import .dat file

Hi guys

I am trying to extract data from .dat files... file is fixed width...

My question is there a possibility to skip the columns and extract only which i needed to be extracted

for eg:-

col a --- 16-36

col b --- 37-42

col c --- 42-45 (i want to skip this column, don't want to be extracted)

col d --- 45-48

col e --- 49-58

thanks for your help