Any Fortran language variable an EQUEL statement uses must be made known to the preprocessor so that it can determine the type of the variable. EQUEL/Fortran does not know the implicit typing conventions Fortran uses, so you must explicitly declare all variables. The preprocessor uses the declaration to set up type information for the Ingres runtime system.

Use two number signs (##) to begin a declaration of a variable in an EQUEL/Fortran program. Begin the signs in the first column position of the line. If the EQUEL statement does not use a variable, you do not need to use number signs.