Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!ucsd!ucbvax!agate!darkstar!ucschu.ucsc.edu!peewee
From: peewee@ucschu.ucsc.edu (Paul Watson)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.misc
Subject: DCA format for text files.
Keywords: DCA,file formats
Message-ID: <5378@darkstar.ucsc.edu>
Date: 23 Jul 90 22:55:13 GMT
References: file formats
Sender: usenet@darkstar.ucsc.edu
Reply-To: peewee@ucschu.ucsc.edu (Paul Watson)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Humanities Division, UC Santa Cruz
Lines: 29


I am trying to convert files from DOS Nota Bene to be used on MacIntosh
with Microsoft Word. Nota Bene(NB) has a special format called DCA which
it can use to save files.  It is supposed to be a standard format which
many programs use (haven't found another such program yet!).  I  thought
it would be like the RTF format that Word uses.

Unfortunately, when I create a DCA file with Nota Bene, I can't determine
if the text is there (all I really need is the text) because there is an
EOF character in the DCA format(ugh.)  I expect to find text in there
somewhere because the man at Dragon Fly Software (makers of NB) said
I should be able to see it with Norton Utilities.

Since I don't have access to Norton Utilities, I brought the file over to the
MacIntosh with Apple File Exchange.  Then when brought up in Word, absolutely
no text! Just lots of Foreign chars (ID>0x80).  So I ftp'd it (Using IP)
to Unix and looked at it with octal dump.  Still no text.  Last I tried
stripping off bit 8 with a c program.   I saw text, but it was nonsense.

Is DCA text stored in a non-ascii form?  Am I corrupting the data in my
file transfers?
How can I get ascii text out of a DCA file?
Is Nota Bene not creating the DCA file right?


Send help--
Thanks,

Paul Watson.  University of California, Santa Cruz.