Glossary E

edit descriptor	A descriptor in a format specification. It can be a data edit descriptor, control edit descriptor, or string edit descriptor. See also control edit descriptor, data edit descriptor, and string edit descriptor.
element	See array element.
elemental	Pertains to an intrinsic operation, intrinsic procedure, or assignment statement that is independently applied to either of the following: The elements of an array Corresponding elements of a set of conformable arrays and scalars
end-of-file	The condition that exists when all records in a file open for sequential access have been read.
entity	A general term referring to any Standard Fortran concept; for example, a constant, a variable, a program unit, a statement label, a common block, a construct, an I/O unit and so forth.
environment variable	A symbolic variable that represents some element of the operating system, such as a path, a filename, or other literal data.
error number	An integer value denoting an I/O error condition, obtained by using the IOSTAT keyword in an I/O statement.
exceptional values	For floating-point numbers, values outside the range of normalized numbers, including denormal (subnormal) numbers, infinity, Not-a-Number (NaN) values, zero, and other architecture-defined numbers.
executable construct	A CASE, DO, IF, WHERE, or FORALL construct.
executable program	A set of program units that include only one main program.
executable statement	A statement that specifies an action to be performed or controls one or more computational instructions.
explicit interface	A procedure interface whose properties are known within the scope of the calling program, and do not have to be assumed. These properties are the names of the procedure and its dummy arguments, the attributes of a procedure (if it is a function), and the attributes and order of the dummy arguments. The following have explicit interfaces: Internal and module procedures (explicit by definition) Intrinsic procedures External procedures that have an interface block External procedures that are defined by the scoping unit and are recursive Dummy procedures that have an interface block
explicit-shape array	An array whose rank and bounds are specified when the array is declared.
expression	A data reference or a computation formed from operators, operands, and parentheses. The result of an expression is either a scalar value or an array of scalar values.
extended type	An extensible type that is an extension of another type. A type that is declared with the EXTENDS attribute.
extensible type	A type from which new types may be derived using the EXTENDS attribute. A nonsequence type that does not have the BIND attribute.
extent	The size of (number of elements in) one dimension of an array.
external file	A sequence of records that exists in a medium external to the executing program.
external procedure	A procedure that is contained in an external subprogram. External procedures can be used to share information (such as source files, common blocks, and public data in modules) and can be used independently of other procedures and program units. Also called an external routine.
external subprogram	A subroutine or function that is not contained in a main program, module, or another subprogram. A module is not a subprogram.