Making Contact Converting documents for data exchange
From "VS Workshop",  Access to Wang, May 1988
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This month I'd like to delve into document conversions, a large (and growing) part of my work life. While I am speaking primarily of conversions from VS Word Processing files (VS/IIS), there are many parallels with the WP+, OIS, PC, and WPS environments. The remarks printed here are distilled from a panel discussion on DP/WP integration held at our local user group meeting.

Why convert?

Some of the reasons you might need to convert Wang Word Processing documents to a foreign format include the need to exchange editable text with a client or other user. In the case of our firm, there is often a need to prepare a rough approximation of a document and send it to the client or a local representative for final editing. We also have situations where local PC-based text processing is the only resource and VS Word Processing documents must be transferred with conversion, edited, and restored back to the VS.

Another reason for conversion might be to take advantage of software that is only available on personal computers. Examples include popular text processing systems (Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, etc.), outline processors, grammar and spelling checkers, or industry-specific applications.

Finally, it may be necessary to convert text files as a means of transferring them. For example, WP documents must be converted to TC format using the COPYWP utility prior to be sent by batch communications (e.g. 2780/3780) or PC-based communications protocols (Crosstalk, SmartCom, etc.).

Output forms

Whatever the reasons for your conversion, there are several possible destination forms. These forms are divided by the amount of document structure contained. I define document structure as data related to the spacing, presentation, or printing of the document. This includes tabstops, format lines, carriage returns, and many other items. The other major part of the document is its content - the message itself.

If your goal is to produce an editable document - that is, a file that can be accepted and edited without major reconstruction - then you must convert the structural information to fit the destination system. This is not as simple a task as it appears, as format features found in one text processing system are not necessarily present in another. Wang Word Processing is a rich document structure, including such attributes as the Document Summary, work page, Note, and other features not found on some other text processing systems; conversely, other systems have features not found in VS/IIS, such as dot-leader tabs, multiple columns, or left column alignment. In all of these cases, the conversion process must make judgments - in essence, create format information where none exists before.

Other possible destination forms include print files and text files. Print files are simpler than document files, containing only the content of the document and a modest amount of document format information such as line feeds, page feeds, and carriage returns. Different computer systems use different control characters so there are some conversion implications.

I define text files as document content alone - no structural information. Such files are often referred to as ASCII files, after the character set by that name (American Standard Code for Information Interchange), but text files could also be needed in the EBCDIC (Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code) character set used by IBM mainframes so I resist that nomenclature.

In addition to the document format and content, there must also be some consideration of the medium; that is, the form of transmission. This might be a diskette format, a printed form, or perhaps a data communications protocol. Let's look at some diskette formats first.

Diskette exchanges

One common medium between most users of Wang Word Processing is the 5-1/4" archive diskette - the mini-archiver. On newer VS models, this is usually the system diskette drive; on older VS models, a PC used as a local terminal can be set up to function as a mini-archiver. This can either be in the form of a change to the VS configuration (e.g. defining the terminal as a 4250 and the diskette drive as a separate device) or through the use of VS Multi-Station. In either case, the Document Filing option from Word Processing will copy to drive 'A' of the PC. This diskette can be directly interchanged with OIS, VS, and WPS systems, or read by some document conversion utilities (ARCHIVE-LINK, MacSoft Document Conversion, etc.).

Before the mini-archiver existed the Archiving Workstation was the WP archiving tool. Archaic and cantankerous as they are, the 8" WP archive format is still universally used. Indeed, a good deal of the archiving software in the USERAIDS collection will recognize nothing else. Like the ads say, we hate it but we use it.

Another common diskette format is the MS-DOS format used on Wang and IBM PCs. Document conversion to this medium implies that you also need a format conversion, since PC-based systems are the likely goal. You can convert VS/IIS documents to PC Word Processing either through Wang's Data Exchange Utility or by copying from a mini-archiver diskette into PC Integrated Word Processing (PC/IWP); in my experience, the latter method has been more reliable and it doesn't require the Data Exchange Utility.

From PC/IWP format, it is possible to convert the file to text file form using the text conversion software included with the system (not recommended) or to any number of PC-based text formats through the use of one of several document conversion utilities. The converted file may be in a variety of PC text processing formats, including Multi-Mate, WordStar, Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, text file ("ASCII"), etc.

Printed form

Another seemingly obvious form of exchange is through printed form. A number of organizations engaged in large-scale text processing have Optical Character Recognition (OCR) devices, and may be able to receive your text in that manner. In our firm, this is often the only exchange medium available.

Optical scanners have come a long way from their humble beginnings a decade or so ago. At one time, it was necessary to use only ugly machine-friendly type styles such as OCR-A and the machines were large and costly. They still can't read everything, but even modestly-priced units can now handle six or more type styles with varying degrees of accuracy and some tolerance for smudges, flyspots, and coffee stains. In our use, the scanner remains the last resort but often provides the only means of exchange or recovery.

Data communications

The burgeoning amount of data communications activity in the business world testifies to the rising expectations of text processing users. It is no longer simply enough to receive a document in editable form through overnight mail; now it is often necessary to have it there now. This usually means somebody is going to have to engineer a data communications session, since meaningful standards in the data communications world are still a ways off. The existence of PC-based communications systems like XMODEM, Crosstalk and others have made it a bit simpler by reducing the transmission options, and it is often easier to communicate between PCs rather than wading through Wang's 2780/3780 or TTY GETPARMs.

One example of a VS-based data communications approach is to use Wang's 2780/3780 batch communications software. The 2780 data communications protocol is a commonly used batch transmission method that originated with IBM mainframes. Since most systems offer some means of using these protocols, it is often the best method for interchange. WP files must be converted to TC format before they can be sent; this is easily done through the COPYWP utility. To convert documents to TC format, run COPYWP and select the option to convert a document to a VS file. Specify the file's location and select the TC conversion option. COPYWP breaks the document into records that are usable for data communications, retaining all format and text information. Note that a similar conversion will be required at the destination to convert the file back to document structure. (By the way, both the VSCOPY and TTY communications systems offer direct conversion of WP documents with file transfer. In my experience, neither works well enough to be worth the trouble.)

Similarly, text or print files can be created from VS/IIS documents using COPYWP and transferred via 2780/3780 or TTY communications from the VS. In all cases, the COPYWP utility can be used to make the conversion prior to transmission.

If you anticipate a large amount of conversion activity using a batch communications approach, consider a protocol converter. (Consider it carefully, that is; they're by far the most cussed data communications devices known to mankind, and their cost is high.) A protocol converter is a data communications device that converts the format, text, and sometimes the communications carrier itself to meet the needs of the destination system. We use ours to send documents to dedicated text processing systems where no other method is practical. Such machines include CPT, Lanier, and the IBM 5520 and DisplayWriter. Again, a last resort.

PC data communications usually requires a PC file before transmission. Since much of the existing document conversion software requires a PC Word Processing document as input, you often need to convert the VS document to PC format, then convert it to the final PC format. Exceptions include ARCHIVE-LINK and the MacSoft Document conversion utilities, either of which can use a 5-1/4" mini-archiver diskette as input.

If you need remote terminal access and would like file transfer with document conversion, look into the 2110 emulation software mentioned in the February and March columns. Many of these packages can make the PC act as a terminal and also convert files at the same time.

The future

Some time back, Wang created a technical specification call WITA (Wang Information Transfer Architecture) designed to act as an intermediary form between other document standards. This represents a good beginning towards solving some of the problems of conversions by establishing a standard form to move to all others. WITA is available in products today (e.g. COPYWITA, Word Doctor "PLUS", etc.) and will undoubtably play a larger role in Wang's integration strategy. In the meanwhile, there are reasonable solutions to document conversion needs today.