World of Shareware - Software Farm 2/wosw_2.zip/wosw_2/GENERAL/MM704-A.ZIP/IMPORTF.DOC

Text File | 1992-12-14 | 6KB | 125 lines

                  MEAL-MASTER IMPORT FILE SPECIFICATIONS


     The Meal-Master import function was only designed to import
     recipes previously exported from the program.  However, the
     export format is a simple text file that can be created by most
     text editor programs.  Many people have found that recipes from
     other sources can be edited to look like a MM export file,
     allowing them to be imported to MM with little or no retyping.
     All it takes is some patience, some practice, and an
     understanding of exactly what the import process is expecting.
     This file won't help with the first two, but here is a
     description of what the program expects to see in an importable
     file:

     FIXED FORMAT (LINES 1 THROUGH 6)

       Line 1  The first line of a valid recipe is a "recipe header"
               line.  This line must begin with at least 5 hyphens
               ('-----'), and must contain the words "Meal-Master"
               somewhere on the line.  Any lines found prior to this
               "recipe header" line will be ignored by Meal-Master.

               (Note: If this line is missing, Meal-Master will
               attempt to locate the "Title: " line described below,
               and continue with the import process.  However, it is
               recommended that header lines be used when possible)

       Line 2  The word "Title:" must begin the line in any position
               before column 7, and be followed by one blank space.
               The recipe title must start after the blank space, and
               may be a maximum of 60 characters in length.

       Line 3  The word "Categories:" must begin the line, in any
               position, and be followed by one blank space.  A
               maximum of 5 category names may be entered, beginning
               after the blank space.  A comma should immediately
               follow each category name except the last one; for
               example "Cakes, Desserts".  Category names should start
               with a capital letter, with the remaining characters in
               lower case letters.

       Line 4  A numeric quantity between 1 and 9999 (number of
               servings) must appear somewhere on this line.


     VARIABLE FORMAT - LINES 5 AND GREATER

       Beginning with line 5, Meal-Master will attempt to identify
       each line as being an ingredient line, direction line, or the
       "end of recipe" trailer line.

       If a line is found that starts with 5 hyphens, and contains no
       characters other than hyphens and spaces, the program considers



       this the "end of recipe" trailer line.  It will store the
       current recipe and begin searching for another "recipe header"
       as described in "Line 1" above.

       If all the following are true, the line will be interpreted as
       an ingredient and loaded into Meal-Master:

          1) Positions 1-7 contain a valid numeric quantity, either
             expressed as a whole number, decimal fraction, or common
             fraction, or are blank.

          2) Positions 9-10 contain one of the valid Meal-Master unit
             of measure codes, including blanks. (see list in
             program).

          3) Positions 12-39 contain text for an ingredient name, or a
             "-" in position 12 and text in positions 13-39 (the
             latter is a "continuation" line for the previous
             ingredient name).

       If all the following are true, the line will be interpreted as
       an ingredient heading line:

          1) Positions 1-5 contain hyphens ("-----").

          2) The line is at least 40 characters long.

          3) The center three characters of the line are not blank or
             hyphens.

          Note: The easiest way to format a line that will be accepted
             as a heading is to start with 5 hyphens, then the heading
             text, then some other special character (like "=" or "@")
             to at least position 40.

       If the line does not qualify as an ingredient line, heading
       line, or end of recipe line, as specified above, data in
       positions 3-77 (or 1-75 if positions 1-2 are non-blank) will be
       imported as a direction line.

       Note: One of the most common errors in formatting a recipe for
       import is an ingredient line that has been improperly
       formatted.  When this is encountered, the line is usually
       interpreted as a direction line by the program.  To help guard
       against this, the program will display an error message if it
       finds a line that appears to be a direction line FOLLOWED by a
       valid ingredient line.

       Note: A less common error is starting a direction line in
       positions 12 or 13.  Such a line "looks" like an ingredient
       line with no quantity or unit of measure, so an error message
       is given if it is found in the Direction section.  Make sure
       that direction lines start before column 12 or after column 13.



     Files can contain multiple recipes, so long as each begins with a
     "header line" and ends with a "trailer" line.  Any text in the
     file that is not between the header and trailer lines is ignored.

     NOTE:  THIS SPECIFICATION IS ONLY VALID FOR MEAL-MASTER VERSION
            7.0 AND HIGHER, AND WILL NOT WORK PROPERLY WITH EARLIER
            VERSIONS.  PLEASE OBTAIN VERSION 7.0 OR GREATER FOR PROPER
            RESULTS!