### 8.17 WRITE ¶

    WRITE
            OUTFILE=’file_name’
            RECORDS=n_lines
            {NOTABLE,TABLE}
            /[line_no] arg...

    arg takes one of the following forms:
            ’string’ [start-end]
            var_list start-end [type_spec]
            var_list (fortran_spec)
            var_list *

`WRITE` writes text or binary data to an output file.

See PRINT, for more information on syntax and usage. `PRINT` and `WRITE` differ in only a few ways:

- `WRITE` uses write formats by default, whereas `PRINT` uses print formats.
- `PRINT` inserts a space between variables unless a format is explicitly specified, but `WRITE` never inserts space between variables in output.
- `PRINT` inserts a space at the beginning of each line that it writes to an output file (and `PRINT EJECT` inserts ‘`1`’ at the beginning of each line that should begin a new page), but `WRITE` does not.
- `PRINT` outputs the system-missing value according to its specified output format, whereas `WRITE` outputs the system-missing value as a field filled with spaces. Binary formats are an exception.