This is the top-level tag encapsulating the whole file. All of the other elements – B, DDF, EXECUTE, FIELD, FILE, GROUP, INCLUDE, INFO, M, P, PAGE, RS2, SIGNATURE, TEXT – are used within it. You may even use the INCLUDE element to nest another IDF file inside it!

The <IDF> tag does not have attributes per se, but provides a convenient site for setting up default attributes for the whole document. For example, the attributes common to any GROUPs defined in the script such as PAPER and FONT. It may also contain the FILENAME of a 'global' file.

Command-line tips

Instead of specifying a global file myfile1.pcl in the IDF tag of c:\myscripts\myscriptfile1.idf file:

<IDF FILENAME="myfile1.pcl">

you may specify it on the command-line:

ESCAPEE c:\myscripts\myfile1.pcl /USING c:\myscripts\myscriptfile1.idf

For backwards compatibility, a comma by inserted between the IDF file's name and the global file's name:

ESCAPEE c:\myscripts\myscriptfile1.idf,myfile1.pcl
has the same effect.

Element IDF sample script