When the last closing parenthesis of the format specification is reached, format control determines whether more I/O list elements are to be processed. If not, format control terminates. However, if additional list elements remain, part or all of the format specification is reused in a process called format reversion. In format reversion, the current record is terminated, a new one is initiated, and format control reverts to the group repeat specification whose opening parenthesis matches the next-to-last closing parenthesis of the format specification. If the format does not contain a group repeat specification, format control returns to the initial opening parenthesis of the format specification. Format control continues from that point.