sub decode {
  my ($record, $nt, $val_missing) = @_;
  my $template = ('A5' x $nt) . ('A2' x $nt);
  my @values = unpack($template, $record);
  my @fractions = @values[0 .. $nt-1];
  my @exponents = @values[$nt .. $#values];

##</code><code>##

  @values = ();
  for (my $i = 0; $i < @fractions; $i++) {
    if ( == 0 and $exponents[$i] == 99) {
      $values[$i] = $val_missing;
    } else {
      $fractions[$i] *= 10.**(-5);
      if (($exponents[$i] % 2) == 0) {
        $exponents[$i] = 10.**($exponents[$i]/2);
      } else {
        $exponents[$i] = 10.**(-($exponents[$i]+1)/2);
      }
      $values[$i] = $fractions[$i] * $exponents[$i];
    }
  }
  return @values;
}