Essential Utilities
The following is a collection of some basic, but essential, utilities
which will make online--and offline--life much easier...
Unless otherwise indicated, all of the files directly linked to this page
reside in Dave Poehlman's
FTP directory, which is located at:
ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/poehlman
Utilities With Which to Clean Up Scanned or Downloaded Text
- cutzasc.zip
- Cutzasc removes blank lines, tabs, extraneous spaces, high and
low ASCII characters, shrinks or expands margins, and performs other
simple cleaning functions on plain ASCII files. The archive contains
brief documentation. (freeware)
- ScanTune, version 2.03, sctn203.zip
- Improves the performance of optical character recognition systems by
learning their most common errors and correcting them automatically. The
more files you tune, the smarter Scantune gets. Also Includes text
formatting and spell checking capabilities. (shareware: fully operational
for 30 days)
- HTMSTRIP, version 7.04, htmst704.zip
- sophisticated HTML-stripping utility which removes the embedded HTML
code from pages downloaded from the Web. Runs from the DOS-prompt. Reflows
paragraphs, processes tables, etc. as straight ASCII text. Can function
on individually-saved pages or else process your entire disk cache. Ideal
tool for resending via email or dozens of different uses. Awarded a
"Best" rating by PC Computing in their July 1996 issue. Includes
MOZ.EXE which renames the files in your Web cache subdirectory so you can
identify them more easily. (freeware; released 7 May 1997)
- HTML to WP, version 1.01, htwpv101.zip
- HTML to WordPerfect 5.1 translator/converter. (shareware)
Miscellaneous Utilities
- VIEW, version 12.2, vwfil122.zip
- customizable DOS viewing utility. Allows you to review WordPerfect
5.0 through 6.1, Word 4 through 5, WinWord 1 through 6, Win Write,
Notepad, Ami Pro, Wordstar, Windows clipboard, ASCII, ANSI, and HTML
files from the DOS prompt. Text search and print functions, including save
to UNIX format. Ideal for DOS and Windows shells. (shareware)
- binhex13.zip
- converts Mac-generated files into binary files (freeware)
- mimeutil.zip
- MIME utilities for the pc: mpack.exe and munpack.exe (freeware)
- uuencode.zip
- UUENCODE/UUDECODE utilities for DOS (freeware)
- tar4dos.zip
- DOS-based .tar file extractor (freeware)
- prn2file.zip
- TSR (terminate-and-stay-resident program) which redirects data
intended from LPT1 to a file. (freeware)
Braille Translators, Tutors, and Utilities
- The NFB Translator,
nfbtr748.zip
(196k), is a high quality Grade 2 braille translation program that
performs both back- and forwards-translation. While it does currently
support braille graphics and cannot translate WordPerfect files unless
they are first converted to ASCII, NFBTR is the most sophisticated
braille translation program available. Moreover, it is freeware.
- * Supported platforms: MSDOS, Unix
- * The most recent release of NFB Trans can always be found at
ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/in/inge
- Foreign Language Tables for NFBTR:
tables2.zip (17k)
- New foreign language tables for
nfbtr748.zip, the
free Grade Two Braille translator. A summary of the new tables follows:
- * ICELAND.TAB: An Icelandic table compiled in collaboration with
the Icelandic Library for the Blind in Reykjavik. This is a great improvement
over their previous computer-assisted situation.
- * DANISH.TAB: the contracted form of Braille (standard form)
revised by the Danish Braille Commission, and which took effect on January 1,
1993.
- * SWEDISH.TAB: the updated contraction system, punctuation and
specialized signs developed by the Swedish Braille Commission, which took
effect on January 1, 1989. The table reflects these changes and includes
the contractions.
- * NORWEG.TAB: uses the contractions and guidelines established
by the Huseby Training Center for the Visually Impaired in Oslo, Norway in
1979.
- * DUTCH.TAB and DUTCH3.TAB: Currently, the standard
for Dutch used by the Nederlandse Luisteren Braille-Bibliotheek (NLBB) is an
uncontracted form. However, contracted Grade 3 Dutch Braille is widely
used throughout Holland and Belgium.
- * SPANISH2.TAB: Grado Dos (Grade 2) Spanish Braille system from
O.N.C.E. in Madrid. There is also consensus in using this Grade 2 system
among the Hispanic-American Braille reading communities, although most
publications in Central and South America are still using a Grade 1
Braille, due to educational limitations of their readers.
- The Computerized Braille Tutor: tutor.zip (560k)
- is archived at
gopher://gopher.igc.apc.org:5005/11/tutor,
where one can also find the Installation Batch File,
install.bat,
and the The Computerized Braille Tutor User's Manual
- dot-to-dot0.8d1.sit.hqx (binhexed StuffIt archive, 312k)
- * Dot to Dot Manual, (binhexed StuffIt archive, 40k)
- braille2.zip
- Grade 2 Braille reference guide with BIOS writes for use with screen
readers. (freeware from Jim Kitchen)
Documentation and Other Useful Information
- James Ruby's
NLS Talking Book Topic and
Catalog Reader: allows you to create and manipulate a database of
Talking Book Topic and NLS Catalog files
- * t183.zip (50k)
- * Braille Book
Reviews, 1994 to the present
- * Talking Book
Topics, 1994 to the present
- * TBT files, 1994-current
from the /pub/nls/tbt directory of ftp.loc.gov
- * NLS Catalogs, 1993-1995
from the /pub/nls/catalogs directory of ftp.loc.gov
- unix.zip
- contains a unix cheat sheet, a list of unix commands, and a quick
reference guide for unix
comments? corrections?
additions? broken or missing links?
email oedipus@hicom.net
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created October 3, 1996
last updated August 21, 1997