Section 11,22: DATE

 CALL DATE (buf)

 buf  Is a 9-byte variable, array, array element, 
      or character substring.

 A subroutine that gets the current date as set within the system.
 The date is returned as a 9-byte ASCII character string as follows:

   dd-mmm-yy

 If "buf" is numeric type and smaller than 9 bytes, data corruption
 can occur.

 If "buf" is character type, its associated length is passed to the
 subroutine.  If "buf" is smaller than 9 bytes, the subroutine
 truncates the date to fit in the specified length.  Note that if a
 CHARACTER array is passed, the subroutine stores the date in the
 first array element, using the element length, not the length of
 the entire array.  For example, consider the following:

 CHARACTER*1 DAY(9)
    .
    .
    .
 CALL DATE(DAY)

 The length of the first array element in CHARACTER array DAY is
 passed to the DATE subroutine.  The subroutine then truncates the
 date to fit into the one-character element, producing an incorrect
 result.