Tip of the day - Failed IMPORT

[Mike Schwartz (PC Support)]

> From: Greg Widdows
> 
> Try a DIF (Date Interchange Format)
> It works well with filePro.

     Actually, DIF is Data (note spelling) Interchange Format.  

     If I remember the original post correctly, Jerry is getting these files
from some other source, so he may not have any control over what format the
files will be in.

     Even in the early days of filePro, I always preferred DIF formatted
files because of the additional info that was stored in the file structure.
I don't know why DIF fell out of favor. Multiplan and other early
spreadsheet programs usually recommended DIF because of the additional
features it offered over comma delimited files.  As I recall, it wasn't
until Lotus 1-2-3 hit the computer scene that people started assuming that
comma delimited was the only way to send data between different
applications.

     DIF files were larger, because they carried more structural information
in them and that might have been important in the days of 55k floppies.  Or,
perhaps there were applications like AutoCad that could only export comma
delimited files that caused people to view comma delimited files as the
standard.

    Anyway, because of my mainframe data processing training and experience,
I preached DIF files on deaf ears, and I haven't had anybody suggest sending
me a DIF file in years.

Mike Schwartz