Index

Index:

Intro	Introduction

Using	UsingTxt2Crd

Format	Formatting an input file

Steps	Creating an input file

Errors	Errors & Rejects


Introduction

Txt2Crd lets you create a .CRD card file from a formatted ASCII text file. Typically you create the text file from an existing database, and Txt2Crd turns it into into a card file that you can use with the Windows Cardfile program.

Why would I want to do this?

Cardfile comes with every copy of Windows - it is a simple and quick retrieval vehicle. You may wish to distribute extracts of larger databases to a wide audience and maintain the original with a full-featured program. Road Warriors will appreciate the small footprint required by the database engine and find that building a couple of select cardfiles tailors the information to just their needs. Think of it as a tool for throwaway databases.

Prerequisites

Txt2Crd requires Windows 3.1.

Copyright

Txt2Crd is a copyrighted work of Doug Overmyer, 1994.

Distribution Terms

Txt2Crd may be freely used in any non-commercial setting . It may not be distributed in conjunction with any commercial or for-fee product unless prior approval is obtained from the author. Use in a commercial setting must also be arranged with the author.

Disclaimer

You use Txt2Crd entirely at your own risk. Only you can determine its suitability for your configuration and needs. No other warranties are offered or implied.

Notices:

Arts & Letters® is a registered trademark of Computer Support Corporation. CorelDRAW® is a registered trademark of Corel Systems Corporation. Micrografx is a registered trademark of Micrografx, Inc. GIF is a a registered trademark of CompuServe Inc.


Using Txt2Crd
Putting Txt2Crd to Work

To use the program, you need to create the input file, verify the field separator, and process the data.

You can set the field separator by choosing File/Configure... and filling in the dialog. Txt2Crd limits you to a single character for the separator. Yourr choice will become the new default which persists between sessions.

 Then choose File/Open and respond to the two dialog boxes. The first solicits the input file name, the second the output file name. Txt2Crd will then read the input file and write out the cards.


Format
The Input File Format

Txt2Crd takes a specially formatted text file and creates cards from it. Each line in the input file becomes a separate card. If you define a field separator (recommended), the input line is broken into fields at each separator. In any case, the first field becomes the index line, the rest become separate lines on the card.  Here's a sample input line and the resulting card ("!" is the field separator):

Hofstadter, Douglas R.!Goedel, Escher, Bach:!An Eternal Golden Braid!Vintage Books!Septemter 1980

Here are the formatting conventions:

*Each input record (line) translates to one card in the output file

*You should define a field separator character - default is '!'

*First field becomes the index line, and must be 40 chars or less

*Remaining  fields each become a line on the card - they will wrap if  > 40 chars

*Cards are not required to have the same number of lines


Steps

Generally you will take an existing database file and export it (through your database program) as an ASCII text file. The actual steps depend on the program. With Microsoft Access, for example, you will need to define an ASCII export specification as well as a temporary field  containing the field separator. Then  export the table using the specification and process through Txt2Crd;

 In this scheme each database record becomes one line in the output file, and ultimately one card in the cardfile. You should place a separator character (which will be unique in your data) between output  fields so that Txt2Crd knows where to break the input lines for display on the cards. You may need to define a temporary field for your database so that you can output the separator as needed.

 Once you have the ASCII file you can run it through Txt2Crd to create the cardfile.


Errors/Status

When Txt2Crd discovers errors in the input file, it displays a message in the Status list box along with the rejected record. Both the record number and the text are given. Rejects are caused by the following:

* Index entries > 40 characters

* Empty input lines

* Input lines > 600 characters

Constraints

The Windows cardfile.exe program has certain limits in displaying cards. Briefly,

-index lines must be <= 40 characters

-max 10 lines of text per card

-the total size of the card file seems limited to around 100K

Txt2Crd does not enforce all of these limits - it will read all the input lines and create output cards for each line. Thus, you may create unreadable cards, or files that are too large to process. It is up to you to manage the input file and record size so that the cardfile limits are observed.