The output NC program data is in 8-bit noparity ASCII format. You control the character count by the block_size definition file symbol. The block size is written as a formatted number in the range 00 through 99, followed by a space, followed by the contents of the actual NC tape block. The three byte size header is not included in the block size count.

Records may or may not contain end-of-block characters, rewind-stop characters, leader, trailer and man-readable data. You control these, along with many other format details, from within the Output Format section of QUEST. Other format options configurable from the definitions file include the tape_format (variable, fixed or packed), tape_recl (tape record length), tape_seq (tape sequence numbering), tape_eor (tape end-of-record character), dnc_format (variable, fixed or packed), dnc_recl (dnc record length), dnc_seq (dnc sequence numbering), and dnc_eor (dnc end-of-record character).

By default, the system creates the tape file in the current directory with the same name as the CL file, and an extension of tap. The system may create two tape files for 4-axis lathes, in which case the second file name is the same as the first, with a file extension of tp2. There is no mechanism to override the second tape file name.

If you define the configuration option pro_mf_cl_dir, the system creates the deliverable in the directory specified by this option.