JSFIELD Utility Program Documentation (Ver 1.1, 07-01-93) Author: Johnathan Mark Smith THE OLD DISCLAIMER This software and manual are sold "as is" and without warranties as to performance or merchant ability or any other warranties whether expressed or implied. Because of the various hardware and software environments into which this program may be put, no warranty of fitness for a particular purpose is offered. The user must assume the entire risk of using and evaluating this program. Any liability of Johnathan Mark Smith Technology will be limited exclusively to product replacement or refund of purchase price. If you find these terms unacceptable, do not use this product. Introduction programmers are frequently asked to extract and format data for the PC. It is not enough for the programmer simply to pull off the records of interest to the user. Usually, the records must be formatted to create a set of fields appropriate for "importing" into the PC worksheet. In a typical company, hundreds of man-hours are spent each year in creating the small ad-hoc programs required to generate such data. The JSFIELD utility greatly simplifies the task of manipulating data for use in a PC environment. JSFIELD provides the following features: 1. Selective extraction of fields from an input record 2. Data output in either delimited ASCII or non-delimited ASCII format. 3. Selectable column position ordering of extracted fields. 4. Ability to write the same input data into multiple output fields. The JSFIELD program must be provided with control information to govern its execution. This information is read from a control file. The control file is a standard PC text file that can be created with any ASCII text editor. The first line of the control file identifies the input file name. The second line of the control file identifies the output file name. Subsequent lines of the file provide field extraction control information. Each field exaction control line contains the starting byte position of the field, length of the field. After enter all your fields if you went the file delimited then just add the word "DELIMITED" on one of the control file lines. In some system the delimiter after the last field on the record will tell the system to get the next field, if your system looks for then next field your system may abend. To fix this add the word "DROPLAST" on one of the control file lines. If youwent the utility to delete your old file after it run just a the word "DELETE" on one of the control file line. This will tell the utility to delete the input file after the utility writes the output file. The following sample control file illustrates how control information is provided to the JSFIELD program. Contents of a sample JSFIELD control file, JSFIELD.CTL: C:\DATA\STC.TXT C:\DATA\only100.TXT 2,4 10,1 DELIMITED DROPLAST DELETE The input file name is C:\DATA\STC.TXT. The output file name is C:\DATA\LESS100.TXT. The 2,4 tells the utility to take start the field a byte 2 and the field length is 4. The 10,1 tells the utility that the next field starts a byte 10 and its length is 1. The word "DELIMITED" tells the utility to make the file format delimited ASCII. The word "DROPLAST" tell the utility to drop the last delimiter on each record. The word "DELETE" tell the utility to delete the input file after writing the output file. Registration I will keep improving the program if I know enough people are finding it useful. My registration policy is very flexible. The nominal fee is $25 US If you don't feel you will get $25 worth of use out of JSFIELD, send whatever it is worth to you. If you are impoverished and can't afford to pay anything, enclose a stamped self-addressed envelope and I will send you a registration. This is not freeware or public domain. Shareware is simply a means of marketing commercial software. You are required to register if you intend to use this program after a reasonable trial period. When registering, please tell me the version number you have and where you obtained your copy of JSFIELD. See REGISTER.TXT for details. JSFIELD should be registered for the maximum number of copies that can be used simultaneously at your site. Site fees for commercial users can be negotiated. If you register for the full $25 fee, and enclose a Shipping and Handling fee of $3 I will send you the latest versions of JSFIELD and Some Free Demo's. if you decide to use it after a trial period. I will also send other File related shareware programs. Registered version features * FREE UPGRADES AND NEWSLETTERS * CUSTOM DEFAULT SETTINGS Program Abort Hitting Control-C (or Control-Break) will terminate the program immediately. Distribution Permission is hereby given to copy and distribute this program as long as no more than $5 is charged. It must be made clear to the buyer that this is only a handling charge and not a registration fee. You must include all files in their original unmodified form when distributing this program. . Permission to distribute may be revoked by the Johnathan Mark Smith at any time for any reason. YOU MUST NOT DISTRIBUTE ANY COPY WHICH HAS BEEN BRANDED WITH A REGISTRATION CODE. All trademarks used in this document are the property of their owners. -Johnathan Mark Smith- Questions or suggestions regarding JSFIELD should be directed to the author at the following address: Johnathan Mark Smith 2039 85 STREET BROOKLYN, NY 11214 Telephone: 718-373-3886