Fortran variables of type character are compatible with all Ingres character string objects. EQUEL/Fortran does not need to know the declared length of a character string variable to use it at runtime. Therefore, it does not check the validity of any expression or symbolic name that declares the length of the string variable. You should ensure that your string variables are long enough to accommodate any possible runtime values. For information on the interaction between character string variables and Ingres data at runtime, see Runtime Character Conversion.