MAKEHEX.COM -- utility to convert binary files to Intel .HEX format for
	MS-DOS or PC-DOS systems.

Purpose -- allows the conversion of files ( 1 byte to 65280 bytes ) into
	Intel .HEX format so that they can be transmitted as ASCII text
	when you cannot use binary transfers.  (The file size limit is due
	to the fact that I determined the .HEX file format by reverse
	engineering existing .HEX files and none of them used more than
	one segment.  I had no way to determine what the format is for
	a .HEX file that spans more than one segment.  IN that one segment,
	the first 256 bytes are reserved for the PSP of a .COM programme so
	the file size is limited to 65536 minus 256.)

Usage: --
	(a) to just view a conversion, type:
			MAKEHEX  filename
		where "filename" is the name of a file within the size range
		specified above.  MAKEHEX will display the file size in
		both decimal and hexadecimal and then display the HEX output
		to the screen.  This is a good place to check for errors.
		(See "ERRORS" below.)
	(b) to convert a file for transmission, use
			MAKEHEX  filename  >newfile.HEX
		where "filename" is the name of the file to convert and
		"newfile" is the new name for the .HEX file
		MAKEHEX will send the conversion to the new file but will
		still report the size on the screen.  The new file
		will be in valid Intel .HEX format if its size was in range.
		Note the file size reported, especially the hexadecimal size.
	(c) create a DEBUG script:
			N newfile.HEX
			L
			RCX
			xxxx
			N filename
			W
			Q
		replacing the "xxxx" above with the HEXADECIMAL file size
		reported by MAKEHEX and replacing "newfile" and "filename"
		with the appropriate filenames.  The newfile must have a
		.HEX extension to be converted by DEBUG.  If the old file
		had an .EXE extension, use some other extension (.XEX perhaps)
		in the DEBUG script and rename the file to have an .EXE
		extension after you exit from DEBUG as DEBUG cannot write
		files with .EXE or .HEX extensions.  (The fact that DEBUG
                refused to write a file with a .HEX extension is what prompted
                me to see what it would do when *reading* a *.HEX file.)

!!!!!
*****	WARNING:  DO NOT TRY TO SHORTEN THE SCRIPT FILE BY TRYING TO
	USE:
			DEBUG  newfile.HEX  <scriptfile
	AT THE DOS COMMAND LINE TO REPLACE THE:
			N newfile.HEX
			L
	LINES IN THE SCRIPT FILE.  THIS WILL WORK WITH EARLIER VERSIONS
	OF DEBUG BUT LATER VERSIONS OF DEBUG MAY LOCK UP IF A .HEX FILE
	IS LOADED BY BEING SPECIFIED ON THE COMMAND-LINE.  (Another example
	of upgrades making things worse!  The earlier versions of DEBUG also
	set CX to the end of the programme so it was only necessary to
	subtract 0100 (hexadecimal) from CX to set the number of bytes for
	DEBUG to write.  One script could be used for all files.  Later
	versions do not set CX so YOU have to do so in the script.)

	(d) transmit the DEBUG script file as ASCII text to be saved at
		the destination.
	(e) transmit the newfile to the destination to be saved with a
		.HEX extension.
	(f) at the destination, edit out any additional stuff added by the
		transmission such as e-mail headers.  The .HEX file should
		consist ONLY of lines that start with ":", followed only by
		hexadecimal digits, "0123456789ABCDEF", and that end with
		a carriage-return and a line-feed character.  A control-Z
		at the end seems to do no harm.
	(g) reconstruct the original file with
			DEBUG  <scriptfile
		where "scriptfile" is replaced by the name of the script
		file that you created.
	(h) rename the resulting binary file, if necessary, to restore an EXE
		extension.

ERRORS:

	MAKEHEX will report an error for ANY of the following conditions:
	(a) no file was specified
	(b) the file could not be opened for input (not present)
	(c) the specified file was empty (length was zero)
	(d) the specified file was too large (greater than 65280 bytes)
	(e) you specified a device instead of a file.


	This programme is copyright by Norman L. De Forest (the author)
	but permission is granted for any non-commercial use of this
	programme including giving copies to other users.  Computer
	clubs are allowed to charge a handling fee to cover the costs
	of the disks if they distribute it.  Commercial use is limited
	to providing this free-of-charge to customers in conjunction
	with other services (which may be charged for).

	Contacting the author:


		Snail-mail:	Norman  L.  De Forest
				General Delivery
				Halifax Central Postal Station
				Halifax,  Nova Scotia
				Canada    B3J 2L3


		E-mail:		af380@chebucto.ns.ca   or
                                makehex@flashingcursor.cjb.net

		Web Site:	http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/~af380/Profile.html