The following code is erroneous because there's a & missing in the continuation line:
$ cat char-cont-wrong.f90 program main character (len=40) c c = "Hello, & world!" print *,c end program main $ gfortran char-cont-wrong.f90 $ ./a.out Hello, world! I think a diagnostic is needed for this case. -- Summary: missing & in character continuation not caught Product: gcc Version: 4.0.0 Status: UNCONFIRMED Severity: normal Priority: P2 Component: fortran AssignedTo: unassigned at gcc dot gnu dot org ReportedBy: Thomas dot Koenig at online dot de CC: gcc-bugs at gcc dot gnu dot org http://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=19101