PCFORMAT User's Guide

1 Product Overview
066374 Tandem Computers Incorporated 1–1
Introduction The need for a program like PCFORMAT stems from the fact that different
computer systems often store data in different formats. When it is
advantageous to use the productivity tools from one system on the data of a
second system, and the data in the two systems is not compatible, the
automatic format conversion work of a program like PCFORMAT becomes
a necessity.
The PCFORMAT File Conversion Facility plays an important part in
making the information in a Tandem host network database available to
many of the PC-compatible software packages that run on the 654X
workstation in the MS-DOS environment. Specifically, PCFORMAT resides
on the host system and coverts Tandem database files into several popular
formats used by PC applications in fields such as accounting, word
processing, and database management. Figure 1-1 shows how PCFORMAT
fits in with the Tandem database management software on one end and
Tandem’s file transfer software (IXF) on the other.
Figure 1-1. Tandem Database to 654X Workstation File Conversion and Transfer
654X Workstation Tandem Host System
IXF PCFORMAT ENABLE
• Dictionary
• Files
Tandem
Data Base
Intermediate
File
A>IXF GET
Command
:PCFORMAT Command
ASCII, BASIC, DIF or SYLK Format
ENSCRIBE File and
Record Definition
*
*
DDL
ENFORM