Following the publication of FR80 User Note 11 entitled "ICL Print Program", it was felt by several users that the method described therein for the production of microfiche was somewhat tricky for the ordinary user. The TITLEFICHE macro is an attempt to make this process easier so that a given file could be listed to fiche with a single command. Why not use the LF filename, ... ,PR FICHE facility, one asks? In the majority of cases this will suffice but it has general shortcomings; the fiche title is the filename - how can one tell updated versions apart; a page size of 44 lines is set - what happens to files with page throws and headings like FAMULUS output, for example; only 48X reduction is allowed - how can one select 42X reduction?
TITLEFICHE. attempts to alleviate the problems listed above but, as usual, there is a catch. To utilise this method requires the user to have a magnetic tape budget and to specify a tape by its serial number at the very least, so that the operators can find it. Assuming one has a magnetic tape, either 7 or 9-track, then one can use TITLEFICHE with ease and once the fiche has been plotted, the tape is again available for use should it be needed.
There are two mandatory and three optional parameters needed by TITLEFICHE plus the usual JD parameters like JT and MT where appropriate. The parameters and their meanings are:
Some examples of the use of TITLEFICHE are:
TITLEFICHE *LPOUTPUTFILE,*MT(1234),PAGE51,JT15,MT1
This command, issued when logged-in, will output the file OUTPUTFILE to microfiche with the default titling option of date, time and filename, in this case OUTPUTFILE. The page size is set to 51 lines like the 1906A lineprinter paper. Note the inclusion of MT1 because a 9-track tape is used.
JOB FILEOUT,:NTBE34,JD(JT15,7T1) OBEY TITLEFICHE,PARAM(42X,*LPANOTHERFILE,*MT - (7000123,TAPENAME),TITLELINE 1 AND $LINE 2) EJ ****
The above job could be a deck of cards and would cause the file ANOTHERFILE to be listed on microfiche. It would have a two-line title; the maximum is two lines. The reduction would be 42X instead of the default 48X and the tape used is a 7-track tape with serial number 7000123,- hence the 7T1 parameter in the JD for the job.