How to read in empty values into array from input file

Hi, the problem I am trying to solve goes as follows:

I am given a txt file with the following values:

Code:

---

251  383  346  209  432  232
        342  909  423  102  238  203
23    34    33    93    88  90   
38    48    76    54    56  49

---

I spaced it so you can see what I am talking about.

I would like to store the values into a 7 X 4 array, but my problem is I do not know what to do with the blank values. (The values can not be set to 0) Is there essentially a way to store those blanks values so that they do not count? Also I need to be able to accept various input files not just the one given. (Other input files may have blank spaces as well).

Any suggestions?
Thank you a lot for your time and help.


[code][/code]tagged by Salem
To show spaces in the file

Sorry the values did not come out the way I wanted it to look. Basically its a 7X4 array but has blank spaces at various spots.

Sorry one more mistake. It's a 4 X 7. I got the rows and columns mixed up. Thanks again for your help.

how is the file set up up? Is it a comma delimited file where spaces are represented by back to back commas if first and last ?

4,134,,56,21,,70

no. there are no comments, just blank spaces where there is no value.

commas, by bad... i need to proofread better.