rdd@walt.cc.utexas.edu (Robert Dorsett) (10/21/89)
Are files with .doc suffixes (a) equivalent to standard text files, or (b) standardized in PC land? If they are not equivalent to standard text files, do common tools exist to convert them to text files? I'm attempting to transfer large German-language files to the Macintosh for a friend (who will then attempt to adapt the data for use by a spelling-checker). My attempts thus far have resulted in the data being transferred, but also substantial noise appearing at the beginning of the files and interspersed (in discrete blocks) within the file data. I'm trying to determine whether I'm doing anything wrong in the file transfer process itself (as I don't have access to two machines conveniently linked, I'm forced to use a convoluted process of uploading and downloading), or whether the files (all in .doc format) need to be converted to text files before transfer. Right now, I strongly suspect the latter. Any insights would be appreciated. Please email them. Robert Dorsett Internet: rdd@rascal.ics.utexas.edu UUCP: ...cs.utexas.edu!rascal.ics.utexas.edu!rdd
bob@sactoh0.UUCP (Bob F. Breedlove) (10/22/89)
In article <19912@ut-emx.UUCP>, rdd@walt.cc.utexas.edu (Robert Dorsett) writes: > Are files with .doc suffixes (a) equivalent to standard text files, or > (b) standardized in PC land? > > > My attempts thus far have resulted in the data being transferred, but also > substantial noise appearing at the beginning of the files and interspersed (in > discrete blocks) within the file data. > Sounds like you've gotten hold of a word processor file. The most common is Microsoft Word which uses the .DOC extension. You can load these into the MAC version of Word. If not, get someone with word to "print" these files to a disk file. This should eliminate the "noise" which is probably formatting information. -- Bob Breedlove SYSOP: BOBsBBS (916/929-7511) pacbell!sactoh0!bob
unkydave@shumv1.uucp (David Bank) (10/23/89)
Uh, Bob Breedlove....not quite.
To the original Poster: try "Type <filename>.doc" on the files
That should tell you is it is ASCII text or something from a word
processor. The latter will have all sorts of wierd characters
in the text/
What are these files, if not word processor files?? Documentation
files from software on your system, most likely in ASCII text.
Are these "standard"???? No, not really. The only "standard"
filename extensions in PCLand are "COM" "EXE" and "BAT".....everything
else is the choice of the creator of the file.
Unky Dave
unkydave@shumv1.ncsu.edu