recio, Version 2.15, Release October 26, 1996.
Copyright (C) 1994-1996, William Pierpoint.


Description
-----------
Tired of being tripped up by scanf?  Looking for a way to read old 
mainframe data into your c program?  Need to handle the year 2000 
problem?  Then the RECIO C library is for you!

The RECIO C library consists of a set of functions that make it simple 
to read and write text files in which each line is treated as a data 
record, and each record is subdivided into fields.  Fields may be 
delimited either by a character, such as a comma, or by column positions.  
Field types available are integer, unsigned integer, long, unsigned long, 
float, double, time_t, struct tm, character, and string.  The RECIO C 
library is easy to learn because (1) functions are based on analogous 
counterparts in stdio and (2) function names are based on a consistent 
set of mnemonics.


Getting Started
---------------
First check the MANIFEST file for brief one line descriptions of the files 
in this release.

Learning the RECIO functions will be easier if you read the documentation 
in the following order:

TUTOR.TXT  - Introductory material including some simple example programs.
USAGE.TXT  - Shows the typical order in which functions are used.
SPEC.TXT   - Specification of all functions and macros.  Use as reference.
TIPS.TXT   - Tips and ideas on using the recio functions.
DESIGN.TXT - Design and development notes.

To save disk space, this package contains the executable for only one of 
the test programs.  Source for other test programs is included.  To make 
all the test programs, see MKTEST.BAT.  This package also contains the 
libraries for only the SMALL and LARGE memory models.  To make libraries 
for all memory models, see MKLIBS.BAT.

All you need to do to use the recio functions in your application is to

#include "recio.h"

in your source code and link using the recio library for the memory model 
you are using.  For example, if using the small memory model, link with 
RECIOS.LIB.  If you use a compiler other than Borland C 3.1, you will need 
to recompile the source code.

If you use the recio library regularly, then you may wish to copy recio.h 
to your compiler's INCLUDE directory and copy the recio libraries to your 
compiler's LIBRARY directory.  You can then 

#include <recio.h>

in your source code and link to the recio library using the compiler's 
default paths.


Source Code
-----------
Complete C source code for RECIO is provided.  To recompile, you will need 
an ANSI-C compatible compiler.  This release used Borland C 3.1.  MKLIBS.BAT 
will generate all the libraries for this compiler.  Modify the MAKEFILE to 
reflect your setup and to set the memory model.  To use another compiler, 
you will need to generate libraries or object code for that compiler.  To 
port to another compiler, you can find useful information in section 3 of 
the file DESIGN.TXT and in the file PORTABLE.


Distribution
------------
This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the 
terms of the GNU Library General Public License, Version 2, June 1991, 
as published by the Free Software Foundation.

This software is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but 
WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY 
or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  More details on the GNU Library 
General Public License can be found in the file COPYRITE.

You should have received a copy of the GNU Library General Public License 
along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 
675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.


Archive
-------

The public version of the RECIO library is available from the SimTel 
software repository on the Internet and from many mirror sites.

Announcements of new versions of the recio library are made in the 
USENET newsgroup comp.archives.msdos.announce.  

Another way to locate copies of the recio library is to use a WWW 
search engine such as www.filez.com.


Author
------

If you have any comments about the RECIO C library, please e-mail them 
to the author, Bill Pierpoint, at wpierpoint@aem-east.com
