A

 A[w] (Character Editing)

 If the corresponding I/O list element has a character data type,
 character data is transmitted.  If it has any other data type,
 Hollerith data is transmitted.  The value of "w" must be less than
 or equal to 2**31-1.

 The G edit descriptor can be used to edit character data; it
 follows the same rules as Aw.

 On input, the A edit descriptor transfers "w" characters or
 Hollerith values from the external record and assigns them to the
 corresponding list element.  If the input value contains fewer
 characters than "w", it is padded on the right with blanks.  If the
 input value contains excessive characters, it is truncated on the
 left.

 If the variable is numeric, the ASCII value of each character is
 placed in each byte of the variable, starting at the low-order
 byte.

 On output, the A edit descriptor transfers the contents of the
 corresponding I/O list element to an external field "w" characters
 long.  If the output value contains fewer characters than "w", it
 is padded on the left with blanks.  If the output value contains
 excess characters, it is truncated on the right (for numbers, the
 high-order bytes are lost).

 If the output value is numeric or untyped, the ASCII value of each
 byte of the variable, starting at the low-order byte, is
 transferred to the record.

 The "w" can be omitted and defaults to the number of characters in
 the character variable or the number of bytes in the numeric
 variable.