Compat.txt	18-Jan-2006

Here are three utility programs that deal with file compatibility issues.

EatEOF removes the final end-of-file character (Ctrl+Z) from a file. Run
it from a DOS command prompt like this: "eateof myfile.txt", where
"myfile" is the name of a file that consists of ASCII characters. EatEOF
should not be run on binary files, such as .exe files.

Many DOS programs use an EOF character to mark the end of the file. When
these files are displayed with a Windows program, a box symbol appears at
the end.


TABS

Tab2Sp converts all tab characters in a file to their equivalent space
characters. It's used just like EatEOF, for example: "tab2sp myfile.txt".

Tab stops are normally set to every eighth column. However this can be
changed using a command-line switch. For example: "tab2sp /4 myfile.txt"
will replace tabs that were set for every fourth column. The switch can
have any value 1 through 9.

Since many programs no longer use the standard of tab stops every eighth
column, you can make your files more compatible by replacing the tabs
with spaces.

Sp2Tab does the opposite operation. It replaces groups of spaces with
their equivalent tabs. There is no command-line switch to change the tab
stops to other than every eighth column.


MISC.

One nice feature of these utility programs is the way they handle the
input and output files. The original file is automatically saved and
given a ".bak" extension. You can also specify a different name for the
output file, for example: "tab2sp myfile.txt newfile.doc".

This method of handling file I/O is from the Apex operating system,
which was written in XPL0 and ran on computers such as the Apple II,
Macintosh and Amiga.

By the way, Tab2Sp and Sp2Tab put an EOF at the end of a file.


-Loren
loren_blaney@idcomm.com
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