(Comp.sources.hp48)
Item: 135 by higa@hubble.ifa.hawaii.edu [Jonathan T. Higa]
Subj: TASC v2.52 -- Turbo ->ASC and ASC->
Date: 28 Jun 1992

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³ Mini-instructions: TASC filename. ³
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[Note: This program is awesome!  It'll save us all a ton of bucks in
 batteries!  There's no longer ANY need to upload or download files
 to/from your HP 48 in Wickes' ASC format.  TASC translates any HP 48
 binary file on a PC disk into ASC format, or an ASC file into binary
 format, on the PC.  This means that it's no longer necessary to
 include the ASC files on the Goodies Disks, thus freeing up several
 hundred K for more goodies!  And it's made it easier to add ASC files
 to comp.sources.hp48.  Thanx, Jonathan!  -Joe Horn & Chris Spell-]

[Note 2:  You can also find out what the BYTES function on the HP 48
 would give for an HP 48 object on a computer disk, in either binary
 or ASC format, without uploading it!  Just type TASC filename > NUL.
 Nifty, huh?  -jkh-]


TASC(1)                  USER COMMANDS                    TASC(1)


NAMES
     tasc - translate HP48 binary files to and from ASC format

SYNOPSIS
     tasc [-deiqr<let>] file [file]

DESCRIPTION
     This program translates HP48 binary files to  and  from  ASC
     format.   It  should  be fully compatible with Bill Wickes's
     original ->ASC-> programs.

     If you specify a translation mode,  you  must  specify  both
     source and target filenames.
     If you do not specify a translation mode, then the  type  of
     input  is  automatically  determined  from the source file's
     name.  If the source filename ends with  .asc,  then  it  is
     assumed  to  be  an  ASC file; if not, it is assumed to be a
     binary file.  If you do not specify a target filename,  then
     it  will  be  created  by adding or removing the .asc suffix
     from the source filename.

OPTIONS
     -d   Force ASC->bin (ASC decoding) mode.

     -e   Force bin->ASC (ASC encoding) mode.

     -i   Use stdin  in  ASC->bin  /  stdout  in  bin->ASC  mode.
          Ignored by auto-translation mode.

     -q   Quiet mode.  Suppress the status reports.

     -rlet
          Generate files for ROM revision let.  The  default  ROM
          revision  is  E.   Currently  accepted  values are a-f.
          Ignored for bin->ASC translation.

DIAGNOSTICS
     Returns 0 on success, 1 on error.   On  successful  exit,  a
     status  report  giving HP48 ROM Revision and object checksum
     and size is printed to the standard error, except  in  quiet
     mode.

AUTHOR
     Jonathan T. Higa (jonhiga@phoenix.princeton.edu)
     As long as I can receive e-mail, please feel free  to  indi-
     cate needed changes.

CAVEATS
     Version 2.52:
     Requires the ASCII character set.
     The target file is written DURING  translation.   Therefore,
     error  conditions  sometimes  leave  behind a useless target
     file.
     ASC files are scanned until a double-quote is found  at  the
     beginning  of a line, at which point decoding begins.  Don't
     put any spaces before this opening double-quote!  Note  that
     as  a  result  of this scanning, it is generally possible to
     pipe mail directly into "tasc -di filename."

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
     The   ASC   format   was    designed    by    Bill    Wickes
     (billw@hpcvdw.cv.hp.com).  The CRC algorithm used originally
     comes from the following text:
          da Cruz, Frank.  Kermit: A File Transfer Protocol. Bed-
          ford, MA: Digital Press, 1987.
     Background info on HP48 object structure was provided in the
     HP48  Tools  Manual;  the object prologue data was extracted
     from the document "HP48SX Internals," by  Derek  S.  Nickel.
     Thanks to Joe Horn for pointing out the appropriate files on
     the EduCalc Goodies Disks; thanks also for  finding  several
     serious bugs which didn't come up in preliminary testing.


Sun Release 4.1     Last change: 1992 June 19                   2