	SUBROUTINE VAR_DATA_FMT( nleft, nright, rqst_digits, min_width,
     .				 width, good_fmt, bad_fmt )

*
*
*  This software was developed by the Thermal Modeling and Analysis
*  Project(TMAP) of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric
*  Administration's (NOAA) Pacific Marine Environmental Lab(PMEL),
*  hereafter referred to as NOAA/PMEL/TMAP.
*
*  Access and use of this software shall impose the following
*  obligations and understandings on the user. The user is granted the
*  right, without any fee or cost, to use, copy, modify, alter, enhance
*  and distribute this software, and any derivative works thereof, and
*  its supporting documentation for any purpose whatsoever, provided
*  that this entire notice appears in all copies of the software,
*  derivative works and supporting documentation.  Further, the user
*  agrees to credit NOAA/PMEL/TMAP in any publications that result from
*  the use of this software or in any product that includes this
*  software. The names TMAP, NOAA and/or PMEL, however, may not be used
*  in any advertising or publicity to endorse or promote any products
*  or commercial entity unless specific written permission is obtained
*  from NOAA/PMEL/TMAP. The user also understands that NOAA/PMEL/TMAP
*  is not obligated to provide the user with any support, consulting,
*  training or assistance of any kind with regard to the use, operation
*  and performance of this software nor to provide the user with any
*  updates, revisions, new versions or "bug fixes".
*
*  THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY NOAA/PMEL/TMAP "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS
*  OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
*  WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
*  ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL NOAA/PMEL/TMAP BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL,
*  INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER
*  RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF
*  CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTUOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN
*  CONNECTION WITH THE ACCESS, USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE. 
*
*
* prepare a format suitable to write out gridded data in a minimum width that
* provides the requested precision.  May use E or F format, depending on size
* "min_width" prevents the field from being less than xxx columns

* programmer - steve hankin
* NOAA/PMEL, Seattle, WA - Tropical Modeling and Analysis Program
* written for VAX computer under VMS operating system

* V200:   7/9/90 - extracted from LIST_CMND_DATA
*       *acm* 3/12 cleanup ifdefs and unnecessary include files

        IMPLICIT NONE
	include 'ferret.parm'

* calling argument declarations:
	INTEGER nleft, nright, rqst_digits, min_width,
     .		width
	CHARACTER*(*) good_fmt, bad_fmt

* local variable declarations:
	INTEGER	F_size, E_size

* use F or E format for good data - whichever is smaller
	F_size = nleft + nright + 3	! _.     and extra spc --> 3
	E_size = rqst_digits + 7		! -.E-xx and extra spc --> 7
	IF ( F_size .LT. E_size ) THEN
	   width = MAX( F_size, min_width )
	   WRITE ( good_fmt, 3000 ) 'F', width, nright
	ELSE
	   width  = MAX( E_size, min_width )
	   WRITE ( good_fmt, 3000 ) '1PE', width, rqst_digits-1
	ENDIF

* string format for bad data
	WRITE ( bad_fmt, 3002 ) width
* . . . to create ...FORMAT (Fxx.yy) and FORMAT (Axx)

 3000	FORMAT ( '(',A,I2,'.',I2,')' )	
 3002	FORMAT ( '(A',I2,')' )	

	RETURN
	END
