In case (3), one record per non-zero cell, each line contains, optionally, the sequential row and/or column numbers, their corresponding zone names and the cell values with a large number of decimals for maximum accuracy. In addition, with stacked matrices, the level and/or block value may also be included, e.g. as the third value on a record if only the sequential row/column numbers/names are included, the fifth if both numbers and names are given.
Single-line records may be either “formatted” (i.e., output within fixed columns” or free format/CSV (i.e., output with each item separated by a comma). The “fixed” column widths are set large enough that spaces will certainly exist between each item so that the formatted output may be effectively re-read in MX (see Section 10.5.4) as though it were free-format. At this stage, therefore, and as far as subsequently re-inputting files back into MX goes, the choice is not particularly important (although, for inputs, the free-format choice is strongly recommended; 10.5.4).
In Release 10.8.20 an extra option has been provided to suppress the final record which, by default, consists of 99999 and which can be “awkward” if the ascii file is being input to other suites of programs.