There are four utility programs for manipulating KF files from the command shell. Two of them convert kf files from binary to ASCII and vice versa. See the pkf and dmpkf utilities for a description of the ASCII format of a kf file. An ASCII version of a KF file can be useful to inspect its contents in detail.
In the versions of ADF prior to ADF2006, the conversion back and forth between binary and ASCII was necessary when a binary KF file generated on a particular platform was to be used on another platform that is not binary compatible. To do so one had to convert binary file to ASCII, transfer to the other platform and transfer back to binary. Although a bit tedious, it was occasionally the only way to avoid recomputing a TAPE21 result file only because you needed it on another machine.
As of ADF2006 this is no longer necessary. All programs from the package will convert a KF file to the format native to this platform if necessary. In such a case, the original file will be renamed to a file with tilde "~" appended to its name and a message will printed on the standard output.
The KF software (KF= Keyed File) has been developed at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam as a general-purpose package to store data on files and retrieve it again by keyword-driven procedures. For more information about the KF package (usage, implementation) consult the SCM web site (http://www.scm.com) where information about the ADF software is available.
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