HAT 4.0.4 Text File Format
Table of Contents
HAT-text files can be used to move information to and from HAT
at a lower level than the ordinary import and export functions.
A HAT-text file is a complete HAT document file including
dimension charts, analysis templates and other definitions.
Importing data to HAT is very handy if the host computer can
generate a transfer file directly in HAT-text format. Exporting
data can also be made more extensive by using this format.
Compatibility
This format is used in HAT 4.0.4.
Later program versions will enhance this format, but they will be able
to read this too. Other programs can also use the version information
present in every HAT-text file to interpret the contents correctly.
Format
HAT-text file is a sequential 8-bit ASCII text file.
System's native character set is used when HAT saves a text file.
Information of special characters is included in the text file
making it possible to read the file in other systems without any
modification. Lines are terminated by carriage return (ASCII 13)
or a line feed (ASCII 10) depending on the native character set.
Fields inside a line are separated by tab character (ASCII 9).
Tabs at the end of lines can be skipped.
Section order
The section order in the file is significant; for example dimension
charts must be defined before cards. The section order in the file
is the same as in this document.
Special Characters
The character # (ASCII 35, hex 23) has a special meaning:
all section headers begin with two such characters.
No other line is allowed to begin so.
Text examples do not explicitly show line terminators or
field separators; columns and rows show where they should be inserted.
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