^Z (ASCII 26) is interpreted as EOF, which is strange. g77 accepts this. $ cat ab.f print *,"" end $ od -t d1 -t a ab.f 0000000 32 32 32 32 32 32 112 114 105 110 116 32 42 44 34 26 sp sp sp sp sp sp p r i n t sp * , " sub 0000020 34 10 32 32 32 32 32 32 101 110 100 10 " nl sp sp sp sp sp sp e n d nl 0000034 $ gfortran ab.f ab.f:1.14:
print *," 1 Error: Unterminated character constant beginning at (1) $ g77 ab.f $ -- Summary: ^Z as EOF? Product: gcc Version: 4.3.0 Status: UNCONFIRMED Keywords: rejects-valid Severity: normal Priority: P3 Component: fortran AssignedTo: unassigned at gcc dot gnu dot org ReportedBy: tkoenig at gcc dot gnu dot org OtherBugsDependingO 19292 nThis: http://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=30532