# Format Specifier (FMT=)

The format specifier indicates the format to use for data editing. It takes the following form:

[FMT=]format

format | Is one of the following: The statement label of a FORMAT statement The FORMAT statement must be in the same scoping unit as the data transfer statement. An asterisk (*), indicating list-directed formatting A scalar default integer variable that has been assigned the label of a FORMAT statement (through an ASSIGN statement) The FORMAT statement must be in the same scoping unit as the data transfer statement. A character expression (which can be an array or character constant) containing the run-time format A default character expression must evaluate to a valid format specification. If the expression is an array, it is treated as if all the elements of the array were specified in array element order and were concatenated. The name of a numeric array (or array element) containing the format

If the keyword FMT is omitted, the format specifier must be the second specifier in the control list; the io-unit specifier must be first.

If a format specifier appears in a control list, a namelist group specifier must not appear.

Parent topic: I/O Control List

## See Also

FORMAT statement
Interaction between FORMAT statements and I/O lists
Rules for List-Directed Sequential READ Statements for details on list-directed input
Rules for List-Directed Sequential WRITE Statements for details on list-directed output