#
# check for ascending columns

        nitem=0
        error=0
        set -A cols 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
        while ((nitem < 9)) ; do
                if ((${ticket1[nitem]})) ; then
                        cols[nitem]=${ticket1[nitem]}
                fi
                if ((${ticket2[nitem]})) ; then
                        ((${ticket2[nitem]} < ${cols[nitem]})) && error=1
                        cols[nitem]=${ticket2[nitem]}
                fi
                if ((${ticket3[nitem]})) ; then
                        ((${ticket3[nitem]} < ${cols[nitem]})) && error=1
                fi
                ((nitem=nitem+1))
        done
        if ((error)) ; then
                echo error line $lineno does not have ascending columns:
                echo $line
                echo "${ticket1[*]}"
                echo "${ticket2[*]}"
                echo "${ticket3[*]}"
                echo
        fi