Open Watcom FORTRAN 77 Language Reference

FORTRAN Statements
Example:
DIMENSION C(-5:5)
CHARACTER A, B*10(10), C*20
CHARACTER*7 X, Y, Z*4
The (*) length specification is only allowed for external functions, dummy arguments or symbolic
character constants. If a dummy argument has a length specification of (*), it assumes the length of the
corresponding actual argument. If the actual argument is an array name, the length assumed by the dummy
argument is the length of an array element of the actual array.
Example:
SUBROUTINE OUTCHR( STR )
CHARACTER STR*(*)
PRINT *, STR
END
In this example, STR is a character variable whose length is the length of the actual argument. Thus
OUTCHR can be called with a character entity of any length.
If an external function has a length specification of (*) declared in a function subprogram, the function
name must appear as the name of a function in a FUNCTION or ENTRY statement in the same subprogram.
When the function is called, the function assumes the length specified in the program unit that called it. In
the following example, when F is called its length is assumed to be 10.
Example:
CHARACTER*(10) F
.
.
.
PRINT *, F()
.
.
.
END
CHARACTER*(*) FUNCTION F
F = ’HELLO’
END
The following example is illegal since F does not appear in a FUNCTION or ENTRY statement.
Example:
* Illegal definition of function F.
CHARACTER*(*) F
.
.
.
PRINT *, F()
.
.
.
END
The length specified for a character function in the program unit that referenced it must agree with the
length specified in the subprogram that defines the character function. Note that there is always agreement
if the function is defined to have a length specification of (*).
CHARACTER Statement 27