More information at ...

http://www.atac.com.au/barr.htm

http://www.atac.com.au/emtex.htm

Email David Kirk
or call  +61 3 9521-8070

More information at ...

http://www.atac.com.au/barr.htm

http://www.atac.com.au/emtex.htm

Email David Kirk
or call +61 3 9521-8070

More information at ...

http://www.atac.com.au/barr.htm

http://www.atac.com.au/emtex.htm

Email David Kirk
or call +61 3 9521-8070

More information at ...

http://www.atac.com.au/barr.htm

http://www.atac.com.au/emtex.htm

Email David Kirk
or call +61 3 9521-8070

More information at ...

http://www.atac.com.au/barr.htm

http://www.atac.com.au/emtex.htm

Email David Kirk
or call +61 3 9521-8070

More information at ...

http://www.atac.com.au/barr.htm

http://www.atac.com.au/emtex.htm

Email David Kirk
or call +61 3 9521-8070

More information at ...

http://www.atac.com.au/barr.htm

http://www.atac.com.au/emtex.htm

Email David Kirk
or call +61 3 9521-8070

Determining File Formats

This newsletter focuses on a single technical aspect of printing - the print file's FORMAT.

• In order to perform an ad-hoc print file import into BEPS, you need to tell Print Utility what FORMAT the file is stored in.

• If you have several permanently polled "watch" directories for BEPS, you need to know which FORMAT is assigned to which "watch" dir, so you can drop your print file into the correct one.

• If you're writing an EMTEX profile, you'll need some knowledge of the file's FORMAT to utilise the appropriate INPUT client.

• If you're in the print bureau business, you'll be given sample data in a variety of FORMATS to try and work with.

If you haven't been told specifically how a file is formatted, you'll have to work it out for yourself.

BASICS

When we refer to a file's FORMAT here, we're not talking about margins, tab setup etc.  We're talking about the basic structure of the data file as stored on disk.

• Essentially most print files are RECORD based, where each record is usually a single line of printable text.  A print record can comprise printable characters, comments (data not sent to a printer), printer instructions and graphical information (pictures) among other items.

• Each record may be the same (fixed) length or different from others (variable).  If a file has VARIABLE length records, then a mechanism must exist to tell us where each record starts and how long it is.  This usually comprises at least two characters (length bytes) at the start of each record, sometimes also repeated at the end of each record.  These two characters are interpreted in a special way which allows us to calculate the record length, up until we find the next record/set of length bytes.

• Each record usually has an associated CARRIAGE CONTROL character.  This tells us whether we send the print data then advance the paper, or advance the paper first.  How far do we advance the paper (1, 2 or 3 lines)?  Is the carriage control character the first character in the print record or the last?  We can even have programmable vertical tab stop positions (up to 12) to which our carriage control character can refer.  One permanently defined tab stop is Channel 1 or TOP OF FORM.   A print record may therefore say "Print the following data and then advance to the top of the next form".

• In mainframe terminology, raw carriage control is called MACHINE carriage control and includes over two dozen different paper movement commands.  Some of these values are replicated as viewable carriage control characters called ANSI or ASA.  A mainframe print file will have either MACHINE or ASA carriage control which PRECEDES the print data in each record.

• Most laser printers allow us to select the FONT and SIZE of printed data.  The mechanism to achieve this is printer specific and is achieved in many different ways.  Some print files contain a FONTINDEX character which follows the carriage control byte.  This character may refer to a specific position in a list of fonts previously nominated.  There may even be a COLOUR byte following the FONTINDEX byte which tells the printer which colour to use for that record.

• Printable TEXT may be in EBCDIC (mainframe language) or ASCII (PC world).  ASCII files are "viewable" in NOTEPAD.  Although they'll probably not look exactly like they'll print, you can read most of the information which ends up on paper.  EBCDIC files require a special Viewer to read the print text such as HEXEDIT, "V" or ULTRAEDIT, via their VIEW | EBCDIC option.  Languages such as Chinese, Japanese and Korean with extensive alphabets are represented by a pair of characters for each language character.  This is called DOUBLE-BYTE data.

This all affects how we are able to read each record and send it to a printer.

TOOLS

If you perform the task of determining file formats regularly, you'll end up using a variety of tools.  Here are a few Windows tools we use to examine and determine file formats:

• Hexedit - Hex view of a file, can display ASCII and EBCDIC character set, can BINARY edit files, search/replace, can only display/print in hex mode.

• "V" - http://www.fileviewer.com - Plain text view of a file as well as hex mode.  ASCII/EBCDIC, search/replace, line/column info on-screen, many options.  This is a commercial product which you must pay for after the evaluation period.

• DEBUG - Don't look surprised! DEBUG is part of every DOS/Windows computer and is run from a Command prompt.   DEBUG <filename> will invoke a very unfriendly "-" prompt only.  Type "d100" and press ENTER to see a hex view of the first 128 bytes of <filename>.  Type "q" and press ENTER to quit.

• UltraEdit - http://www.ultraedit.com  - Powerful commercial product, heavily biased towards programmers.  ASCII/EBCDIC, search/replace, full editing, many display modes, "huge" file support.

• Notepad - Free, present on any Windows system, small ASCII files only, search/replace.

FILE TYPES

Here are the main "standard" print file types, although this list is not in any way exhaustive:

• ASCII - VARIABLE LENGTH, ASCII text records followed by carriage return / line feed / form feed CARRIAGE CONTROL characters.

• ASCII with ASA CARRIAGE CONTROL.  Exactly as ASCII but with a single leading ASA CARRIAGE CONTROL character, which can be " ", "1", "2", "3", "-", "+" and controls the vertical print paper movement.  Each record is terminated with carriage control / line feed; these are print record delimiters only and are not sent to the printer.  Typically produced by legacy mainframe (COBOL) applications.

• Barr/DOS - Produced by and for the original Barr DOS program, also known as Barr S/370 format.  Data can be ASCII or EBCDIC.  Comprises four byte hex signature "76 1A FF FF" implicitly identifying the file.  Subsequent records have a pair of length bytes, followed by the print record and then a matching pair of length bytes at the end of the record.  The length bytes refer to the record length EXCLUDING the length bytes themselves.  So a Barr/DOS file which starts with 76 1A FF FF 03 00 01 44 45 03 00 tells us the first data record is three bytes long and comprises characters "01", "44" and "45".

• VBM - VARIABLE, BLOCKED, Machine CARRIAGE CONTROL.  This is a common format for Xerox print files which typically contain BINARY positioning and resource information.  Each record is preceded by FOUR length bytes; only the first two are used with the remaining two set to NUL.  A machine CARRIAGE CONTROL byte follows, then the data.  The record length bytes INCLUDE themselves in the length calculation.  There are no trailing length bytes.  Records may be gathered together into BLOCKs which have their own four byte BLOCK LENGTH bytes.  Once again, only the first two bytes are used.  Therefore a VBM file which starts like this: 24 63 00 00 00 06 00 00 89 40... tells us that the first BLOCK of records is 2,463 (HEX) long and the first record is 6 (HEX) bytes long, including the four length bytes.  The CARRIAGE CONTROL byte is "89" and the data is 40 HEX, or the EBCDIC SPACE character.

• AFP print data is IBM's document format which contains large amounts of data about a print file.  With fully composed AFPDS each and every data record starts with a hex value of "5A" followed by a two byte length field (for example 00 19) and then a three byte structured field which defines the function of the record (for example D3 B1 8A) and finally the data.  The length bytes INCLUDE themselves in the length calculation.  Carriage control may be Machine of ASA.  AFP data can be ASCII or EBCDIC, FIXED or VARIABLE length.

• MAINFRAME IP FORMAT (EPS) - Very similar to VBM except the length bytes are in reverse order and a special 128 byte header record contains job attribute information prior to the print file data.  This format is known as LCDS mode to CA-SPOOL and VPS.  It is also known as EPS format to Xerox and Barr.

• Postscript and PCL print files are effectively print STREAMS with no fixed record structure.  Positioning commands within the stream can place data anywhere on the page, with no specific carriage control necessary.  Typically the text is ASCII.  Can contain IMAGES, generic drawing commands, COLOUR and positioning information via ESCAPE SEQUENCES which the printer recognises and obeys rather than prints.  Postscript files are viewable in NOTEPAD whereas PCL files can contain non-viewable characters as well as ASCII text.

Emtex 8.4 SP4 released

Atac and Emtex are pleased to announce the release of Emtex VIP Version 8.4 with Service Pack 4.  This release also includes an integrated VDE 3.0 update.  The following updates are included in this Service Pack:

• PS2VDD - Postscript Input - Various performance improvements

• VDD2IJPDS - IJPDS Output - Added support for MICR

• JES Connect - Allows the receipt of data via the host to an MVS JES Connect component

• LPD - Allows for spaces in filenames to be submitted with an underscore

• VDE XML - Enables VDE to create XML to any schema or DTD

• VDE SQL - Allows interface to any ODBC database in order to control workflow or extract/add information related to the datastream in realtime

• Documentation updates for PS Input, PDF Input, PCL Input, IJPDS Output, IPDS Output and TIFF Output as well as rationalised VDE 3.0 manuals

Contact Atac for more information.

Q & A

Q.  How do I determine what format an LPD file is in so I can receive it into BEPS correctly?

A.  It's best to see the data before Barr manipulates it in any way.  You can turn on an LPD TRACE which captures unadulterated data as it arrives at the Barr PC.  Choose TOOLS | TCP/IP CONFIGURATION | START (LPDTRACE).  Receive your LPD print data then click STOP (LPDTRACE).  Close the TCP/IP CONFIG. Utility.  You'll find a file called LPDTRACE.TXT in the C:\Program Files\Common Files\Barr\Trace directory.  Examine this file closely to determine the format yourself, OR send the first couple of pages of LPDTRACE.TXT to Atac for free analysis.

Once you've determined the correct FORMAT, then you can modify the relevant TCP/IP LPD Queue File Format settings to expect that particular FORMAT.  Receive your file again; if all works correctly, your file is viewable as TEXT in the Barr Viewer.

Q.  Who is/are Atac?

A.  Atac is the Barr and Emtex Distributor for Australia, New Zealand and South-East Asia.  With over thirteen years experience in the market, we support systems running 24x7x365 from Christchurch to Tokyo and Perth to Mumbai, in most of the largest print shops in the region.

Our customers include banks, print bureaux, financial institutions and petro-chemical companies as well as printer and mainframe vendors.  Outsourcing organisations and facilities management companies make extensive use of Atac's expertise.

Atac is privately owned, with an extensive technical background stretching back over thirty seven years of continuously profitable operation.

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