; docformat = 'rst'

function mg_read_ascii, filename, structure=structure, format=format, skip_lines=skipLines
  compile_opt strictarr
  
  _skipLines = n_elements(skipLines) eq 0L ? 0L : skipLines
  
  nlines = file_lines(filename)
  
  result = replicate(structure, nlines - skipLines)
  
  openr, lun, filename, /get_lun
  
  ; skip SKIP_LINES number of lines
  line = ''
  for l = 0L, skipLines - 1L do readf, lun, line
  
  readf, lun, result, format=format
  free_lun, lun
  
  return, result
end


; main-level example program

end