Microsoft KB Archive/111363

EchoSoft’s A1Free and PC-Porter Offer VAX Migration Solutions PSS ID Number: Q111363 Article last modified on 11-01-1994 PSS database name: CONVERT

2.00 2.00a 2.00a-CD 2.00b 2.00c 6.00 6.00a WINDOWS

The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 2.0, 2.0a, 2.0a-CD, 2.0b, 2.0c, 6.0, 6.0a

SUMMARY

EchoSoft Corporation’s A1Free software provides a means for extracting documents from Digital Equipment Corporation’s (DEC) ALL-IN-1 proprietary file cabinet. A1Free also supports conversion of DEC WPS Plus (version 3.1 or higher) and DEC/DX documents from DEC’s ALL-IN-1 proprietary file cabinet to WordPerfect VMS documents in standard VMS directories on a VAX. EchoSoft’s PC-Porter software enables you to transfer these and other documents, in groups, from the VAX to the PC without losing long VMS filenames. Because Microsoft Word supports conversion of WordPerfect file format, you can use these products, separately or together, to move documents from within proprietary DEC ALL-IN-1 accounts or other files on a VAX and use them in Microsoft Word.

MORE INFORMATION

Description of A1Free Functionality

• A1Free’s primary function is to extract documents from the ALL-IN-1 proprietary file cabinet structure by translating the pointer indexes, creating VMS directories in the user’s tree with names based on the ALL- IN-1 Folder Names, and copying the ALL-IN-1 documents into the corresponding directories and naming them appropriately.
• All A1Free created directories are appended with the _A1F designation for easy identification and access. These directories can be renamed later by the users or by the system manager.
• All A1Free copied documents are named with the same names as their ALL- IN-1 counterparts (up to 38 characters). The documents are then appended with a filename extension based on the specific document type (.WPL for WPS Plus, .WPC for WordPerfect, and so on). They are then further appended with the last modified dates and times to ensure unique document names. These documents can be renamed later.
• Log files are generated that identify how the job was executed, where each document was placed, and what type of conversions were performed. These log files are left on the system.
• A1Free does not require that you limit access to the system. If a user is in ALL-IN-1 when A1Free attempts to access that account, the account specification is written to a temporary buffer. When all other accounts are extracted, the accounts that were busy are revisited. This process will continue until all accounts have been done. NOTE: If users do not log out of ALL-IN-1, A1Free cannot extract their documents. However, A1Free will extract the documents automatically once the user has logged out.
• A1Free does not significantly affect processing on most systems (provided that these systems are tuned reasonably), because the software portion is run in batch mode and, by default, is set to minimum usage priority.
• A1Free does not negatively affect ALL-IN-1, unless the Delete Original option is selected, or the A1Free-WPS2DX.SCP script is run (see below for details).
• A1Free can convert WPS Plus (version 3.1 or higher) documents to WordPerfect format if WordPerfect VMS is installed on your system. If you do not have access to WordPerfect VMS, EchoSoft Corporation will make the product available to you.
• A1Free has a unique security system built into it. It does not require accessing LMF or entering long and complicated license keys.

Description of PC-Porter Functionality

• PC-Porter is document preparation software that runs on VAX/VMS. Because VMS files can have names of up to 39 characters, a period, and then a filename extension of an additional 39 characters (39.39), document names are traditionally truncated to the 8.3 format when transferred to MS-DOS, or the person initiating the transfer must manually enter a new name for each document as it is to be received by MS-DOS.
• Because truncation reduces the filename to its first 8 characters followed by a period and the first 3 characters of the extension, it can cause documents to be lost. Documents are lost because no two documents with the exact same filename and extension can exist in the same location under MS-DOS.
• PC-Porter prepares your documents while they still reside on the VAX/VMS system, so that you can use your favorite transfer protocol to move your files. This method allows you to transport all your documents to the MS-DOS system, whole directories at a time without concern for naming conventions.
• PC Porter will prepare either a single VMS directory or a directory and all related sub-directories at your discretion. You can also instruct PC-Porter to prepare all the directories in a list during a single run.
• More specifically, PC-Porter will either copy or rename (your choice) documents to a unique file ID number, and truncates the extension to three characters. As it is doing this, it also builds an index file and log files that identify what the original filenames were.
• If you are using WordPerfect VMS, PC-Porter will place the original filename into the WordPerfect descriptive name field of the document summary even if the document never had a document summary before. This information will subsequently be retained in the summary information title field in Word when opening from WordPerfect format.

Support for A1Free and PC-Porter is the sole responsibility of EchoSoft Corporation. For more information, contact:

EchoSoft Corporation 47 Union Street Watertown, MA 02172 Phone: (800) 969-3246 inside the United States (617) 924-6981 outside the United States Fax: (617) 924-7435

The EchoSoft products mentioned here are manufactured by a vendor independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding these products’ performance or reliability.

KBCategory: kbinterop KBSubCategory: Additional reference words: textconv 2.00 2.00a 2.00a-CD 2.00b 2.00c 6.00 6.00a third-party third party 3rdparty winword word6 conversion converted converts transfer transfers translation translate digital equipment corporation dec dx wps + wps plus vax vms wordperfect perfect migration migrate allinone all in one file name

============================================================================= Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1994.