The function of some characters depends on their location in the input line. For example, if the infinite skip character (/) is the last non-blank character on the line, or the last before the comment character, it is treated as a character delimiter, similar to a comma. In addition, it is equivalent to an infinite series of skipped or empty arguments existing before the end-of-line condition is raised. This treatment is mostly for compatibility with the standard FORTRAN List Directed I/O standards where a slash (/) indicates that all remaining arguments of a read are to retain their current values. If the character is placed anywhere else in the line, it is just an ordinary character and will be treated as part of an argument. Examples of lines that use the infinite skip character:
Foo, bar, bletch / Foo bar bletch,/ Foo bar bletch/ ! a comment after the infinite skip charall have three non-empty arguments, followed by infinite skips. In the following cases the slash is NOT treated as an infinite skip character:
