MicroCook ASCII Format description.
     
     For MicroCook to recognize a recipe in a disk file, this file must be
pure ASCII (no control codes), and it must also be formatted in a certain
way. If you have recipes in ASCII files in a different format than
MicroCook's you can format those recipes very easily and then import them
into MicroCook with the MC ASCII Import feature. Load the file in a word
processor, or any other text editor, and follow the guidelines below. This
editor must be able to save the final file as a pure ASCII file. Or you can
use MicroCook's ASCII editor from the File Manager. Press F2 while in the
editor to see the "hot-keys" for macros for all the "key" lines described
below.  A sample recipe in the correct format is displayed at the end of this
document. 

Note: The ASCII format version number, here V.1.5, has nothing to do with the
current version of MicroCook you use. This number will ONLY be changed if the
ASCII format changes. 

     These lines MUST be in a MC ASCII Recipe for it to import properly.
Exactly as typed here, "...:" included.

Line below is FIRST line in the recipe: 
MicroCook V.1.5.78 ASCII Recipe    <-- must be exact as is here 
Recipe Name:                       <-- must be exact as is here
Category...:                       <-- must be exact as is here
Servings...:                       <-- must be exact as is here
          (this line CAN be blank)
Ingredients:                       <-- must be exact as is here
          (put ingredients here)
          (ONE blank line CAN be between lines in Ingredients)
          (last line CAN be blank)
Preparation:                       <-- must be exact as is here
          (put preparation here)
          (ONE blank line CAN be between lines in Preparation)
          (last line CAN be blank)
MicroCook ASCII Recipe End         <-- must be exact as is here
     Line above is the LAST line in the recipe. 
      
     "MicroCook V.1.5.78 ASCII Recipe" should be the only words on this line.
Same for "Ingredients:", "Preparation:" and "MicroCook ASCII Recipe End".
Correct spelling is very important, but if the text are in upper or lower
case, that doesn't matter. The "78" number after V.1.5. in the header might
change. This is just a "reminder" to how wide the format was set when
exported from MicroCook. So this number could be between 40 and 78. MicroCook
will look for it when Importing again, but if it's not there, no big deal.
But the header must be at least this minimum: MicroCook V.1.5 ASCII Recipe

     The Recipe Name can be up to 60 characters long, Category up to 45
characters and Servings 4 characters. The length of the lines in the
Ingredients can be up to 38 characters long. If there are lines containing
over 38 characters in the Ingredients group, beware that they will be split
into two lines when imported. There are room for 34 lines of Ingredients. The
Preparation editor has a limits of 78 characters per line, and a total of 50
lines.  
     You can have ONE (1) blank line between lines in both the Ingredients
and Preparation groups, while two blank lines after each other will abort the
importing in that group. You can also have a few blank lines between the
Recipe Name, Category, Servings and the Ingredients header. The less blank
lines there are, the faster a MicroCook ASCII file will import.  
     MicroCook will import ASCII files in version 1.2 and 1.3 format as
before. 
     When Exporting and Importing MicroCook ASCII, MicroCook look for obvious
beginning and end of paragraphs. A beginning would be an indent, like use of
Tab. Any thing over a 3 character indent is considered beginning of a new
paragraph. If the last character on a line is 12 characters less than the
exported width, it's considered the end of a paragraph. So by using Tab
especially, the MicroCook Import will be able to re-construct the recipe much
better than with just a shorter line at the end of each paragraph. If the
exported format is 78 characters wide, the imported recipes will look exactly
as the exported.

     If these simple guide lines are followed, you should have no problems
importing any recipe into MicroCook.

Happy Importing!
     
(Sample recipe)
This MicroCook ASCII file can be Imported into MicroCook. Don't alter this
file if you plan to import it or share it with friends that also use
MicroCook. Use the MicroCook ASCII Import menu function to Import this File.
MicroCook V.1.5.78 ASCII Recipe
Recipe Name: Chocolate-lover's Cheesecake
Category...: Dessert
Servings...: 12
 
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups finely crushed chocolate
    wafers
6 tablespoons butter, melted
3 8-ounce package cream cheese,
    softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
4 squares (4 ounces) semisweet
    chocolate, melted
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 square (1 ounce) semisweet chocolate
1 teaspoon butter

Preparation:
    For crust, in a bowl combine chocolate wafer crumbs and melted butter.
Press crumb mixture firmly on bottom and 1 3/4 inches up sides of a 9-inch
springform pan.
    For filling, in a large mixer bowl beat cream cheese till creamy.
Combine sugar, flour and salt; stir into the cream cheese mixture.  Add eggs
all at once.  Beat just till combined.  DO NOT OVERBEAT.  Stir in the 4
squares melted chocolate, milk and vanilla till combined.  Turn into
crumb-lined pan.
    Bake in a 325 oven for 60 minutes or till center appears set.  Remove
from oven; cool 15 minutes.  Loosen sides of pan.  Cover and chill at least
2 hours.
    In a small saucepan over low heat melt the 1 square semisweet chocolate
and butter.  Drizzle in lattice design atop cheesecake.  Chill till
chocolate is set.
MicroCook ASCII Recipe End