>If you can modify the format fields would it be possible to put tags in them to identify what the represent? For example, where "W9N" means "W, followed by 9 numeric digits" you could have someting like

><T>W</T><L>9</L><D>N</D>

>where you have tags such as

><T> = text
><N> = field length
><D> = data type
><F> = format code (for use in a transform)

>
>I have no idea if this is workable, or if the parsing would be any easier. Just offering a thought
>
Sounds like a great idea to me.