Glossary E
- edit descriptor
- A descriptor in a format specification. It can be a data edit descriptor,
control edit descriptor, or string edit descriptor. See also
control
edit descriptor, data
edit descriptor, and string
edit descriptor.
- element
- See array element.
- elemental
- Pertains to an intrinsic operation, intrinsic procedure, or assignment
statement that is independently applied to either of the following:
- The elements of an array
- Corresponding elements of a set of conformable arrays and scalars
- end-of-file
- The condition that exists when all records in a file open for sequential
access have been read.
- entity
- A general term referring to any Fortran 95/90 concept; for example, a
constant, a variable, a program unit, a statement label, a common block,
a construct, an I/O unit and so forth.
- environment
variable
- A symbolic variable that represents some element of the operating system,
such as logical names (on OpenVMS systems) or a path, a filename, or other
literal data.
For example, the environment variable PATH represents the directories to
search for executable files.
- error number
- An integer value denoting an I/O error condition, obtained by using
the IOSTAT keyword in an I/O statement.
- escape character
- The character whose ascii value is 27, usually part of a string used
to communicate commands to devices such as printers. See also
control
character.
- exceptional
values
- For floating-point numbers, values outside the range of normalized
numbers, including denormal (subnormal) numbers, infinity, Not-a-Number
(NaN) values, zero, and other architecture-defined numbers.
- executable
construct
- A CASE, DO,
IF, WHERE,
or FORALL construct.
- executable
program
- A set of program units that include only one main program.
- executable
statement
- A statement that specifies an action to be performed or controls one
or more computational instructions.
- explicit
interface
- A procedure interface whose properties are known within the scope of
the calling program, and do not have to be assumed. These properties are
the names of the procedure and its dummy arguments, the attributes of a
procedure (if it is a function), and the attributes and order of the dummy
arguments.
The following have explicit interfaces:
- Internal and module procedures (explicit by definition)
- Intrinsic procedures
- External procedures that have an interface block
- External procedures that are defined by the scoping unit and are recursive
- Dummy procedures that have an interface block
- explicit-shape
array
- An array whose rank and bounds are specified when the array is declared.
- expression
- Is either a data reference or a computation, and is formed from operands,
operands, and parentheses. The result of an expression is either a scalar
value or an array of scalar values.
- extent
- The size of (number of elements in) one dimension of an array.
- external file
- A sequence of records that exists in a medium external to the executing
program.
- external
procedure
- A procedure that is contained in an external subprogram. External procedures
can be used to share information (such as source files, common blocks,
and public data in modules) and can be used independently of other procedures
and program units. Also called an external routine.
- external
subprogram
- A subroutine or function that is not contained in a main program, module,
or another subprogram. A module is not a subprogram.