing file with "status='new'". It is an error
to try to open a nonexistent file with "status='old'". By
default "status='unknown'" will be assumed, and a file will
be created if necessary. Existing files are never truncated
on opening but are positioned at the end-of-file.
Sequentially accessed external files are truncated to
the current file position on 'close', 'backspace', or
'rewind' only if the last access to the file was a write.
Upper as well as lower case characters are recognized
in format statements and all alphabetic arguments to the I/O
library routines. This has always been true for statements
that are part of the source code, but not for format state-
ments or character arguments from a file.
If the external representation of a datum is too large
for the field width specified, the specified field is filled
with asterisks (*). On 'Ew.dEe' output, the e field will be
filled with asterisks if the exponent representation is too
large. (This will only happen if e==0)
List-directed output of complex values now includes an
appropriate comma. List-directed output now distinguishes
between real*4 and real*8 values and formats them dif-
ferently. Output of a character string that includes '\n'
now works correctly.
If I/O errors are not trapped by the user's program an
appropriate error message will be written to 'stderr' before
aborting. An error number will be printed in [ ] along with
a brief error message showing the logical unit and I/O
state. Error numbers < 100 refer to UNIX errors, and are
described in the introduction to chapter 2 of the UNIX
Programmer's Manual. Error numbers >= 100 come from the I/O
library, and are described further in the appendix to this
writeup. For internal I/O, part of the string will be
printed with '|' at the current position in the string. For
external I/O, part of the current record will be displayed
if the error was caused during reading from a file that can
backspace.
Direct access list-directed I/O is not allowed. Unfor-
matted internal I/O is not allowed. Both the above will be
caught by the compiler. All other flavors of I/O are
allowed, although some are not part of the ANSI standard.
- 4 -
The standard units, 0, 5, and 6, are now named inter-
nally 'stderr', 'stdin', and 'stdout' respectively. These
are not actual filenames and can not be used for opening
these units. 'inquire' will not return these names and will
indicate that the above units are not named unless they have
been opened to real files. The names are meant to make
error reporting more meaningful.
On output, a real value that is truly zero will display
as '0.' to distinguish it from a very small non-zero value.
This occurs in 'F', 'E', 'D', and 'G' format conversions.
Non-destructive tabbing is implemented for both inter-
nal and external formatted I/O. Tabbing left or right on
output does not affect previously written portions of a
record. Tabbing right on output causes unwritten portions
of a record to be filled with blanks. Tabbing left or right
off the end of a logical record is an error. The format
specifier 'T' must be followed by a positive non-zero
number. If it is not, it will have a different meaning (See
below). Note that spacing with 'X' always writes blanks in
the output record.
II. Non-"ANSI Standard" Extensions
B is an acceptable edit control specifier. It causes
return to the default mode of blank interpretation (NULL)
and is identical to BN. This is consistent with S which
returns to default sign control.
P by itself is equivalent to 0P. It resets the scale
factor to the default value, 0.
The form of the 'Ew.dEe' format specifier has been
extended to 'D' also. The form 'Ew.d.e' is allowed but is
not standard. The 'e' field specifies the minimum number of
digits or spaces in the exponent field on output. If the
value of the exponent is too large, the exponent notation
'e' or 'd' will be dropped from the output to allow one more
character position. If this is still not adequate, the 'e'
field will be filled with asterisks (*). The default value
for 'e' is 2.
An additional form of tab control specification has
been added. The ANSI standard forms 'TRn', 'TLn', and 'Tn'
are supported where n is a positive non-zero number. If 'T'
or 'nT' is specified, tabbing will be to the next (or n-th)
8-column tab stop. Thus columns of alphanumerics can be
lined up without counting. (See above for a description of
the tabbing implementation.)
A format control specifier has been added to suppress
the newline at the end of the last record of a formatted
sequential write. The specifier is a dollar sign ($). It is
- 5 -
constrained by the same rules as the colon (:). It is used
typically for console prompts. For example:
write (*, "('enter value for x: ',$)")
read (*,*) x
Radices other than 10 can be specified for formatted
integer I/O conversion. The specifier is patterned after P,
the pre-scale factor for floating point conversion. It
remains in effect until another radix is specified or format
interpretation is complete. The specifier is defined as [n]R
where 2 <= n <= 36. If n is omitted, the default decimal
radix is restored.
In conjunction with the above, a sign control specifier
has been added to cause integer values to be interpreted as
unsigned during output conversion. The specifier is SU and
remains in effect until another sign control specifier is
encountered, or format interpretation is complete. Radix and
'unsigned' specifiers could be used to format a hexadecimal
dump, as follows:
2000 format( SU, 16R, 8I10.8)
Note: Unsigned integer values greater than (2**30 - 1), i.e.
any signed negative value, can not be read by FORTRAN input
routines. All internal values will be output correctly.
The ANSI standard is ambiguous regarding the definition
of a "print" file. Since UNIX has no default "print" file,
an additional 'form' specifier is now recognized in the
'open' statement. Specifying "form='print'" implies 'for-
matted' and enables vertical format control for that logical
unit (see above). Vertical format control is interpreted
only on sequential formatted writes to a "print" file.
The 'inquire' statement will return 'print' in the
'FORM=' string variable for logical units opened as "print"
files. It will return -1 for the unit number of an uncon-
nected file.
If a logical unit is already open, an 'open' statement
including the re-define those options. This instance of the
'open' statement need not include the filename, and must not
include a filename if 'unit=' refers to the standard input
or outputs. Therefore, to re-define the standard output as
a "print" file, use:
open (unit=6, form='print')
- 6 -
In a 'close' statement, "status='keep'" may be speci-
fied for temporary files. This is the default for all other
files. Remember to get the file's real name, using
'inquire', if you want to re-open it later.
List directed read has been modified to allow input of
a string not enclosed in quotes. The string must not start
with a digit, and can not contain a separator (, or /) or
blank (space or tab). A newline will terminate the string
unless escaped with \. Any string not meeting the above res-
trictions must be enclosed in quotes (" or ').
Internal list-directed I/O has been implemented. During
internal list reads, bytes are consummed until the iolist is
satisfied, or the 'end-of-file' is reached. During internal
list writes, records are filled until the iolist is satis-
fied. The length of an internal array element should be at
least 20 bytes to avoid logical record overflow when writing
double precision values. Internal list read was implemented
to make command line decoding easier. Internal list write
should be avoided.
- 7 -
Appendix A
I/O Library Error Messages
The following error messages are generated by the I/O
library. The error numbers are returned in the "iostat="
variable if the "err=" return is taken. Error numbers < 100
are generated by UNIX. See the UNIX Programmers Manual,
introduction to chapter 2.
/* 100 */ "error in format"
See error message output for the location
of the error in the format. Can be caused
by more than 10 levels of nested (), or
an extremely long format statement.
/* 101 */ "illegal unit number"
It is illegal to close logical unit 0.
Negative unit numbers are not allowed.
The upper limit is system dependent.
/* 102 */ "formatted io not allowed"
The logical unit was opened for
unformatted I/O.
/* 103 */ "unformatted io not allowed"
The logical unit was opened for
formatted I/O.
/* 104 */ "direct io not allowed"
The logical unit was opened for sequential
access, or the logical record length was
specified as 0.
/* 105 */ "sequential io not allowed"
The logical unit was opened for direct
access I/O.
/* 106 */ "can't backspace file"
The file associated with the logical unit
can't seek. May be a device or a pipe.
/* 107 */ "off beginning of record"
The format specified a left tab off the
beginning of the record.
/* 108 */ "can't stat file"
The system can't return status information
about the file. Perhaps the directory is
unreadable.
/* 109 */ "no * after repeat count"
Repeat counts in list-directed I/O must be
followed by an * with no blank spaces.
- 8 -
/* 110 */ "off end of record"
A formatted write tried to go beyond the
logical end-of-record. An unformatted read
or write will also cause this.
/* 111 */ "truncation failed"
The truncation of external sequential files
on 'close', 'backspace', or 'rewind' tries
to do a copy. It failed. Perhaps the temp
file couldn't be created.
/* 112 */ "incomprehensible list input"
List input has to be just right.
/* 113 */ "out of free space"
The library dynamically creates buffers for
internal use. You ran out of memory for this.
Your program is too big!
/* 114 */ "unit not connected"
The logical unit was not open.
/* 115 */ "read unexpected character"
Certain format conversions can't tolerate
non-numeric data. Logical data must be
T or F.
/* 116 */ "blank logical input field"
/* 117 */ "'new' file exists"
You tried to open an existing file with
"status='new'".
/* 118 */ "can't find 'old' file"
You tried to open a non-existent file
with "status='old'".
/* 119 */ "unknown system error"
Shouldn't happen, but .....
(Send me a documented example.)
/* 120 */ "requires seek ability"
Direct access requires seek ability.
Sequential unformatted I/O requires seek
ability on the file due to the special
data structure required. Tabbing left
also requires seek ability.
/* 121 */ "illegal argument"
Certain arguments to 'open', etc. will be
checked for legitimacy. Often only non-
default forms are looked for.
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