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value at the beginning of each record. Others store the value at the end of each record. Moving such <br />files from one system to another requires "decoding" the storage format, and this information is <br />generally not well-documented. <br />The final disadvantage with binary files is that they cannot be easily edited. Consequently, if a <br />binary data file is corrupted, it cannot be edited to fix the data unless some type of special editing <br />utility is developed. ASCII files can be edited because they contain readable characters. <br />RTi recommends that binary files be used only for temporary files. However, any output that could <br />potentially be moved to different machines or that could potentially be edited by humans should be <br />ASCII format files. Some existing models that will be part of CRDSS may use binary files for <br />output such that the files cannot be easily moved and read on different machines. In such cases, a <br />study of the costs and effects of changing the file format to ASCII will be considered. It may be <br />appropriate not to change the file format. <br />3.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS <br />Based on the above discussion (and discussion in referenced task memoranda), the following <br />conclusions and recommendations are made: <br />Source code can be made portable by adhering to ANSI programming standards, including <br />? <br />C, FORTRAN, and draft C++ guidelines. Source code can also be compiled on different <br />platforms to verify that the code is robust. Code dependent on specific system features can <br />be managed using programming features (such as C preprocessor statements) and by using <br />make imake <br />programs such as and . <br />Graphics on UNIX workstations can be made portable by adhering to standard X Window <br />? <br />System and Motif programming guidelines. Graphics routines can be written for different <br />platforms by using a platform-independent GUI builder or GUI library (this method has not <br />been formally adopted for the CRDSS). Hard-copy graphics will use standard output <br />formats (e.g., PostScript and HPGL). <br />Data files can be made portable by avoiding system-dependent file system features (e.g., <br />? <br />use file names that will work on UNIX workstations and PCs) and language-dependent file <br />formats (e.g., use ASCII files rather than FORTRAN binary files). <br />5 <br />A275 05.10.94 1.05-28 Malers <br />