.TH SUN2VAX 1carl CARL
.SH NAME
sun2vax - transmorgrify SUN floating point to VAX format
.SH SYNOPSIS
\fBsun2vax\fR < sun_floatsams > vax_floatsams
.SH DESCRIPTION
\fBsun2vax\fR
reads floatsams (32-bit binary floating point samples) on its
standard input in SUN format, and converts them to VAX format.
.PP
This allows binary floating point data generated on a SUN 
(which is in IEEE standard format) to be transferred to a VAX.
.SH DIAGNOSTICS
This routine takes no arguments, and reads and writes only floatsams.  
Either giving it arguments, or leaving its standard output connected
to a terminal will generate a usage statement.  It passes headers
correctly.
.SH CAVEAT
Because the bit-fiddling depends on the architecture of the underlying
CPU, this program only works on a VAX.  It must be compiled on a VAX
and executed on a VAX only.  For symmetry, 
there should be a corresponding
program to VAXify floatsams on a SUN.  Generally, all programs should
write a header property saying what specific floatsam format the data is in,
and this program should test that property before conversion.
.SH BUGS
We depend upon the fact that VAX float is the same length as a Sun
long.  We read up VAX floats as though they were Sun longs and then
do bit-fiddling to convert to Sun float.
.LP
Infinity, and other NaNs are not handled correctly since these
numbers are not in the VAX numerical vocabulary.
.SH SEE ALSO
vax2sun(1carl).
.SH AUTHOR
Tom North and Gareth Loy
