All the files in this directory are text files. They must be retrieved from the FTP server in text mode. The files with filetype HEX are encoded binaries. CARD is a utility similar to the native CMS DISK command but, unlike DISK, CARD does not use 30 columns per card for meaningless information that the decoding program does not really need.
CARD also does some limited amount of compression on the input data.
Thus, the card decks generated by CARD are much more compact than those generated by DISK, and this is the reason we use a non-native command for network distributions. If you already have a recent version of CARD, you can skip this step. They will be processed automatically. In version 1.2b this file will be bundled with the regular distribution. Their purpose is to allow you to install a system that can then be updated using the normal update procedures for the product in question.