IB>  PE> char-only variables.  You know what that means, don't you?  You have
IB>  PE> to read data from a file as a pure character buffer, you can't put it
IB>  PE> into structures.

IB> This has always been the case with C (COBOL is the only language which
IB> allows the programmer total control over record I/O)

FM> Now I might disagree on both grounds. :-) I can think of another
FM> language which won't stuff you up with that added byte problem, but I
FM> won't mention its name because Paul will start arguing with me. :-)

The Pascal standard says there will be no padding in records, does it?  How
do they handle the case where you have integers within the record, and
you're on a machine that doesn't allow you to access integers if they're
not properly aligned?  BFN.  Paul. 
@EOT:

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