A field in the ASCII file is a sequence of zero or more characters that ends in a delimiter character (the delimiter is specified in the READ statement). Effectively, as many fields as delimiter characters exist in each record. The number of fields must be the same in each record, and each field must be defined in an ASCII statement in the DEFINE section of the report. No default exists for missing fields. Look for message -9072; it can help you locate the record in error.