12.6.15 FORM Specifier

The FORM specifier indicates whether the file is being connected for formatted or unformatted data transfer. It takes the following form:

FORM = fm

fm
Is a scalar default character expression that evaluates to one of the following values:

'FORMATTED'	Indicates formatted data transfer
'UNFORMATTED'	Indicates unformatted data transfer

The default is 'FORMATTED' for sequential access files, and 'UNFORMATTED' for direct and keyed access files.