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The 640 MEG Shareware Studio 4
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The 640 Meg Shareware Studio CD-ROM Volume IV (Data Express)(1994).ISO
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1993-06-19
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ConvertRFT 1.02 Payment Form
--------------------------
Payment of $20 or more per copy entitles you to a printed manual, the
current release of ConvertRFT without the on-screen payment reminder,
and a free CompuServe IntroPak, including a $15 credit toward on-line
time.
Name ____________________________________________________________
Company _________________________________________________________
Address _________________________________________________________
City ________________________________ State ______ Zip __________
Country _________________________
ORDERING INFORMATION:
Number of Disk Price Per Copy
Copies Size ($20 suggested) Total
______ _______ __________ ________
Michigan residents, add 4% sales tax ________
Add $5 overseas shipping charge, if applicable ________
Add $5 purchase order processing fee, if applicable ________
(see "Bill company" below)
TOTAL PAYMENT ________
PAYMENT METHOD:
___ Check enclosed (US Funds):
___ Bill company (for purchase orders under $50 add $5 processing fee)
___ VISA / MasterCard #______________________________ Expires_________
Signature ____________________________________________________
Call (517) 332-4353 to pay by MasterCard or VISA, or send your payment
or purchase order to: CrossCourt Systems
1521 Greenview Ave.
East Lansing, MI 48823
Prices are in U.S. dollars and include shipping within North America.
Foreign orders: payment must be by credit card, international money
order in U.S. dollars, or by check in U.S. dollars drawn on a U.S.
bank. Payment must also include $5 shipping for airmail delivery.
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ConvertRFT
DCA/RFT-to-ASCII Conversion Program
Version 1.02
Another Shareware Product from:
CrossCourt Systems
Member, Association of Shareware Professionals
FEATURES
ConvertRFT is a standalone program for IBM-compatible computers that
converts IBM DCA/RFT document files to ASCII. ConvertRFT has the
following features:
1. ConvertRFT's default output is a very standard ASCII format that
is suitable for electronic mail and many other purposes. It
emulates indents, tabs and centering by the use of spaces, and
ends each line with a hard carriage return.
2. ConvertRFT can also create files that include hard returns only at
the ends of paragraphs and retain the tab characters. This format
is very useful for importing to another word processor.
3. It can mark certain font attributes, such as underlining, in the
ASCII file by using special characters. This also is useful if
you want to transfer the ASCII file to another word processor and
restore the attributes.
4. ConvertRFT accepts wildcard filespecs, so it is quite fast for
large conversion jobs.
See the "OPTIONS" section for more detail on the formats ConvertRFT
can produce.
ConvertRFT omits most page-formatting characteristics. This means
that, for example, the left margin is not expanded to spaces; the top
and bottom margins are not expanded to blank lines; and page breaks,
headers, footers, and page numbering are omitted.
USE
To run ConvertRFT, type CONVRFT followed by two filenames. The first
one is the name of the input (DCA/RFT) file, the second is the output
(ASCII) file. For example:
CONVRFT TEST.RFT TEST.OUT
The file names can include wildcards, employed in the same way as with
the DOS COPY command. For example,
CONVRFT A:C*.DCA *.PRN
would convert all files starting with the letter C and with extension
DCA in the current directory on drive A: to ASCII files with the
extension .PRN on the current drive and directory.
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If no extension is specified for the source file, .RFT will be used.
If none is specified for the target file, .ASC will be used. For
example,
CONVRFT \DOCS \TEXT
would convert all files with the extension .RFT from the \DOCS
directory to the \TEXT directory while changing their extensions to
.ASC. To use a filename with no extension, you must end the name with
a period.
If a file already exists under the output name, it will be replaced
without warning. If the input and output names are the same,
ConvertRFT will not proceed with the conversion. If the source file
is not a DCA/RFT document, ConvertRFT will report this, and will not
perform the conversion.
OPTIONS
ConvertRFT has many options which can be invoked by "switches" on the
command line. The switches start with a slash or a hyphen, followed
by a letter identifying the option, and, for some of the switches, a
numeric value. The identifying letter can be upper or lower case and
the switches can appear anywhere on the command line -- before, after,
or in between the filenames. There must not be any spaces between the
slash, the letter and the number. A typical command might look like:
CONVRFT /T /R /B60 /C62 JULY \NEW
"Generic Format" Options
These two options would usually be used together. The resulting
format has tabs and carriage returns only where the operator
originally typed them, with no spaces or "soft returns" added.
This is usually the best format to use if you want to transfer the
resulting ASCII file to another word processor.
1. /R keep only hard <R>eturns
This will keep only the hard returns in the ASCII file, in
effect turning each paragraph into a single long line of text.
2. /T keep <T>ab characters
This will keep tab characters in the ASCII file, rather than
replacing them with spaces. This will also suppress the use
of spaces to position text that is centered between the
margins or flush to the right margin.
Font Attribute Options
These four options, two of which use two switches apiece, allow
the start and end of certain font attributes to be marked in the
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ASCII file using special characters. They are usually used along
with the generic-format options in order to move the ASCII file to
another word processor and restore the original format.
The naming of these switches is intended to be mnemonic, but they
require some explanation. For bold and underline, which have both
a start and end code, the switch for the starting code is intended
to remind you of the function, while the switch for the ending
code simply follows the start switch alphabetically. Thus /B for
bold is paired with /C, and /U for underline is paired with /V.
Subscripting and superscripting do not have end codes in DCA/RFT;
you end a superscript by putting in a subscript code (and vice
versa), thus returning to the original level. The switch names
for these are less obvious, with /I intended to remind you of
things often used as subscripts, while /X might be used as a
superscript (powers).
1. /B# and /C# <B>oldface
There are several ways to use these and the following paired
options.
If you want to mark boldface text using the default characters
of { (ASCII 123) at the beginning and } (ASCII 125) at the
end, all you have to do is specify /B by itself.
If you want to mark boldface text, but want to use different
characters, perhaps because the default characters may occur
in your document, you can specify either or both of the /B and
/C switches with a numeric ASCII value (as indicated by the #
symbol in the switch template above). In the case of the /B
switch, the ASCII character corresponding to the numeric value
will be used to mark the start of boldface; the value given
for the /C switch will be used to mark the end.
The value must be decimal (i.e., hexadecimal is not allowed)
and cannot be zero. Only a single ASCII value can be used for
each switch; it is not possible to mark with a multi-character
code, such as [B]. So, for example, /B17 would cause a Ctrl-Q
to be used at the start of bold text, while /C35 would put #
symbols at the end of bold text.
In some ways the use of ASCII values is inconvenient, but DOS
puts restrictions on the use of many characters on the command
line, so something like /B< /C> will not work. The use of
numbers gives maximum flexibility.
2. /U# and /V# <U>nderlining
The description of /B and /C above explains how the paired
options work. If you use /U without a number, the beginning
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of underlining will be marked with < (ASCII 60) and the ending
with > (ASCII 62).
3. /I# subscript
The description of /B and /C above explains how to use this
option. If you use /I without a number, the beginning of a
subscript will be marked with ~ (ASCII 126).
4. /X# superscript
The description of /B and /C above explains how to use this
option. If you use /X without a number, the beginning of a
superscript will be marked with ^ (ASCII 94).
REGISTRATION AND DISTRIBUTION
IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines
Corporation.
ConvertRFT is Copyright 1988-89, CrossCourt Systems.
If you try ConvertRFT and find it to be a useful and valuable product,
please complete your purchase of it by sending payment to CrossCourt
Systems at the address below. For $20 you will receive a printed
manual, sized to fit an IBM binder, and the current version of the
program, without the on-screen payment reminder. You will also
receive a free IntroPak for the CompuServe Information Service, the
premiere interactive electronic communication service. CompuServe
provides news, financial information, entertainment services, personal
computing services, special interest forums, and more. The IntroPak
includes $15 of free on-line time.
VISA and MasterCard are accepted. Volume discounts and site licenses
are available.
In the spirit of shareware, we believe that the value of a program is
best determined by you, based on the number of copies you are using,
the frequency of use, and the amount of time it saves you. Our
business policy is to accept payments both above and below the stated
$20 price.
ConvertRFT may be distributed to others, as long as 1) the program is
not altered in any way, 2) this documentation file is always included,
and 3) no charge is made for such distribution beyond a modest disk
preparation fee. For bulletin board distribution, please use the file
name CONVRFT.ZIP.
ConvertRFT has been tested and performs its functions essentially as
described above, without causing any damage to the computer in use or
any of its files. However, all users are responsible for backing up
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their own files, and CrossCourt Systems assumes no responsibility for
any damage or losses incurred as a result of its use.
CrossCourt Systems supports ConvertRFT, by providing technical
assistance, bug fixes, and enhancements. CrossCourt Systems can be
reached on CompuServe at 72446,2704, or at the address and phone
below. If you encounter problems with any conversion, or have
suggestions for improvements, please let us know about them.
CrossCourt Systems
1521 Greenview Ave.
East Lansing, MI 48823
(517) 332-4353
CrossCourt Systems is a member of the Association of Shareware
Professionals (ASP), a group dedicated to high standards in the
design, documentation, and support of shareware products. ASP wants
to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are
unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member, the
ASP Ombudsman may be able to help. Please contact the ASP Ombudsman
at 545 Grover Rd., Muskegon, MI 49442, at FAX number (616) 788-2765,
or by CompuServe Mail to 70007,3536.
Other products from CrossCourt Systems
ConvDW - converts IBM DisplayWrite 3 or 4 files to ASCII, offering the
same options as ConvertRFT, including the generic-format option that
DW lacks. IBM does not publish the file format for DisplayWrite, so
ConvDW is one of only a handful of programs, either shareware or
commercial, that can read DisplayWrite files. Usually found as
CONVDW.ZIP on bulletin boards. Available for $20 direct (includes
printed manual).
DisplayWrite Conversion Package - includes a report describing the
format of DisplayWrite files, as well as Microsoft C source code for
ConvDW, DWtoRFT, and DumpDW. Call for information.
DWtoRFT - converts DisplayWrite files to DCA/RFT using wildcard
filenames. Great for large conversions from DisplayWrite to other
formats. Available for $50 direct.
TextOut/5 - converts WordPerfect 5.0 or 5.1 files to ASCII, offering
many of the same options as ConvDW. Its conversion is much more
flexible than WordPerfect's own. It also converts foot- and endnotes,
text boxes, and equations, and formats tables better than WP does.
Shareware found as TXTOUT.ZIP or TEXTOUT5.ZIP on bulletin boards.
Available for $20 direct (includes printed manual).
TextCon - a program to reformat ASCII files before importing them to
your word processor. TextCon performs extremely intelligent
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"cleaning" operations on your ASCII files, so you have less editing to
do after importing them. It removes unneeded hard carriage returns
(even with tricky paragraph formats), strips excess spaces used for
margins or justification, and does other processing to get the
cleanest conversion possible. Can also perform other unusual
