TF>The text enhancements are only relevant if the destination is the
TF>printer. You presume that all file "output" is intended to be a paper
TF>"report", that is, to be read by humans.  Not so, especially in the
TF>Information Age.  It is the *data* that is important in this
TF>instance, not its "packaging".
Hmm, that makes sense.  I wasn't aware that this was becoming a big 
thing.  I'm only an amateur Paradox programmer at best, with one small 
company, so I don't really have any knowledge about bigger real world 
information exchange issues.
TF>EDI is the basis for exchanging vast amount of data between
TF>*systems*.  It can be done electronically over VANs like Advantis or
TF>OrderNet in ASCII file *form*, but the file *structure* is quite
TF>specific.  It cannot be simply an Exported ASCII fixed-length or
TF>delimited file, but must follow an organized scheme at specific
TF>points within the file.  This *can* be accomplished with Paradox's
TF>report generation capability, but it is unwieldy at best.
Is Borland aware, or acknowledging the importance of this?  Regardless, 
this seems like a good place for a third-party add-on product, if it 
wouldn't prove to be too difficult to convert Paradox data into this EDI 
format.
TF>My point is that databases are not used strictly to generate paper
TF>reports, but are increasingly being expected to share their data
TF>across multiple systems.
I'm beginning to understand!
TF>There exists an international standard for
TF>doing this, via the UCC guidelines, but implementing this via
TF>PdoxWin's report generation is difficult, due to its dependence on
TF>Windows' Print Manager.  This places PdoxWin at a disadvantage in the
TF>exponentially-increasing market of EDI-capable database apps for the
TF>PC.
Hmm, I wouldn't think we would see any help from Microsoft changing the 
Print Manager.  Maybe a third party app that added and EDI "printer" to 
the Print Manager, sort of like how Fax programs add the Fax modem as a 
printer.  Either way, it does look like Borland will have to do 
something for now, if it wants to jump on this bandwagon.
Thanks for the detailed information.  I learned a lot more than I had 
known, which probably isn't saying much since this was virtually 
nothing!
Robert
* CMPQwk 1.42-18 307 *Thesaurus: ancient reptile with an excellent 
cabulary.
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