1 Introduction
2 Installation
3 How AscToTab works
4 Running AscToTab
4.1 Execution from a command line
4.2 Drag'n'Drop execution
4.3 Refining your results
5.1.1 BORDER=n attribute
5.1.2 CELLPADDING=n attribute
5.1.3 CELLPADDING=n attribute
5.1.4 BGCOLOR="colour" and BORDERCOLOR="colour" attributes
5.2 <CAPTION> statement
5.3 <TH> statements
5.4 <TD> statements
6 Customising your conversions
6.1 Policy files
6.2 Preprocessor commands
6.2.1 The BORDER command
6.2.2 The CELLSPACING and CELLPADDING commands
6.2.3 The BGCOLOR and BORDERCOLOR commands
6.2.4 The CAPTION command
6.2.5 The HEADING_ROWS command
6.2.6 The HEADING_COLS command
8.1 The home page
8.2 E-mail
8.3 Support
9 Known problems
10 Change History
10.1 Version 1.00 (December '97)
AscToTab is a specific ASCII to HTML conversion tool. It converts plain text files to HTML tables.AscToTab has evolved out of the technology used in AscToHTM, the general-purpose text to HTML conversion utility. The AscToTab technology will form a subset of AscToHTM in later releases.
The HTML version of this document has been produced using AscToHTM, and no post-processing has been done to the HTML pages produced. It has been generated from a single source document and a few small configuration files.
This document describes AscToTab V1.0, which is available as postcardware from December 1997. AscToHTM is available as shareware. It's likely that any later versions of AscToTab may also become shareware.
AscToTab is made available for download via the Internet from here.
AscToTab is downloadable as a .ZIP file from here. You should download the version best suited to your needs.Once downloaded, simply unzip the files and move them to a suitable location.
AscToTab V1.0 runs as a console application ("DOS program") under Windows, and from the command line under OpenVMS.
AscToTab looks at the layout of your text file and tries to spot the column boundaries in your table. It doesn't require comma- or tab-delimited values - though it may additionally support these in later versions.Having detected your column positions, it attempts to detect if your table has a header.
Finally it outputs your table, paying attention to the following
In addition to it's automatic features, AscToTab can be customised to give even better output. See Section 6 for details.
- Data alignment. The alignment of a column is checked, and where suitable, numerical values are right-aligned.
- Column-spanning. Where a value appears to span two or more columns the COLSPAN attribute is used, and the alignment re-calculated
- Table headers. Where the heading is underlined, this is detected and the header row(s) are marked up using <TH> markup.
- Cell entries that span multiple lines. Where possible, this is detected and the entries are added together with <BR> inserted to preserve the original layout.
- Blank lines. Usually omitted, unless they appear to be separators.
- Border. Added unless a number of user-supplied lines are detected in which case these are shown, and the HTML border omitted.
4.1 Execution from a command line
From a command prompt (Windows or OpenVMS) you can type
AscToTab <textfile> [<policy file>]Where
<textfile>andName of file to be converted. The output will be the same name with a ".html" extension
If the <textfile> is of the form "@<filename>", then AscToTab will read the file <filename> line-by-line and convert the files listed in that file.
<policyfile>Is a "policy" file used to customise the conversion see 6.1.
Create an Icon for AscToTab and simply drag'n'drop files onto it. The results will be identical to those obtained by typing in the filenames as described in 4.1.
If all goes well the resultant HTML will be satisfactory. However, you can customize the conversion in two ways:-
AscToTab will default to a BORDER=2 unless
- A BORDER preprocessor command is encountered (see 6.2.1)
- It determines that the user has added their own lines
AscToTab will only add CELLSPACING if a CELLSPACING preprocessor command is encountered (see 6.2.2).
AscToTab will add CELLPADDING if:-
- It enounters a CELLPADDING command (see 6.2.2)
- A BORDER is present. The default is CELLPADDING=4
AscToTab will add these attributes is it encounters BGCOLOR or BORDERCOLOR commands (see 6.2.3).
AscToTab will add a caption if it encounters a CAPTION command (see 6.2.4)
AscToTab will use <TH>..</TH> markup whenever it determines that a cell forms part of the header.AscToTab will attempt to automatically detect headers by looking for a single separator line near the top of the file.
Alternatively the HEADING_ROWS command (see 6.2.5) will be used to specify the number of header lines.
AscToTab will set the ALIGN and COLSPAN attributes as best it can.
AscToTab will use <TD>..</TD> markup for most of the cells in the table.If the HEADING_COLS command (see 6.2.6) is encountered, the first few columns will additionally use <STRONG>...</STRONG> markup.
AscToTab will set the ALIGN and COLSPAN attributes as best it can.
Policy files are an AscToHTM feature that may be added to later versions of AscToTab.They are not available in AscToTab V1.0.
The preprocessor is a feature shared with AscToHTM. Essentially you insert commands into your source file that tell AscToHTM how you want various aspects of your file converted.The preprocessor looks for lines that begin with a special character sequence "$_$_". All the AscToTab commands add "TABLE_" to this, making the relevant prefix "$_$_TABLE_". This sequence must appear at the start of the source line with no leading white space. Each command must be wholly contained on a separate line.
Command are best placed at the top of the source file.
$_$_TABLE_BORDER 5
This command specifies the BORDER attribute. A value of 0 means "none".
$_$_TABLE_CELLSPACING 5
$_$_TABLE_CELLPADDING 5
These command specify the values of the CELLSPACING and CELLPADDING attribute.A value of 0 means "none".
$_$_TABLE_BGCOLOR AntiqueWhite
$_$_TABLE_BORDERCOLOR #FF2345
These commands sepcify the values of the BGCOLOR and BORDERCOLOR attributes.
$_$_TABLE_CAPTION Ooo! what a pretty table
This command specifies the value of <CAPTION>...</CAPTION> markup to be added to the table.
$_$_TABLE_HEADING_ROWS 4
This command tells AscToTab how many lines of text are to be treated as part of the header. This should be the number of lines as it appears in the source file, including any blank lines.
$_$_TABLE_HEADING_COLS 1
This command tells AscToTab how many columns (if any) at the start of each line should be marked up in <STRONG>...</STRONG> markup.
7.1 How do I purchase AscToTab (trick question)?
You don't. It's free. Or rather Version 1.0 is postcardware, later versions may become shareware priced at around £5 or $10.It you really like the program, send a postcard to
John A FotheringhamIf you really, really like the program, send cash to encourage further development.
c/o Yezerski Roper
Applicon House
Exchange Street
Stockport
SK3 0ETUK
You could also look at AscToHTM, which shares the same technology, and will include AscToTab. AscToHTM is shareware in the Windows version.
At time of writing Yezerski Roper (whom I work for) have graciously allowed me to give AscToTab and AscToHTM a home page.Yezerski Roper are the most intelligent software house it's ever been my privilege to be associated with. We're based in the UK and offer OpenVMS and Windows NT systems, and are currently developing state-of-the-art products which will allow companies to exploit the full communications potential of the Internet.
Oh yeah... and they pay me as well :)
AscToTab and AscToHTM are "hobbies".
If you have problems locating the home page and suspect it has moved, go to AltaVista and enter
+"John A Fotheringham" +AscToTabto locate any new home page.
E-mail any feedback to jaf@yrl.co.uk. Sadly, we cannot guarantee any replies.
A limited amount of support is available by emailing jaf@yrl.co.uk. Sadly, we cannot guarantee any replies, though we do try to be helpful.Over time a user's FAQ may appear.
None. (Ignorance is bliss)
10.1 Version 1.00 (December '97)
Initial release of command line version as postcardware.