DEFINE CHARACTER

###
DEFINE CHARACTER

            [SIC\]DEFINE CHARACTER Var1*Lvar1[DIM1] [...]
            [SIC\]DEFINE CHARACTER*Length Var1[DIM1] [...]

        CHARACTER  variables  can  be scalar or multi-dimensional. The length of
        CHARACTER variable is specified after an * either after  CHARACTER  key-
        word  or after the name of the variable. When both are present, the per-
        variable length has precedence. The dimension field (same syntax as  for
        other  arrays) should follow the length declaration.  The CHARACTER key-
        word can be abbreviated, i.e. this is a valid statement
            DEFIN CHAR*12 Var1  Var2*36 Var3[16]

        Character substrings can be accessed for reading and  writing  with  the
        [charmin:charmax] specification, e.g.
            DEFINE CHARACTER C*128
            LET C[3:4] "AB"
            EXAMINE C[3:4]
            IF C[3:4].EQ."AB"  SAY "Yes"
        The  substring  specification MUST be provided with the column ":", even
        for a single character, e.g. C[1:1]. If the character variable  has  one
        or  more  dimensions,  the  substring  specification can be applied to a
        scalar subarray, e.g.
            DEFINE CHARACTER*128 D[3,4]
            EXAMINE D[1,2][3:4]
        It is an error to apply a substring specification to an array, e.g.
            EXAMINE D[1,][3:4]  ! Invalid