          is the number of items in the list. n may be any number
               between one and nmax.

   items       is an array of strings containing the items in the list,
               left justified. Any item in the list too long to fit into 
               an element of items is truncated on the right.  Empty
               (null) or blank items in the input string are mapped to
               empty strings on output.

               items should be declared by the caller as:

                  Spic