Welcome to FreeForm release 3.1!

This release targets three platforms:

  IBM PC-compatibles running MS-DOS
  Sun Sparcstations running SunOS
  SGI's running Irix

NGDC provides a compressed archive file for each of the three
platforms:

  ff31.exe (PC)
  FREEFORM31.SUN.tar.Z (Sun)
  FREEFORM31.SGI.tar.Z (SGI)

If you are a PC user, simply run ff31.exe in a directory you have
created to receive the FreeForm utilities and sample files.  If you are a
Unix workstation user, run uncompress and then tar on the compressed tar
file for your platform.  You should untar the FreeForm utilities and 
sample files in a directory you have created for that purpose.

This release of FreeForm includes the following utilities:

1)   checkvar, a utility to calculate data histograms
2)   gethdr, a utility to extract and convert file headers
3)   fillhdr, a utility to create simple file headers
4)   getll, a FreeForm sample application (source code included)
5)   getllvar, a FreeForm sample application (source code included)
6)   makehdf, a FreeForm/HDF hybrid utility (Unix only)
7)   newform, a file reformatter with limited data conversion functions
8)   pntshow, a FreeForm/HDF hybrid utility (Unix only)
9)   readfile, an interactive, formatless binary file viewer
10)  splitdat, a FreeForm/HDF hybrid utility (Unix only)

Also included are sample files to be used with the exercises in the
FreeForm User's Guide, and a digital version of the FreeForm User's
Guide in Encapsulated PostScript (EPS), Microsoft Word (DOC, Version 6.0a),
and Portable Document Format (PDF) file formats.

With this release the FreeForm utilities are more uniform in appearance,
with standard command line interfaces and improved usage information.  The
flagship utilities, newform and checkvar, have gained in functionality
with the addition of a data filtering module (using a simple query
language).  Presentation of output from checkvar is now much more readable.  
The PC executables are smaller, which will be especially helpful if you are 
an MS-DOS user restricted to the lower 640K of RAM.

Unlike the core FreeForm utilities, the HDF hybrid utilities have been
only nominally tested, and are not provided for the PC.

If you have questions or comments, feel free to contact NGDC:

	National Geophysical Data Center
	325 Broadway
	Boulder, CO 80303-3328

	Fax:    (303) 497-6513
	email:  info@ngdc.noaa.gov