My best free tool for BAPLIE

In this post, I will review my best BAPLIE free tools available on the internet.

1. BAPLIE Viewer

It's a great and reliable tool developed many many years ago.

I know for sure that several small Terminals have used the BAPLIE Viewer as standard and unique ship planning program which may confuse you unless you never gave it a try.

BAPLIE Viewer has tons of functionalities; here below some of them: 

Files exported by the prgram:

• CSV comma separated
• TXT text files TAB delimited
• DBF, dBase IV file
• Microsoft Excel using preset template or to new worksheet
• Clipboard copy of data

Reports genrated:

• Container list, filtered and sorted
• IMDG list; list of dangerous cargo, filtered by port of discharge or displayed as transit cargo
• Reefer list; list of reefer containers; filtered by port of discharge and status (all, dry, live and empty reefer containers)
• Cargo summary; summary of all cargo on board by port of discharge
• Container data; selected container data from BAPLIE file
• Break bulk; summary of all break bulk cargo from BAPLIE file
• Suez canal report (cargo summary)
• Stack weight summary separate for deck and hold; 20FT, 40FT or mixed stowage
• OOG (Out of Gauge) containers summary with particular dimensions
• Container remarks; Handling instructions, Special instructions, Container remark, Description of goods, General information's

Statistics created: 

• General statistics; selection of different statistics per container type, operator, owner, etc...
• Tonnage sheet; break down of cargo by units and weight, operator, owner, container size, load and discharge port
• IMDG cargo summary; summary of dangerous cargo by class; port of discharge, container size, deck or hold
• Container type summary; different container types filtered by line operator
• Transversal weight distribution; weights and horizontal moments, calculation of cargo induced ship list
• Load port summary by operator; break down of cargo on board by operator, loading and discharge port

Additional tools and options:

• Decode and display content of BAPLIE file header
• Removal of line feeds and unprintable characters from BAPLIE file
• Create query to extract data from file
• BAPLIE file analysis; checking for different errors in BAPLIE file and/or stowage
• Bay view; graphical display of cargo stowage with different coloring filters
• Cargo plan; graphical display of cargo plan with different coloring filters
• ISO container types decoder
• ISO port codes; 8283 ports, automatically decoded for Baplie viewer, but can be used as separate routine
• Container Id check digit calculation

Support: 
BAPLIE 1.5, 2.07, 2.1, 3.0

Pros:
Tons of statistical reports;
Handy data export tool in several formats (including the Plan Master format).

Bay plan and letter plan printing;

Cons:

Not updated since 2005;
Does not validate message;
Does not support VGM.

2. EDIFACT Viewer

It's a great tool which supports not only BAPLIE but also several UN/EDIFACT messages.
Here the full list of supported messages. 
The EDIFACT Viewer allows to export messages in csv and html files plus has a very intuitive GUI to menage the contents of your files.

Support: 

All BAPLIE versions; 

Pros:

Easy to use; 
Solid message translation/acknowledgment; 
Support to VGM; 
Also tested on several Linux distros with Wine.

Cons:
The last updated version was released in 2010;

Does not validate message.

3. SVM BAPLIE Viewer

It's a very recent development which requires java in order to run on your pc.
SVM BAPLIE Viewer also validates the file and lets you know if there are any incorrect or missing segments which may prevent the file from being read and converted.

SVM BAPLIE Viewer allows to create customized data export templates which include the count function: template then can be saved on your pc and used as soon as you need it. 

Support:
SMDG15/BAPLIE 1.5, SMDG20/BAPLIE 2.0, SMDG22/BAPLIE 2.2 and SMDG31/BAPLIE 3.1.

Pros:

Customized template to export data;
Allow to handle data in pivot table style;
Support to VGM.

Cons: 
Requires an old and unsafe java version (Java JRE 1.6).