    	FUNCTION LDIGIT( IT )
C
C  THIS FUNCTION RETURNS WITH THE NUMBER OF DIGITS OF "IT"
C
    	ITT = IABS(IT)
    	IF( ITT.EQ.0 ) THEN
    	    LDIGIT = 1
    	ELSE
    	    LDIGIT = INT( LOG10(FLOAT(ITT)) ) + 1
    	    IF( IT.LT.0 ) LDIGIT = LDIGIT + 1
    	ENDIF
    	RETURN
    	END
