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From: mojo@kepler.UUCP (Morris Jones)
Newsgroups: net.micro.pc
Subject: Re: DataStar Help Needed
Message-ID: <570@kepler.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 7-Apr-86 20:06:26 EST
Article-I.D.: kepler.570
Posted: Mon Apr  7 20:06:26 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 11-Apr-86 08:19:31 EST
References: <664@epistemi.UUCP>
Reply-To: mojo@kepler.UUCP (Morris Jones)
Organization: MicroPro Int'l Corp., San Rafael, CA
Lines: 29

In article <664@epistemi.UUCP> rda@epistemi.UUCP (Robert Dale) writes:
>My friend has a membership/subscriptions file with approximately 500
>records, which just won't work.  On starting up DataStar, at first the
>program objected because it thought the .DTA file wasn't properly
>terminated.  After a bit of hacking around, I came to the conclusion that
>DataStar data files need to be terminated with a record whose contents are:
>
>	a byte with decimal value 255
	... etc.

What DataStar needs on the end of the file is a ^Z.  You can put
one there by simply opening the data file in WordStar and saving it.

The culprit is usually an older version of Formsort that left the
data file without a terminator byte.  There was a program supplied
on a number of the older version systems called "puteof.com" that
would add the proper terminator byte to the datafile.  If you find
a copy of puteof.com on your disk, you can use it to fix your
problem also.

A record starting with 255 marks a "deleted" record in DataStar.
You can remove them from the file without harm if they're at the end.

You should ask your system administrator to file a UUCP map entry, too.

-- 
Mojo
... Morris Jones, MicroPro Product Development
{lll-crg,ptsfa,dual,well,pyramid}!micropro!kepler!mojo