private void parseValue(String line, int lineNum) {
    // skip a comment line
    if (line.startsWith(COMMENT)) {
        return;
    }

    String[] sp = line.split("\\s+");  // split the fields based on a space
    int len = 0;        // length of a string
    int index = 0;      // the index of an array

    // check for each field in the array
    for(String elem : sp) {
        len = elem.length();  // get the length of a string

        // if it is empty then ignore
        if (len == 0) {
            continue;
        }
        // if not, then put into the array
        else {
            fieldArray[index] = elem;
            index++;
        }
    }
    
    if (index == MAX_FIELD) {
        extractField(fieldArray, lineNum);
    }
}