Discussion Overview
The discussion centers around the meaning and usage of the characters "(5,*)", "(6,*)", and "(*,*)" in Fortran programming, particularly in relation to READ and WRITE statements. Participants explore historical context, syntax, and the implications of these codes in input and output operations.
Discussion Character
- Technical explanation
- Exploratory
Main Points Raised
- One participant inquires about the necessity of "(5,*)" after READ and "(6,*)" after WRITE, questioning their specific uses.
- Another participant explains that filecode 5 was historically used for standard card input and filecode 6 for output to printers, later evolving to represent terminal device interactions.
- It is noted that the asterisk (*) signifies reading from or writing to the terminal device, with the second asterisk indicating a free form format for the data being read or written.
- A participant corrects a previous statement regarding the second asterisk, clarifying it pertains to the data rather than the day.
- One participant expresses gratitude for the clarification regarding "(*,*)" and mentions that the thread is closed after finding the explanation satisfactory.
- Another participant shares a link to a Google search result that provides a summary of the Fortran read statement.
Areas of Agreement / Disagreement
Participants do not reach a consensus on the broader implications of these codes, but there is a general agreement on their historical context and usage in terminal interactions. Some points remain clarified while others are still open to interpretation.
Contextual Notes
Some statements rely on historical context that may not be universally applicable to all versions of Fortran. There are also potential ambiguities in the interpretation of the asterisk symbols and their specific applications in different contexts.