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APEDRIVE
Apricot to PC File Transfer

Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction

Windows 95 and Upward Warning! Please Read This Section!

Chapter 2: Using APEDRIVE

Copying the APEDRIVE diskUsing APEDRIVE to copy from Apricot disks

Chapter 3: More Uses for APEDRIVE

General InformationTwo-way data transfer with APEDRIVEInstalling APEDRIVE in memoryIncompatible Software

Chapter 4: What To Do if APEDRIVE Doesn't Work

The alternative copier: AICOPY.EXE

Chapter 5: Other Utilities

InformationTransferring giant data files: AIBAK.EXE and AIREST.EXESingle drive copier: SCOPY.EXECopy updated files only: ANEW.EXEDate control: TODAI.EXEUnusual filenames: SPACES.EXEMaking Apricot-format disks: APEFORM.EXE

Chapter 6: SuperWriter Document Conversion

Converting SuperWriter files to WordPerfect 4.2Converting SuperWriter files to Rich Text Format


Chapter 1: Introduction

Disks formatted on the old Apricot computers – the 'Apricot generic' PC/Xi, Xen, F Series and FP Portable – cannot normally be used on IBM PCs or compatibles. If the PC has the old 5¼" disk drives, the differences are obvious, but it is just as true of 3½" PC disk drives. Although the Apricot disk will physically fit into an IBM drive, trying to use it will normally produce an error message. (If the former Apricot disk is at some future time reformatted on the IBM compatible then it will become fully usable on the new machine.)

Our software offers two main alternatives to help you cope with Apricot disks:

When loaded and active, APEDRIVE enables the disk drive(s) to detect that the current disk has been formatted for an Apricot, and acts accordingly. The computer is then capable of treating the disk normally: the data it contains may be read into a suitable program, for instance. DOS commands may also be used, including DIR, COPY, REN and DEL.

APEDRIVE does not otherwise interfere with the operation of your computer. Ordinary IBM-format disks may be used as normal in the drive. APEDRIVE will work on both the older 720K floppy disk drives and modern high-density 1.44Mb drives. (However, 1.44Mb HD disks should not be formatted for or used in Apricot drives.)

Windows 95 and Upward Warning! Please Read This Section!

APEDRIVE was an old (in software terms), well-tested and reliable utility until Microsoft moved the goalposts with Windows 95. For unexplained reasons, operating systems from Windows 95 onward block the specialist access to the floppy drive that's needed to copy non-standard disks – that is, disks in Apricot format.

Fortunately there is a way around this difficulty in Windows 95 and 98, although a slightly tiresome one. You need to shut down Windows 95 or 98 and restart the computer before copying Apricot disks:

From the Windows Start menu, select Shut Down and then pick Restart the computer in MS-DOS mode before clicking Yes. APEDRIVE can now be used as described in this manual.

After using it, type EXIT at the command line prompt to restart Windows.

APEDRIVE is not at present suitable for use with Windows ME and XP, from which Microsoft has tiresomely removed the Restart the computer in MS-DOS mode option. To use APEDRIVE, it is necessary to restart such machines with a DOS boot disk created under Windows 98 or earlier.


Chapter 2: Using APEDRIVE

Copying the APEDRIVE disk

APEDRIVE is supplied on a standard IBM-format 720K or 1.44Mb 3 1/2 " disk. To instal the APEDRIVE software to your hard disk, place our supplied disk in the 3½" drive of your computer and, at the DOS prompt, enter the INSTAL command shown in bold:

C:\>A:INSTAL [Return]

This creates the directory C:\ANSIBLE and copies the software to it. You can change to this directory from the DOS prompt with the following command:

C:\>CD \ANSIBLE [Return]

The appearance of the prompt will report the new directory:

C:\ANSIBLE>

At this point you can run any of the APEDRIVE utilities described in this manual by typing its name. The command APEDR [Return] will run the APEDRIVE main menu no matter what the current DOS prompt might be – see next section.

Using APEDRIVE to copy from Apricot disks

It is easiest to run APEDRIVE from its own main menu. This is produced by the program APEDR.EXE. From the DOS prompt enter the following command:

C:\>APEDR [Return]

... showing the following menu screen:

Ansible Information APEDRIVE v4.04 menu          FILE COPYING
--------------------------------------------------------------
>  1  Select files from directory
   2  Copy all specified files
   3  Query before overwriting file?        No
   4  Change COPY FROM details              A:\*.*
   5  Change COPY TO details                C:\
   6  Swap TO and FROM
   7  Copy with AICOPY (last resort)        No
   8  Latest product information
   9  Exit to DOS
--------------------------------------------------------------
Select an item >

Once this menu has appeared (but not before) you may place an Apricot disk in your 3½" drive for copying.

To select a numbered option from the menu, either move the cursor to the required position and press Return, press the appropriate number key, or press the function key with that number. With the triangle cursor pointing at line 1, pressing Return, 1 or F1 all have the same effect.

Option 1 (press 1 or F1) will display a directory of all files found on the disk in the COPY FROM drive (see Option 4). This enables you to select the specific file(s) you wish to transfer. Movement about the directory is by normal use of the cursor keys. Press Space (the space bar) to highlight individual files; press Return to copy them. Alternatively, you may simply move the cursor to any file and press Return. In either case, a y/n query will appear at the bottom of the screen before the copying commences. If you have selected the optional query (see Option 3, below), another y/n query will appear before overwriting any identically named file.

Subdirectories within the current COPY FROM directory are marked with triangles, like this: >ANSIBLE<. To swap to a subdirectory, move the highlight bar to its name and press Return: the COPY FROM line will change to keep track. A 'parent' directory containing the current subdirectory appears in the file list as Parent and can be selected in the same way. Choose your directory before marking files to be copied, as marks are lost when you change directories. You may also delete files while in the directory listing, by pressing Del. You will always be asked whether you really mean it before the deletion goes ahead.

Option 2 (press 2 or F2) will copy all the files specified in the COPY FROM details (see Option 4) to the directory specified as COPY TO (see Option 5).

Option 3 (press 3 or F3) gives you the choice of having the program pause and issue a query before copying any file which would overwrite another. The default is No; pressing the key changes this to Yes. Press it again to restore No.

Option 4 selects the disk drive assumed to be your 3½" drive, which therefore is the drive to be copied FROM. This is normally Drive A, but if your setup has Drive B as 3½" drive, or some other, then press 4 or F4, and use the keyboard to correct this information. (Follow the prompt at the bottom of the screen ... use cursor keys, Del, etc., to make changes.)

You can also use Option 4 to specify single files, or groups of files, from the 3½" disk. If you only wish to copy a file called LETTERS.DOC from the disk, you may change the information to A:\LETTERS.DOC. For another example, all .DOC files could be picked up with A:\*.DOC.

Option 5 identifies where the files will be copied TO. We show the directory \ANSIBLE on your hard disk drive C:, but you will actually see whichever directory you have run the menu from. After you have pressed 5 or F5, you may use the keyboard to change this. For example, you might wish to transfer all WordPerfect documents to the directory \WP. If our start-up settings are the same as your preferences, no changes need be made.

Option 6 (press 6 or F6) will exactly reverse the COPY FROM and COPY TO details. This is most often useful when you wish to copy files in IBM format to an Apricot disk. Select this option a second time to restore the original settings.

Option 7 (press 7 or F7) will not be needed in 99% of cases, but some IBM compatibles with nonstandard BIOS versions may refuse to accept Apricot disks as properly formatted for DOS, irrespective of APEDRIVE. The emergency AICOPY utility tackles these awkward cases but does not recognize subdirectories on Apricot floppy disks – hence the 'last resort' warning.

The initial or "default" setting here is No. Change it to Yes if wanted, by pressing 7 or F7. With Yes selected, AICOPY will be used for all file copying commanded by options 1 or 2 above.

Option 8 will display the information file READ.ME. When you have scanned through the file, press Esc to return to the menu.

Option 9 (press 9 or F9) simply returns you to DOS. Pressing Esc or F10 does the same.


Chapter 3: More Uses for APEDRIVE

General Information

So far we have covered the most common use for APEDRIVE: rescuing files from Apricot disks by transferring them to an IBM-format disk or hard disk. We are often asked what exactly has happened to these files. How much conversion has taken place? Are they still in Apricot format? ... and so on.

A file copied with APEDRIVE (or with the last-ditch AICOPY) is copied exactly, in its existing format. For example, if the file is a document created with a word processor, then it will be copied across in that format, complete with all print controls, and special codes used by the program. It is not 'converted' in any sense. If you used dBase II to create the file (to give another example), and you have an IBM version of dBase II, then after the file has been copied across it may be read normally, as if it had been created on the IBM. After copying, the file is therefore no longer in 'Apricot format'. You do not have to use APEDRIVE on subsequent occasions to get at the file. The computer will treat it as one of its own.

Two-way data transfer with APEDRIVE

Most software is 'upwardly compatible' with its later versions. This means that if you were using (say) version 2.0 of a program, then obtain an upgrade to version 3.0, it is in everyone's interests that version 3.0 should be able to use data created with version 2.0. (Often it's also possible to use version 3.0 to save data in version 2.0's format.) In most cases, an IBM version of a program is likely to be more recent than the Apricot version. A typical example is WordPerfect. The last Apricot version was 4.2, while the most widespread IBM version (at date of printing this manual) is 5.1. WP 5.1 can not only read 4.2 files (converting them into 5.1 format as it does so), it can optionally save a new document in 4.2 format. With APEDRIVE you can save or copy such a document to an Apricot disk ... and this may then be taken across the room to the Apricot and loaded into your Apricot copy of 4.2.

Installing APEDRIVE in memory

APEDRIVE can be loaded into the IBM PC's resident memory by commanding the program direct. The program is called APEDRIVE.COM, and commanding this will instal it. Thus: C:\ANSIBLE>APEDRIVE [Return] This will produce an installation message in a box, reporting that APEDRIVE has been installed for all floppy drives. (Under no circumstances will APEDRIVE even consider a hard disk for its attentions!) This might sound alarming, but remember that the program takes no action unless it detects an Apricot disk. If the program has already been installed for a particular drive or drives, the APEDRIVE command will report on which drives it's installed for. Commanding APEDRIVE with a disk drive label instals it for the named drive. E.g.: C:\ANSIBLE>APEDRIVE A [Return] ... will instal it for Drive A only (naturally this should be the 3½" drive). Other drive letters may be used, of course. More than one drive at a time may be converted by nominating more drives – for example: C:\ANSIBLE>APEDRIVE AB [Return] We provide a number of specialist options to allow tinkering with the APEDRIVE installation after first loading it. You may never need any of these, so feel free to skip the next indented section!

You can change APEDRIVE's installation from any particular setting to "all drives" by using an asterisk:

C:\ANSIBLE>APEDRIVE * [Return]

Drives may be selectively installed or "un-installed" by preceding the drive letter(s) with + or - signs. For example:

C:\ANSIBLE>APEDRIVE -B [Return]

... which will "un-instal" Drive B. And:

C:\ANSIBLE>APEDRIVE +B [Return]

... will instal it again. You can combine all these commands for various effects. Here are some examples: C:\ANSIBLE>APEDRIVE *-A [Return] – instal for all drives, then "un-instal" Drive A, leaving any other drives installed. C:\ANSIBLE>APEDRIVE -*+B [Return] – "un-instal" from all drives, re-instal for Drive B alone.

APEDRIVE may be used 'invisibly'; that is, with all screen messages suppressed. (This could be useful when running APEDRIVE from a batch file, where unobtrusive loading is desirable.) Precede any drive label with a dollar sign, for $uppress. For example:

C:\ANSIBLE>APEDRIVE $A [Return]

If $uppress is not used, APEDRIVE always reports the drives on which it's currently active. You can make a quick check to see if has installed correctly by popping in an Apricot disk and running a directory listing. Enter:

C:\ANSIBLE>DIR A: [Return]

Or after switching to Drive A as the default drive:

A>DIR [Return]

To remove APEDRIVE from memory entirely, enter:

C:\ANSIBLE>APEDRIVE X [Return]

For direct use, any of these commands can be included as lines in batch files when loading a program. Suppose you only need access to Apricot disks while using WordPerfect, and your 3½" drive is Drive A. Here is a batch file you could use from the root directory. (It assumes WordPerfect is kept in a directory called \WP, and that APEDRIVE.COM is kept in the directory \ANSIBLE.)

ECHO OFF
\ANSIBLE\APEDRIVE A
CD \WP
WP
CD \
\ANSIBLE\APEDRIVE X

Such an arrangement could also be included in your AUTOEXEC.BAT, so that APEDRIVE is permanently available at all times. Some of our customers continue to format all their normal-density 3½" disks on the Apricot, knowing that such disks are then completely usable on both machines, without having to remember on which computer any particular disk was formatted. (This practice dates from before the introduction of IBM HD disks, which are unusable on Apricots.)

Incompatible Software

[This section was written back in the 1980s and, for most people's computer systems, no longer applies. The differences between old Apricot versions of software and the latest IBM Windows applications – even when similarly named – has become too great.]

If you upgraded your software when you bought the new computer, you might well find that data from the Apricot is not fully usable, even with APEDRIVE. Converting documents or data files into ASCII format before moving them across is one partial solution, but this introduces time-wasting extra work later. We have various remedies for this, of which the main one is the APE Plus Apricot emulator. This allows you to move a wide range Apricot programs across to an IBM, as well as the data, and continue to use them all.

'But,' say some customers, 'we've just spent several hundred pounds on SplendidStuff Word Processor. Why should we want to go on using rotten old SuperWriter?' (Or Cardbox, or Wordstar 2000, or dBase II, or SuperCalc.)

Because: you have the old programs, you know how to use them, you have all your data in those formats, two-way data transfer is a cinch thanks to APEDRIVE ... and running under APE Plus the programs will run much faster and look a whole lot better. Once you have these programs running on the IBM, transferring material to your new programs is much easier.


Chapter 4: What To Do if APEDRIVE Doesn't Work

Before resorting to this section, please see the important warning at the end of the Introduction! Running APEDRIVE from within Windows 95 or 98 is the most likely cause of problems.

The usual consequence of trying an Apricot disk in an IBM is an error message from the operating system: 'General Failure Error - Abort, Retry or Ignore?'. If you get this message when trying to use Apricot disks, check that APEDRIVE has been properly installed. If in doubt, press A for 'Abort', remove the Apricot disk from the drive, and check the APEDRIVE commands in the previous chapter. Start with APEDRIVE X to remove the program from memory, then try again. Replace the Apricot disk, and test the results with a DIR command.

In general, unless some benign well-wisher donates a few hundred thousand pounds to the Ansible coffers, we remain reluctant to buy every model of IBM compatible computer. This means that innovative programs like APEDRIVE have to be written with a certain amount of trust in the manufacturers' ability and willingness to make their machines genuinely compatible. The problem is that for sound reasons of copyright, no 'compatible' computer is quite identical to an IBM, and from time to time these small differences clash with our software.

We hasten to add that we know of only two computers where compatibility problems are capable of affecting APEDRIVE. These were both laptops manufactured by Zenith and Toshiba, now long superseded ... if we remain imprecise as to the exact model names or numbers it is because feedback from our customers has been a bit inconsistent.

Try APEDRIVE as described in the previous chapter, and if it does not perform as expected, try the following program instead.

The alternative copier: AICOPY.EXE

AICOPY bypasses the DOS operating system (though not, alas, the blocking efforts of Windows 95 and up) and copies directly from or to the sectors of an Apricot-format disk. Use it with exactly the same 'syntax' as the COPY command in DOS. For instance, to copy everything on an Apricot-format disk in Drive A to the ANSIBLE directory on the hard disk, enter:

C:\ANSIBLE>AICOPY A:*.* C: [Return]

(The final 'C:' may be omitted when actually commanding the program from Drive C.)

To copy all '.DOC' files to another directory (called, for example, LETTERS), enter:

C:\ANSIBLE>AICOPY A:*.DOC C:\LETTERS [Return]

You may run AICOPY.EXE with or without the resident APEDRIVE installed; it makes no difference.

Remember also that AICOPY can be selected from APEDRIVE's main menu with option 7. It is not the 'default' in use from this menu, because of one limitation: it can't handle subdirectories on floppy disks. (But copying to or from IBM hard disk directories is of course fully supported.)


Chapter 5: Other Utilities

Information

Type HELP at the DOS prompt (in the \ANSIBLE directory), and you will see the text of our READ.ME file. This is a hangover from the days of the printed APEDRIVE manual, when new information not yet included in the manual was supplied in this on-disk supplement.

The supplied program T.EXE is a utility for displaying any ASCII text file on screen. To use it against text files other than our READ.ME, enter T plus the name of the file (or files, separated by spaces) to be read. See the text lister's bottom-line prompts for key commands.

Transferring giant data files: AIBAK.EXE and AIREST.EXE

What about moving files which are individually too big to fit on a single floppy? You should in theory be able to split giant files over several floppy disks with the DOS utility BACKUP and reconstitute them on the IBM with RESTORE ... but variations between Apricot and IBM versions of BACKUP, RESTORE and DOS itself often lead to insuperable problems. Use our simplified AIBAK.EXE and AIREST.EXE instead. They will run with any Apricot or IBM DOS version from 2.00 upwards. On the Apricot, for example:

A:\>AIBAK \WORK\BIGFILE B: [Return]

... would read BIGFILE from directory \WORK on hard disk A, and split it over as many floppies (in drive B) as necessary: you are prompted to insert disks when they are needed. Wild cards are allowed, as in \WORK\BIGFILE.* ... or simply specify \WORK to copy the whole directory.

Then, on the IBM, with APEDRIVE.COM installed and assuming a 3½" drive A:

C:\ANSIBLE>AIREST A: \IBMWORK [Return]

... prompts you to place the AIBAK floppies in drive A, in the same order that they were written to by AIBAK, and will restore them in directory \IBMWORK.

Like BACKUP, AIBAK will (after a warning) delete all files on floppy disks before copying to them. If you mix up the floppies, you can check their numbering via the directory, whose first file will be called AIBAK with the disk number as the extension: AIBAK.1, AIBAK.2, AIBAK.3 and so on.

Single drive copier: SCOPY.EXE

This is an open-release program written by Apricot PLC for Apricots, to ease the problem of copying files when you have only a single disk drive.

In general, IBMs and clones sidestep the difficulty by allowing floppy Drive A to be considered – if there's no second floppy drive – as a notional Drive B, with prompts like 'Insert disk for drive B:'. However, if you have a 5¼" Drive B and a 3½" Drive A (or vice versa), and want to copy directly from Apricot 3½" to IBM 3½" disk, SCOPY might be useful. APEDRIVE must be loaded before use with Apricot disks.

The syntax is simple: SCOPY followed by one or more file specifications as for COPY. For example, running SCOPY from a floppy in Drive A:

A>SCOPY *.* [Return]

... would load SCOPY from the current disk, prompt you to insert the source disk (which needn't be the same as the one containing SCOPY), read as many files as the memory can hold, prompt for the target disk (presumably a newly formatted one you have made ready for this purpose), write to it, and repeat until everything has been copied.

You may also give wild card file specifications, such as: *.COM (all .COM files), *.EXE, MYBOOK.* ... etc. Several can be given in the same SCOPY command, separated by spaces.

(In older Apricot manuals you would often be advised to make use of the equivalent-seeming 'COPY with /S' command: the COPY in Apricot DOS allowed the extra 'switch' /S to specify single drive use. Unfortunately Apricot got something wrong, and it also corrupted files longer than 64k. This might make the more reliable SCOPY.EXE worth transferring back to your Apricot!)

Copy updated files only: ANEW.EXE

ANEW is yet another program for copying files from one disk or directory to another, but this will only copy files:

  1. When the SOURCE disk or directory contains files not present in the TARGET disk or directory, or ...
  2. When files with the same names exist in both SOURCE and TARGET, but the time and/or date in the SOURCE is more recent than in the TARGET.

This is an extremely handy utility to have when wishing to make back-up copies on a regular basis. All identical files are ignored (saving much time that would otherwise be spent copying material that has already been copied), but any files that have been changed, or newly created, will be copied. Entering:

C:\ANSIBLE>ANEW [Return]

... will display a brief reminder of the correct usage. You can also specify all the usual DOS 'paths', such as different drive letters and directories. Wild cards are supported in the usual way. For instance, entering:

C:\ANSIBLE>ANEW \LETTERS B:\OFFICE [Return]

... will copy all new or updated files from the directory \LETTERS on Drive C to the directory \OFFICE on Drive B. There are also a few "switches" that can be entered when the program is commanded:

(These switches should be typed at the end of the command line. They can, where appropriate, be combined: ANEW *.* B: /PV, for example.)

ANEW is a general-purpose IBM-format program which does not of itself tackle Apricot disks. This means that APEDRIVE should be loaded when ANEW is to be used with disks from your Apricot, but also means that it is useful in many other ways, working with IBM floppies or between directories of an IBM hard disk.

Date control: TODAI.EXE

This is our own improved (and non-public domain) version of a popular utility called TOUCH. It is often handy in conjunction with ANEW. TODAI enables you to change the date and time of any file or group of files to the current date and time. (Accuracy depends on the DOS clock being set correctly, of course.) Entering:

C:\ANSIBLE>TODAI [Return]

... will display a brief reminder of the correct usage.

C:\ANSIBLE>TODAI LETTERS.DOC [Return]

... will change the date and time of LETTERS.DOC in the same directory. You can also specify all the usual DOS 'paths', such as different drive letters and directories. Wild cards are supported in the usual way. For instance, entering:

C:\ANSIBLE>TODAI B:\OFFICE *.DOC

... will redate all .DOC files in the directory \OFFICE on the disk in Drive B. There are also a few switches that can be entered when the program is commanded:

The switches should be typed at the end of the command line, and may be sensibly combined ... such as /V/L or /VC. Since the program always acts on /H first and stops after issuing the help information, it is harmless but useless to combine other switches with /H.

Unusual filenames: SPACES.EXE

The master disks of the Apricot program TABS (an integrated accounts system) come with some odd files whose names contain spaces: e.g. IND 1. Such files are also created on TABS data disks. This is a nuisance, as [pre-Windows 95] COPY commands will not handle names like these.

Copying via the APEDRIVE menu will in fact move them succesfully, as will the use of AICOPY, but we provide SPACES.EXE to modify such filenames temporarily to allow normal copying in DOS. Here's how to use it on a disk in drive A:

C:\ANSIBLE>SPACES A: [Return]

This will change the internal spaces to an unusual but allowed character. COPY *.* can now be performed. The unusual character is number 254 in the ASCII set, a square blob which can be entered from the IBM keyboard by holding down ALT and typing 254 on the number pad. After copying, you will need to replace the blobs with spaces again. Run SPACES a second time. For instance, if you have copied the files to a directory called \TABS, enter:

C:\ANSIBLE>SPACES \TABS [Return]

If the need arises, we will extend the SPACES program to modify other offbeat characters within filenames which prevent copying. Let us know....

Making Apricot-format disks: APEFORM.EXE

We have occasionally been asked if it's possible to use APEDRIVE and an Apricot FORMAT program to create Apricot-format disks in an IBM 3½" drive. No, but here is an alternative. To use APEFORM.EXE you first format the appropriate number of IBM 3 1/2 " 720k disks using the normal IBM FORMAT program. If this program defaults to 1.44MB or higher, check your DOS manual for the appropriate command: for example, in most DOS versions you would specify:

C:\ANSIBLE>FORMAT A: /F:720 [Return]

... to create a 720k disk. Assuming such a disk is in drive A, you can now use APEFORM.EXE to convert it to Apricot format with the command:

C:\ANSIBLE>APEFORM A: [Return]

... which will query whether you really mean it, and prompt you to insert further disks if you want to convert more than one. This will produce Apricot-style 720k disks.

C:\ANSIBLE>APEFORM A: /S [Return] ... will produce the Apricot Single-sided disk format (315k) for use on Apricots which can't read the higher-capacity double-sided disks.

APEFORM.EXE is harmless: it will convert only empty IBM floppy disks with 720k capacity, and so cannot hurt data or damage hard disks.


Chapter 6: SuperWriter Document Conversion

SuperWriter was the most popular of Apricot word processors, since it was at one stage supplied with every machine. Its file format wasn't compatible with anything else, alas. One reliable but tedious way to cope with these documents was to run SuperWriter on the Apricot and use it to save needed texts in plain DOS ASCII format before moving the files to a PC. (Most word processors can handle this format.) Another – in cases where the Apricot is broken or has been junked – is to buy Ansible's APE emulator and use it to run SuperWriter on the PC. Again, needed documents can be loaded and saved as DOS ASCII text.

Converting SuperWriter files to WordPerfect 4.2

A further alternative is Ansible's SWP.EXE converter: SuperWriter to WordPerfect. This processes SuperWriter files in bulk, converting them to the now rather elderly WordPerfect 4.2 document format – readable at least by later versions of WordPerfect, and some other software's conversion options. We now include this utility with APEDRIVE. Run SWP with ...

C:\ANSIBLE> SWP [Return]

... which will list all files in the current directory. You can specify another directory on the command line; for example, to convert SuperWriter files in directory C:\SW, type:

C:\ANSIBLE> SWP C:\SW [Return]

Select or deselect files with the one-letter SWP commands that appear on the prompt line:

Converted files are given the extension .WP to distinguish them – for example, LETTER.DOC becomes LETTER.WP.

Converting SuperWriter files to Rich Text Format

The alternative converter SW2RTF.EXE (read "SuperWriter 2 [to] RTF") converts SuperWriter files to a simplified form of Microsoft Rich Text Format, which can be read by Word and other modern Windows word processors. In use it's almost identical to SWP.EXE as described above:

C:\ANSIBLE> SW2RTF [Return]

... will list all files in the current directory. You can specify another directory on the command line; for example, to convert SuperWriter files in directory C:\SW, type:

C:\ANSIBLE> SW2RTF C:\SW [Return]

Select or deselect files with the one-letter SW2RTF commands that appear on the prompt line:

Converted files are given the extension .RTF to distinguish them and identify them as Rich Text Format to modern Windows software – for example, LETTER.DOC becomes LETTER.RTF.


APEDRIVE

'IBM' is a registered trademark of the International Business Machines Corporation.

'Apricot' is a registered trademark of Apricot UK PLC.

'MS-DOS' is a registered trademark of the Microsoft Corporation.

Other trademarks mentioned in passing are hereby acknowledged.

The text of this book is Copyright © 1987-2002 Ansible Information. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized copying of this book, in whole or in part, will be an offence under the Copyright Act, 1956.

Except where noted in the text of this book, all software files on the APEDRIVE disk are Copyright © 1987-2002 Ansible Information. All rights reserved. Unauthorized copying of the software files on this disk will be an offence under the Copyright (Computer Software) Amendment Act, 1985.

PLEASE NOTE: Copyright in computer software is identical to Copyright in books. Please use software just as you would a book. A book cannot be read by more than one person at a time, and we ask you to treat APEDRIVE in the same way. Similarly, software may be shown to or lent to a third party, or disposed of secondhand ... always provided that the copy in question is not in use in more than one location at a time. The sole exception to this is that as a Registered User you are authorized to make ONE archival or backup copy of the software, as a protection against damage or loss, and to copy individual files to your own working disks as and when needed. If you have any questions about the use of our Copyright software please contact us at once. Thank you.

Conscientious effort has been made to test the software in working conditions, but no guarantees can be made or claims for damages entertained. A genuinely faulty APEDRIVE disk will, however, be replaced free of charge on return of the original supplied disk.

If the software has been upgraded since this book went to press, more information will be contained in the file called READ.ME. We monitor our software after release, and we welcome your comments. If you encounter any serious problems, contact us at once. Please write to us at the following address:

Ansible Information
94 London Road
Reading
Berkshire
RG1 5AU
England


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