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)
FIXED FORMAT (LINES 1 THROUGH 6)

Line 1    The words "Meal-Master" must start in position 37.
Line 1    The words "Meal-Master" must start in position 37.

Line 2    Must be blank.
Line 2    Must be blank.

Line 3    The word "Title" must start in position 6.  The recipe title must
Line 3    The word "Title" must start in position 6.  The recipe title must
          start in postion 13, and may be a maximum of 60 characters in length.

Line 4    The word "Categories" must start in position 1.  A maximum of 5
Line 4    The word "Categories" must start in position 1.  A maximum of 5
          category codes may be entered, beginning in postion 13.  Additional
          rules for entry of the category codes are:

          Each must start with a capital letter, and all remaining characters
          must be lower case.

          Category names must be separated by one, and only one, space.

Line 5    The word "Servings" must start in position 3, followed by the number
Line 5    The word "Servings" must start in position 3, followed by the number
          of servings, left justified, in positions 13-15.

Line 6    Must be blank.
Line 6    Must be blank.


VARIABLE FORMAT - LINES 7 AND GREATER
VARIABLE FORMAT - LINES 7 AND GREATER

Beginning with line 7, Meal-Master will attempt to identify each line as being
an ingredient line or a direction line.  It will continue to do this until it
reaches a line containing all dashes in positions 1-77.

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

    1) Positions 9-10 contain one of the valid Meal-Master unit of measure
       codes.  (see list in program or user's manual)

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

    3) Positions 12-39 contain text for an ingredient name.

If the line does not qualify as an ingredient line per the above tests,
positions 3-77 will be imported as a direction line.

For a file to contain multiple recipes, each recipe must be followed by a line
containing hyphens ("-") in positions 1 through 77; and this line must be
followed by line 1 of the next recipe, as described above.

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NOTE:  THIS SPECIFICATION IS BASED ON MEAL-MASTER VERSION 6.07, AND MAY NOT
       WORK PROPERLY WITH EARLIER VERSIONS.  PLEASE OBTAIN VERSION 6.07 FOR
       BEST RESULTS!
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