drezac@dcsc.dla.mil (Duane L. Rezac) (06/27/91)
We are using PC-NFS to access our unix machines (Goulds). We
frequently transfer data in ASCII from the unix to dos for use
in database applications. One of our software packages (Enable)
expects an ascii file to end with Ctrl-Z (0x1A). When we ftp
from the unix using ascii mode, the crlf translaton occurs, but
no Ctrl-Z is placed at the end of the file. The same thing ocuurs if
we ftp in binary and use unix2dos to convert the file.
My question is:
Should PC-NFS add the Ctrl-Z to the end of the file in ascii mode?
or is this just an funky quirk that the database package needs the
Ctrl-Z at the end of the file.
(only Enable seems to care - the other database progams (DBASEIII+)
do not seem to care if the Ctrl-Z is there or not.)
--
Verse of the Hour:
The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.
Ps. 9:17
--
+-----------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| Duane L. Rezac |These views are my own, and NOT representitive of my place|
| dsacg1!dcscg1!drezac drezac@dcscg1.dcsc.dla.mil of Employment. |
+-----------------------+---------------------------------------------------+geoff@bodleian.East.Sun.COM (Geoff Arnold @ Sun BOS - R.H. coast near the top) (06/27/91)
Quoth drezac@dcsc.dla.mil (Duane L. Rezac) (in <1134@dcsc.dla.mil>): # #We are using PC-NFS to access our unix machines (Goulds). We #frequently transfer data in ASCII from the unix to dos for use #in database applications. One of our software packages (Enable) #expects an ascii file to end with Ctrl-Z (0x1A). When we ftp #from the unix using ascii mode, the crlf translaton occurs, but #no Ctrl-Z is placed at the end of the file. The same thing ocuurs if #we ftp in binary and use unix2dos to convert the file. #My question is: # #Should PC-NFS add the Ctrl-Z to the end of the file in ascii mode? # #or is this just an funky quirk that the database package needs the #Ctrl-Z at the end of the file. #(only Enable seems to care - the other database progams (DBASEIII+) #do not seem to care if the Ctrl-Z is there or not.) Ctrl-Z at EOF is pretty much an anachronism. Few DOS tools append Ctrl-Z to files; still fewer expect it. (I don't know of any Microsoft program that does either.) What's the date on your copy of Enable? --Geoff Arnold, PC-NFS architect(geoff@East.Sun.COM or geoff.arnold@Sun.COM)-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Sun Technology Enterprises : PC Networking group -- -- (officially from July 1, but effectively in place right now) --
dhesi@cirrus.com (Rahul Dhesi) (06/28/91)
In <1134@dcsc.dla.mil> drezac@dcsc.dla.mil (Duane L. Rezac) writes: >Should PC-NFS add the Ctrl-Z to the end of the file in ascii mode? No MS-DOS application should arbitrarily add a control-Z to the end of a file. This control-Z quirk exists in outdated software because back in the early eighties CP/M, and then MS-DOS 1.0, required it. These operating systems kept track of the file size only to the nearest 128-byte block, so the control-Z was needed to figure out where a text file ended. (There was no way of telling exactly where a binary file ended.) MS-DOS 2.0 introduced a new set of system calls derived from UNIX, and applications that used them did not need the control-Z, but some of them were modified from old versions and retained the control-Z requirement. Today, now that MS-DOS 4.01 is standard and 5.0 has just arrived, the control-Z phenomenon is an anachronism. If any of your applications still require it, it would be a good idea to upgrade them or replace them with newer ones. -- Rahul Dhesi <dhesi@cirrus.COM> UUCP: oliveb!cirrusl!dhesi
drezac@dcsc.dla.mil (Duane L. Rezac) (06/29/91)
From article <6935@eastapps.East.Sun.COM>, by geoff@bodleian.East.Sun.COM (Geoff Arnold @ Sun BOS - R.H. coast near the top): > Ctrl-Z at EOF is pretty much an anachronism. Few DOS tools append Ctrl-Z to > files; still fewer expect it. (I don't know of any Microsoft program > that does either.) > > What's the date on your copy of Enable? > > --Geoff Arnold, PC-NFS architect(geoff@East.Sun.COM or geoff.arnold@Sun.COM)-- > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ We are using Enable 2.15 (we have not tried it with 3.0 or 4.0) - It seems odd that Enable is looking for it - but if we add it with a binary editor, the problems loading the database go away - DBASE3 does not seem to have a problem with the files, only Enable (or should I say Disable ;-) (of course I'm not an enable fan - I would like to see us change to REAL programs like dbase3, lotus, etc. instead of an integrated packege, but I'm just the end user that has to use the program, not the one who buys it) -- +-----------------------+---------------------------------------------------+ | Duane L. Rezac |These views are my own, and NOT representitive of my place| | dsacg1!dcscg1!drezac drezac@dcscg1.dcsc.dla.mil of Employment. | +-----------------------+---------------------------------------------------+