The DataKit utility programs for text processing were written in the mid-1980's. At the time there did not appear to be any programs that accomplished some of these rather elementary functions, and so they achieved some popularity especially in academic and publishing circles. They were written in the C language (a few in assembly language) for MS-DOS, before Windows became popular. Actually, they all will work perfectly well under all versions of Windows — their efficient code and small file size result in extremely fast execution — but the beauties of DOS batch files and character-based programs have been all but forgotten. Nonetheless, they still do some useful things and, remarkably, in some cases there still is no available alternative program. On the other hand, a few programs were meant to work with particular hardware that has become obsolete, and the usefulness of these programs is probably very little indeed.
The programs and documentation may be downloaded and used, on an as-is basis, with my compliments, but please note that they are all protected by copyright.
| Program File Name | Language | Description | Documentation File Name |
| N/A | N/A | Introduction to the DataKit utility programs | DataKit-Documentation.html |
| DMACRO.COM | C | Define delimited macro abbreviations | DataKit-Documentation-DMacro.html |
| UMACRO.COM | C | Define undelimited macro abbreviations | DataKit-Documentation-UMacro.html |
| PASS.COM | C | Select commands from macro command file | DataKit-Documentation-Pass.html |
| CONCORD.COM | C | Generate entries for text concordance | DataKit-Documentation-Concord.html |
| BRACKET.COM | C | Maintain text in several versions in a single file | DataKit-Documentation-Bracket.html |
| RECMERGE.EXE | C | Program for list processing and file and record management | DataKit-Documentation-RecMerge.html |
| SERIAL.COM | C | Stamp each record with a serial number | DataKit-Documentation-Serial.html |
| LABELCHK.COM | C | Regularize field label and macro format | DataKit-Documentation-LabelChk.html |
| FIELDCHK.COM | C | Regularize field data | DataKit-Documentation-FieldChk.html |
| ENDCHK.COM | C | Regularize end-of-file format | DataKit-Documentation-EndChk.html |
| LINECHK.COM | C | Regularize end-of-line format | DataKit-Documentation-LineChk.htm |
| COUNT.COM | C | Count words, characters, lines, etc. | DataKit-Documentation-Count.html |
| FILEPRT.COM | C | Copy text file, replacing tabs with spaces, and with page margins | DataKit-Documentation-FilePrt.htm |
| CHARSUB.COM | C | Quick search & replace for one character | DataKit-Documentation-CharSub.html |
| CHARSET.COM | C | Translate any number of characters in character set | DataKit-Documentation-CharSet.html |
| UNPAD.COM | C | Remove unwanted spaces from text file | DataKit-Documentation-UnPad.html |
| UNDUP.COM | C | Remove duplicate lines from text file | DataKit-Documentation-UnDup.html |
| COLADD.COM | C | Add string to data file records | DataKit-Documentation-ColAdd.html |
| COLDEL.COM | C | Delete columns from data file records | DataKit-Documentation-ColDel.html |
| COLMOV.COM | C | Move columns within data file records | DataKit-Documentation-ColMov.html |
| SEGVIEW.COM | C | Formatted display of part of file | DataKit-Documentation-SegView.html |
| UNFORMAT.COM | C | Remove special editor characters | DataKit-Documentation-UnFormat.html |
| ASCADJ.COM | C | Convert special character codes | DataKit-Documentation-AscAdj.html |
| CHARCODE.COM | C | Quick information on ASCII characters | DataKit-Documentation-CharCode.html |
| NUMTABLE.COM | C | Produce table of numbers | DataKit-Documentation-NumTable.html |
| ERRLEVEL.COM | C | Passes parameter to DOS as error level | DataKit-Documentation-ErrLevel.html |
| CRYPT.COM | C | Encryption/decryption program | DataKit-Documentation-Crypt.html |
| WIPEOUT.COM | C | Cover over data in file for security | DataKit-Documentation-WipeOut.html |
| MAKEFILE.COM | C | Create short files from command line | DataKit-Documentation-MakeFile.html |
| CHARDEF.COM | C | Design custom characters on Epson printer | DataKit-Documentation-CharDef.html |
| FONTCONV.COM | C | Font conversion, for use with special hardware | DataKit-Documentation-FontConv.html |
| FONTSUB.COM | C | Character substitution, for use with special hardware | DataKit-Documentation-FontSub.html |
| KBFIX.COM | Assembler | Prevent accidental keyboard PrtSc | DataKit-Documentation-KbFix.html |
| CLOCK.COM | Assembler | Constant clock display (4 versions) | DataKit-Documentation-Clock.html |
| BEEP.COM | Assembler | Sound tone through speaker | DataKit-Documentation-Beep.html |
| CONDEMO.BAT | DOS | Demonstration of text analysis programs | DataKit-Documentation-Concord.html |
| CRYPDEMO.BAT | DOS | Demonstration of encryption programs | DataKit-Documentation-Crypt.html |
| CRYPT.BAS | BASIC | Demonstration source code for encryption algorithm | DataKit-Documentation-Crypt.html |
| DISPLAY.BAT | DOS | Send configuration commands to display | DataKit-Documentation-Display.html |
| EPSON.BAT | DOS | Send configuration commands to Epson printer | DataKit-Documentation-Epson.html |
This document was
updated on August 15, 2000.
Contents copyright by F. W. Wilson.
The address of this document is http:arcadia.org/datakit/index.html.