Extracting ARK formatted files

[Brendan]

I've been looking into fixing one of the 2 TI-99/4a I got my hands on recently. It sounded like consrep.ark or cnslrpr.ark from the TI archive FTP site I (and it appears others) mentioned. I found deark-ti, and was able to use that to convert these files to text. Unfortunately, these text files aren't the most readable, with various dot-formatting commands in it.

I searched the forum and the web for more info on ark or these files, but to no avail. Does anyone know how to extract these files in a readable format?

Thanks!

 

[Ksarul]

You are successfully extracting the file already, if it is showing text mixed with dot commands. It was most likely formatted for use with the Formatter from TI Writer. That should output the file in a perfectly readable format for you.

 

[Brendan]

So I take it that I should be able to pull it into TI Writer in an emulator and possibly export it as unformatted text? I'd like to print these files out and work from them as a checklist for repairing my broken TI-99/4a.

Thanks for the information.

 

[Ksarul]

The Formatter program in TI Writer will output the file to a printer, formatted using those same embedded commands.

What you are describing as your desire appears to be a different use of the file, however. The program uses those dot commands to output the printer commands to format the text as it prints the file. It doesn't output them, but it does send the necessary Epson command sequences to effect the printer command it represents. Pretty much the only way to get rid of them would be to edit the file manually, assuming you are not planning on printing from a TI.