13.6.14 FORM Specifier

The FORM specifier indicates whether the file is being connected for binary (WNT, W9*), 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
'BINARY'	Indicates binary data transfer

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