>Peter, OK, 20% I know.  CARD DUMP (which is not implemented on all systems,
>I know) does give this as well.
I seem to recall having heard of a C version of CARD, it certainly is a
simple compression routine (we even used it in DDR for many years).
 
>Additionally NETDATA, like the others, CARD and DISK, are machine dependant
>on IBM systems, with tough decisions having to be made when non-IBM systems
>try to emulate.
CARD sends the data as a compressed stream w/ information on the original
date and time as well as the record format (maybe LRECL too?). I doubt
there would be many decisions about what to do w/ such files on most
other systems. It seems to me to be a very good format (but I may be
biased...).
 
>Actually, a NEW format is really needed.
I think CARD could do it all for you or could easilly be extended to
add any new features you need.