  OpenVMS and Windows NT file interchange? 
 The Question is:
 
Dear Wizard,
 
We are a civil engineering firm which has been contracted
to model/design a water distribution system for a county
here in North Carolina.  The problem is that the data files
prohibit them being sent to us on a floppy diskette(s).  The
agency also does not have an email connection, so we were
provided with a 4MM tape with information written by ARCINFO,
a Geographic Information System package, running on OpenVMS 7.1,
on a DEC 3000 machine.  The information is a flat ASCII file
containing AutoCAD (a computer drafting package) drawing exchange
files (.DXF)
We have been unable to find a resource for reading and writing
the files so that our WinNT 4.0 machines can use them.  Could
you direct me to any resources/utilities to enable us to rewrite
the files in a X86 processor compatible format?
Thank you for your assistance!
 
Wayne
 
 
 
 The Answer is:
 
  Without knowing the specific on-tape format used by the ARCINST folks, the
  Wizard cannot answer the question.
 
  4MM DATs are available on various platforms, and you will need to work with
  your client and with the folks that support the Geographic Information
  System ARCINST package to determine what sort of interchange format(s) are
  available and are appropriate, as well as with folks that support your
  Microsoft Windows NT systems.
 
  OpenVMS can read and write most standard tape formats, including both tar
  and standard ANSI magtape formats, and various tools are available to read
  OpenVMS BACKUP format savesets on various platforms.  (The OpenVMS commands
  INITIALIZE, MOUNT, and COPY are used to create the simplest of tape formats
  around, a very basic ANSI magtape format.)
 
  Check with the folks that support your Microsoft systems to see if they can
  read magtapes that comply with ANSI magtape standards, or if they can
  provide you with suggestions or pointers to third-party packages to read
  these industry-standard magtape formats.
 
  If you are planning on regular data interchanges, Internet connections are
  available for small charges, and you could certainly also configure the
  necessary hardware (modems and controllers) to bring up a point-to-point
  (PPP or otherwise) communications link between the two sites via leased
  or dial-up lines.  This approach would likely be the best long-term
  approach, as TCP/IP services on OpenVMS is compatible with the same
  standards supported by the Windows NT IP packages, and you can thus use
  FTP and similar to transfer your files.
 
