9 Format Conversion

The FreeForm ND utility program newform lets you convert data from one format to another. This allows you to pass data to applications in the format they require. You may also want to create binary archives for efficient data storage and access. With newform, conversion of ASCII data to binary format is straightforward. If you wish to read the data in a binary file, you can convert it to ASCII with newform, or use the interactive program readfile. You can also convert data from one ASCII format to another ASCII format with newform.

• 9.1 newform
• 9.2 chkform
• 9.3 readfile
• 9.4 Creating a Binary Archive
• 9.4.1 Simple ASCII to Binary Conversion
• 9.4.2 Converting to Binary
• 9.4.3 Reconverting to Native Format
• 9.4.4 Reading the Binary File
• 9.4.5 Conversion to a More Portable Binary
• 9.4.6 Converting to Binary Long
• 9.4.7 Reading the Binary File
• 9.4.8 Including a Query
• 9.5 File Names and Context
• 9.5.1 "Nonstandard" Data File Names
• 9.5.2 "Nonstandard" Format Description File Names
• 9.6 Changing ASCII Formats