HP 82479A Owner's Manual page 178

The MSDOSXFR Program
NOTE
Lotus 1-2-3 cannot import files with a record length greater than 240
characters (a record corresponds to one row in import files). While this
limitation is usually not a problem, there are rare cases where groups with
very wide scans (such as a 30-scan burst) may not be readable by 1-2-3.
The exact record width in the MS-DOS import file is dependent on how
many readings comprise the scan and the number of characters needed to
represent those readings. Each record in the MS-DOS import file uses a
fixed overhead of 21 characters, plus one character per reading plus the
number of characters needed to represent the readings in the HP-71 STD
format. (For example, a reading of "1" requires one character; a reading of
"12345000" requires 8 characters.)
13.8 HANDLING OF NUMERIC EXCEPTIONS
Normally, extremely large numbers, extremely small numbers, and NaNs* will not occur when using the
HP 3421A Data Acquisition/Control Unit. It is possible, however, for a custom conversion program to
generate numbers out of the normal range of the HP 3421A. Under these circumstances, MSDOSXFR
will make the following conversions for compatibility with Lotus 1-2-3:
e If a value being transferred has an absolute value greater than 9.9999999E+99, TRANSFER
will replace it with £9.9999999E+99. This will also occur for a value of Int.
e If a value being transferred has an absolute value less than 1.0E-99, TRANSFER will replace
it with O.
e If a value being transferred is NaN, TRANSFER will replace it with the text value "NaN".
As with all text cells, 1-2-3 will interpret such a cell as containing 0. (Note that, except in
the case of unusual activity in a custom conversion program, a value of NaN will never
occur.)
13.9 MEMORY REQUIREMENTS OF MSDOSXFR
The memory requirements of [1=[1'=:FF are variable, and depend on the disc size of the target device.
A 14 Mbyte hard disc, for example, might easily require 10 to 12K-bytes of HP-71 memory for storage
and manipulation of the File Allocation Table; a micro-floppy may require only 1500 bytes. Because of
this, it 1s impossible to determine program memory requirements until the target device and unit number
have actually been identified. At that time, the program may terminate for lack of memory.
*A NaN (Not-a-Number) is a special value generated to conform to the IEEE proposal for floating-point
arithmetic. It is explained more fully in the HP-71 Owner's Manual.
13-6