mat and a set of functions that make it convenient
   to create, read, annotate, and transport files having this format. The
   same DLA file format is used by all language versions of SPICE.
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   The DLA file format is an instance of the DAS architecture. DLA files
   enable user application software to view the data in a DAS file as a
   doubly linked list of virtual arrays, usually called ``segments,'' where
   each segment may contain character, double precision, and integer
   components.
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