Multicoded Quantum data files contain a mixture of column binary characters (multicodes) and text. This can cause problems when you copy data files between different computers. To make file transfers of this type easier, Quantum provides two utilities that convert multicoded data files into text files, and vice versa.

To convert a Quantum data file into a text file, type:

For example:

converts the Quantum file qdata into a text file called textdata.

When the program finds a multicode, it leaves the asterisk in the column but converts the multicode at the end of the line into a text of the form col=codes, where col is the column number and codes are the codes in the multicode. A multicode of ‘126’ in column 56, for example, would result in an asterisk in column 56 and the notation 56=126 at the end of the record.

Once you have converted the data file, you can copy it to the destination computer using a file transfer program of your choice and then convert it back to Quantum format by typing: