IBM2A, v1.1 ----------- ibm2a and a2ibm are very closely related programs for converting IBM-PC ASCII text files into Atari ATASCII text files or vice-versa. Both handle TABS and EOLs. Both require input and output filenames as arguments. Their claim to fame is not that they do TABs and EOLs, but that they also handle box graphics characters, and even the heart, spade, diamond and club graphics, so that text-with-graphics files can be converted from IBM-PC to Atari 8-bit format and back. Both can be compiled with DJ Delorie's port of GCC, djgpp, or Mix Software's Power C compiler, under MSDOS. Other compilers should be usable, but have not been tried. The executables in this distribu- tion were made with Power C, for compatability on non-386 PCs; djgpp and the executables it creates run only on 386 or better. New in v1.1: Some additional files accompany v1.1 that were not included with v1.0. They are test files that can be converted from IBM-PC ASCII to Atari 8-bit ATASCII, or from ATASCII to PC ASCII: atari.tst, which is an ATASCII file, and ibm.tst, which is a PC ASCII file. Another new addition is a changes file to log revisions such as those described below. Conversion anomalies As was mentioned in the source code for a2ibm, the only thing that should change when you convert a PC ASCII file to ATASCII is the PC character 179 (0xb3). It is a graphic of a vertical line, and ATASCII hasn't got this character, but uses "|" (pipe) instead -- strange, since Atari operating systems don't support io pipes, and never have! Therefore, converting the same file back to PC ASCII will result in the vertical line character being replaced with "|". The "|" character is not converted back to a vertical line in a2ibm since the "|" character has legitimate uses, such as in C source code, where a graphics char- acter would not be a reasonable substitute. Written in March and April 1993 by Bob Hardy. Bugs should be reported to hardy@aim.com, or to: Bob Hardy 1822 Amelia Way, #7 Santa Clara, CA 95050 The executable files are released into the public domain. The source code is yours to compile as-is, but any changes should be reported, so that they can be assimilated into the master sources for any future revisions that may be released. In no case are you required to pay any money; in no case will donations be refused!