Glossary F
- field
- Can be either of the following:
- A set of contiguous characters, considered as a single item, in a record
or line.
- A substructure of a STRUCTURE declaration.
- field descriptor
- See data
edit descriptor.
- field separator
- The comma (,) or slash (/) that separates edit descriptors in a format
specification.
- field width
- The total number of characters in the field. See also field,
the first definition.
- file
- A collection of logically related records. If the file is in internal
storage, it is an internal file; if the file is on an input/output device,
it is an external file.
- file access
- The way records are accessed (and stored) in a file. The Fortran 95/90
file access modes are sequential and direct. On OpenVMS systems, you can
also use a keyed mode of access.
- file handle
- On Tru64 UNIX, Linux, and Windows systems,
a unique identifier that the system assigns to a file when the file is opened
or created. A file handle is valid until the file is closed.
- file organization
- The way records in a file are physically arranged on a storage device.
Fortran 95/90 files can have sequential or relative organization. On OpenVMS
systems, files can also have indexed organization.
- fixed-length
record type
- A file format in which all the records are the same length.
- focus window
- Window to which keyboard input is directed.
- foreground process
- On Tru64 UNIX and Linux systems, a process for which the command interpreter
is waiting. Its process group is the same as that of its controlling
terminal, so the process is allowed to read from or write to the
terminal. Contrast with background process.
- foreground
window
- The window with which the user is currently working. The system assigns
a slightly higher priority to the thread that created the foreground window
than it does to other threads.
- foreign file
- An unformatted file that contains data from a foreign platform, such
as data from a CRAY, IBM, or big endian IEEE machine.
- format
- A specific arrangement of data. A FORMAT statement
specifies how data
is to be read or written.
- format
specification
- The part of a FORMAT statement that specifies
explicit data arrangement.
It is a list within parentheses that can include edit descriptors and field
separators. A character expression can also specify format; the expression
must evaluate to a valid format specification.
- formatted data
- Data written to a file by using formatted I/O statements. Such data
contains ASCII representations of binary values.
- formatted
I/O statement
- An I/O statement specifying a format for data transfer. The format
specified can be explicit (specified in a format specification) or implicit
(specified using list-directed or namelist formatting). Contrast with
unformatted I/O
statement. See also list-directed
I/O statement and namelist
I/O statement.
- frame window
- The outermost parent window in QuickWin.
- function
- A series of statements that perform some operation and return a single
value (through the function or result name) to the calling program unit.
A function is invoked by a function reference in a main program unit or
a subprogram unit.
In Fortran 95/90, a function can be used to define a new operator or extend
the meaning of an intrinsic operator symbol. The function is invoked by
the appearance of the new or extended operator in the expression (along
with the appropriate operands). For example, the symbol * can be defined
for logical operands, extending its intrinsic definition for numeric operands.
See also function subprogram,
statement function,
and subroutine.
- function
reference
- Used in an expression to invoke a function, it consists of the function
name and its actual arguments. A function reference returns a value (through
the function or result name) which is used to evaluate the calling expression.
- function result
- The result value associated with a particular execution or call to
a function. This result can be of any data type (including derived type)
and can be array-valued. In a FUNCTION statement,
the RESULT option can
be used to give the result a name different from the function name. This
option is required for a recursive function that directly calls itself.
- function
subprogram
- A sequence of statements beginning with a FUNCTION (or
optional OPTIONS)
statement that is not in an interface block and ending with the corresponding
END statement. See also function.