Innovators for Industry and Institution Software
Version
This document is current with NoBinary version 1.0.1.3. The most up to date information on NoBinary
can be found at https://www.iii-software.com/products/.
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You can either click on the link to start your RSS client or enter the feed address (https://www.iii-software.com/products/nobinary/rss.xml) directly into your client.
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Overview
NoBinary is a command-line utility that will replace unwanted binary characters in a file with spaces.
This is particularly useful if you have a data file that is supposed to contain ASCII-only
data but instead has null values, tabs, form feeds, etc.
The Problem
Often, a client's system will accumulate some bad data over time, particularly over the span of many years.
Some of the more common reasons for building bad data into a live system are: a program bug,
a conversion from one system to another, importing data from a foreign system.
To demonstrate the potential problem, consider a NACHA ACH file. A misplaced carriage return in the middle of someone's name will cause two malformed records to be sent to the bank. By scrubbing the file with NoBinary prior to creating the ACH file, this problem can be avoided.
Requirements
NoBinary will run on any 32-bit version of Windows. Windows 95 through Vista and beyond are supported on workstations. On the server side, all versions of Windows Server from NT4 through 2008 are supported.
Installation
First, download the NoBinary package.
NoBinary does not require a formal installation. You can unpack the zip into any directory. You can either reference the utility with a fully qualified path (e.g., \util\nobinary...) or you can add the director containing NoBinary to your path.
If you need a utility to unpack the zip file, we suggest WinZIP.
Syntax
NoBinary infile outfile [-option]
Parameters
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| infile | Input (original) file to convert. This file must exist or the program will issue an error message. The input file must be the first parameter specified on the command line after the program name. |
| outfile | Output file which is the result of the conversion. If this file exists, it will be overwritten by the process. The -oprompt option will override this behavior. The output file name must be the second parameter on the command line after the program name. |
| -oprompt | When specified, the program will prompt you before overwriting a file. |
| -char | When specified, this is the character that will be used for replacement. It can be any single character that can be entered from the keyboard onto the command line. |
| -ichar | When specified, this is the ASCII character number (in decimal) that will be used for replacement. It can be any character from 0 to 255, although converting to another binary character somewhat defeats the purpose of the utility. |
| -crlf | When specified, this will allow the preservation of line sequential files. Carriage returns and line feeds will not be converted. The default is to replace carriage returns and line feeds with the replacement character (space by default). |
Errors
Any error generated by the utility can be checked through the ErrorLevel (dos, cmd, script).
| Error # | Text |
|---|---|
| 0 | No Error |
| 1 | Cannot open input file |
| 2 | Cannot overwrite output file |
| 3 | Cannot create output file |
| 5 | No command line arguments |
| 6 | Incorrect number of command line arguments |
| 7 | Invalid option |
| 8 | You selected an invalid value for ichar (0-255) |
| 9 | User requested to leave output file alone. Operation canceled. |
Revision History
| Date | Version | Change Description |
|---|---|---|
| 2009.09.13 | 1.0.1.3 | The text file containing the documentation in the distribution package has been replaced with a PDF document. This document was created from the live site. This eliminates trying to keep multiple copies of the documentation in sync. |
| 2009.05.23 | 1.0.1.3 | Command line option to permit line sequential files (allow CR/LF) |
| 1.0.1.2 | Add command line options for: replacement character, and an output overwrite prompt. | |
| 1.0.1.1 | Expose internal error to ErrorLevel | |
| 1.0.1.0 | Initial release. Based on code from Tab_2_Tilde utility. |