TEXT files created on a DOS-based machine or a mainframe are invariably formatted inappropriately for use on a Macintosh. These files often contain unnecessary control characters, carriage returns, the wrong kind of quotation and apostrophe marks, and so forth. Manually reformatting these files into a more desirable form can be a tedious and time-consuming task.
A/S was designed to clean up TEXT files destined for import to page layout, word processing, database, or spreadsheet programs, as well as export from word processing, database, or spreadsheet programs to a DOS-based , mainframe computer, or other “foreign” system in a fraction of the time ordinarily needed to manually reformat using a word processor.
In addition to performing a process such as converting space runs to a single tab, A/S can simultaneously perform other actions such as altering case, replacing user-specified character strings, filtering noise characters, curling or uncurling quotes, limiting the number of blank lines, and more. It can also batch process entire folders, manipulating every document in a specific folder.
Files to be processed must be saved as Text Only. These files contain no style or font information, only the actual keystrokes. Formatted files that were not saved as Text Only cannot be effectively manipulated by A/S.
