ACCEPT /COLUMN

        [SIC\]ACCEPT Var_1 [Var_2 [...] /COLUMN File_Name [Separator] [/FOR-
    MAT String] [/LINE L1 [L2]]

    Read  ONE or SEVERAL 1-Dimensional variables in a flexible format from a
    formatted file File_Name. Each variables can be of any  length,  from  0
    (scalar) to N. They are filled by reading each associated column, start-
    ing from first line. Data is read in as many lines as required.  If  end
    of file is reached in the meantime, an error is raised.

    Blank or commented lines (starting with a "!") are skipped. The starting
    line number can be selected with /LINE option.

    A * as an argument of the ACCEPT command indicates a dummy variable used
    to skip a column in the input file. For example, the command
        ACCEPT A * B C /COLUMN TEST.DAT
    reads A,B and C from columns 1,3 and 4 of file TEST.DAT, since the * in-
    dicates to skip the second column.

    By default, the format is the equivalent of  the  Fortran  list-directed
    (*)  format.  In this format, character strings must be included between
    simple quotes. The default can be changed by specifying a separator as a
    second  argument  of  option  /COLUMN.  The separator can be " " ( which
    gives a behaviour like the COLUMN command of GreG), or any other charac-
    ter.   For example, specifying "\;" as a separator can allow to read CSV
    files (e.g. Excel data files).

    Option /FORMAT can also be used to specify a fixed Fortran-like  format.