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This FAQ is clearly a work in progress. Many of the subjects have no answers as yet. Nevertheless I intend fleshing this out as and when I get time, and I welcome new questions (or prompts to write the answers to questions listed here) for all users.
Direct all correspondence to faq@jafsoft.com
Often the answer to a question involves setting a policy value (see the Policy Manual for more about policy files). The policy involved will be displayed as
<policy text> : <value>
The <policy text> is the text that will appear in the policy file. This must be exactly as shown, no variability in the spelling will be tolerated by the program. If you misspell the policy text (or if it's been changed in a new version), the program will complain that it doesn't recognize the policy.
In addition to adding lines to your policy file by hand, the Windows version allows most (not all) policies to be set via property sheets. You'll need to locate the equivalent policy on property sheets.
Currently http://www.jafsoft.com/. Each product has it's own page, e.g.
http://www.jafsoft.com/asctohtm/
http://www.jafsoft.com/asctortf/
http://www.jafsoft.com/asctotab/
http://www.jafsoft.com/addlinx/
These are are listed on the products page
There is also a .co.uk mirror site.
Currently http://www.jafsoft.com/doco/docindex.html. Documentation is usually included with all downloads, either as HTML or as ready-to-convert text.
In Windows this will usually be found in the folder c:\Program Files\JafSoft\AscToHTM
Documentation available includes :
- AscToHTM Manual. Describes the text-to-HTML converter AscToHTM
- AscToRTF Manual. Describes the text-to-RTF converter AscToRTF
- Policy Manual. Describes the use of policy files by the software
- Tag Manual. Describes the use of a preprocessor and tagging system by the software
- This FAQ.
If you plan to read one or more of these manuals you'd be best advised to download one of the documentation .zip files.
There are update pages at
http://www.jafsoft.com/asctohtm/updates.html and http://www.jafsoft.com/asctortf/updates.html
Registered users get update notifications by mail. To date all updates have been free to registered users, but we can't guarantee that will always be the case.
That's me that is. The program is wholly the responsibility of John A Fotheringham, who maintains it in his spare time. He doesn't make a living from it (in case you were wondering).
Although authoring shareware doesn't earn enough that I can give up my day job, I have created a separate company to handle AscToHTM, AscToRTF and all the shareware and other services I have to offer.
The company is called JafSoft Limited, and the web site is http://www.jafsoft.com/
Correspondence should be via email to info@jafsoft.com. Priority is given to registered users and people who want to pay for development [ :) ], however all correspondence will be answered.
Despite the best of intentions, bugs do happen, and we're always grateful for anyone who takes the time to report them to us.
Please feel free to report all errors and bugs to info@jafsoft.com. When you do so please include
- a clear description of the problem
- which version of the software you are using
- a copy of the offending source file (if not too large <50k)
- a copy of any policy file being used.
- a copy of any .log file generated (save the status messages to file)
Please keep any source files small. If the source file is large, try to generate a smaller file that exhibits the same problem.
Feel free to send suggestions for enhancements/changes to info@jafsoft.com. A surprising number of features have been added this way although, naturally, I'm happy for people to think these were all my own ideas.
Minor changes may slip into the next release if I think they enhance the product.
Major changes to the software can be undertaken on a commercial basis by contracting my services from Yezerski Roper Ltd. This option is not for the faint hearted. Don't let the software's $40 price tag persuade you that that's anything but a bargain, my hourly rate is more than that amount, although I can do quite a lot in one hour :-)
Registration can be completed online by visiting
http://www.jafsoft.com/asctohtm/register_online.html or
http://www.jafsoft.com/asctortf/register_asctortf.html
Registration is usually completed via a third party registration service (I use a couple) and an on-line download. The registration service will take your payment and then send you download instructions for a fully registered copy. The registration companies can accept payments using a number of methods, but the commonest is credit card.
We do not ship software on media at this time. We'd have to double the price and stop our free upgrade policy if we did. That said, one of the registration companies will put the software onto CD and ship it to you for an extra charge. As yet I haven't set this up, but if interested email info@jafsoft.com with details.
To date all updates have been free to registered users. This has been true for both minor and major updates. Over time the price of the software has risen, but no-one has ever had to pay extra.
I'd like to continue this policy, but I'm unable to actually guarantee this, especially since I've discovered old registered versions circulating on the Net.
AscToTab is a subset of AscToHTM which is dedicated to creating tables from plain text and tab-delimited source files. The software is offered as freeware under Windows and OpenVMS.
AscToRTF is a text-to-RTF converter which uses the same analysis engine as AscToHTM, but which creates Rich Text Format (RTF) files instead. RTF is a format better suited for import into Word and other word processors.
AscToRTF was released early in 2000 and has received a number of 5-star reviews.
A registered user (see requesting changes to the software) contacted me and asked if I had a program that could add hyperlinks to an existing HTML file. At the time I didn't, but on examining the software it seemed I had all the bits and pieces necessary to construct such a tool. Within 24 hours I sent him a first attempt at such a utility, and within a few weeks [AddLinx] was born.
It's a very rough utility that I haven't spent much time on. It's available as postcard ware.
For those wanting to programmatically integrate the conversion software into their own products, an API has been produced and is available under license.
AscToHTM and AscToRTF are written in C++, and an API is available which provides a C++ header file defining the functions available. The software is then provided as a Windows library to be linked against.
In the past clients have successfully integrated this with their Java software, on Windows, Linux and Solaris platforms.
Although I'm not a Visual Basic programmer myself I'm less sure of how the software could be integrated with VB, although I presume this can be done.
Contact sales@jafsoft.com if interested.
Linux versions of all programs are planned. The core conversion software is developed as a command line utility, and in this form it ports to Linux reasonably easily. I plan to offer AscToHTM and AsctoRTF as Linux shareware in the near future.
We always like to offer a little help to users just starting out. Once you register you are free to send a typical sample file to the author, who will offer some advice on problems you might encounter and policies you may use.
However, for people wanting to do larger conversions (see 3.1.9) or wanting significant amounts of our time, you will need to buy assistance at consultancy rates. Regrettably this is not cheap, although we feel it's good value for money :)
Contact sales@jafsoft.com with details. See also requesting changes to the software
From time to time I get asked if my products are Y2K compliant.
The short answer is "yes it was" :-)
Clearly it's not finished yet. You might even say it's "under construction" :)
I've decided to put this on the web in "unfinished" form so that it may be of some benefit to people as soon as possible.
If you've a particularly urgent need for a question to be answered contact info@jafsoft.com, and don't be surprised if your answer ends up in this document.
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