Formatted direct-access files are slightly more portable than the unformatted form because their record length is always measured in characters. Otherwise there is little to be said for them. The OPEN statement must specify both ACCESS='DIRECT' and FORM='FORMATTED' and each READ and WRITE statement must contain both format and record-number identifiers. List-directed transfers are not permitted. If the format specification requires more than one record to be used, these additional records follow on sequentially from that specified by REC=. It is an error to try to read beyond the end of a record, but an incompletely filled record will be padded out with blanks.