[comp.sys.mac] Word -> Latex

ddmg0390@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (02/03/90)

Would anyone happen to know of a program (free, share or comercial) that 
would convert a Word file to a text file in Latex format? Please e-mail
me any suggestions and I'll post a summary (if anything like that exists).
Thanks in advance for any help. 

Dave Mattox
ddmg0390@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu

ddmg0390@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (02/03/90)

If the program dosn't exist would anyone know where I could get a description
on how a Word file looks on the inside so (maybe) I could do it myself?

math1h3@elroy.uh.edu (02/06/90)

In article <111900114@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu>, ddmg0390@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu writes:
> If the program dosn't exist would anyone know where I could get a description
> on how a Word file looks on the inside so (maybe) I could do it myself?

I can't tell you the internal format of a Word binary document, but if you save
the document in RTF form, you get something that will give you a pretty good
start.  A little detective work should enable you to dope out the RTF.  You
might even be able to get a description of the format from MicroSoft.

If anyone from MicroSoft is reading this (are you kidding?) I've seen a lot of
requests on the net for a Word - TeX translator.  How about packaging one with 
the next version of Word?

David Wagner
My opinions are independent of my employer's

ribet@maalox.berkeley.edu (Kenneth A. Ribet) (02/12/90)

In article <5471.25cdb8b1@elroy.uh.edu> math1h3@elroy.uh.edu writes:
> ...
>If anyone from MicroSoft is reading this (are you kidding?) I've seen a lot of
>requests on the net for a Word - TeX translator.  How about packaging one with 
>the next version of Word?
>
>David Wagner

If you can save your WORD document in MacWrite (4.x) format, you might 
be able to use a DA called "Easy TeX."  It was written by a Monsieur
O. Piranneau and is sold by:

			    Numerica
			    23, Bd de Brandebourg  BP 215
			    94203 Ivry FRANCE.

The version that I saw listed a price of $50.  It seemed to be more or
less shareware; it contains a message like: "Become a legal owner by
sending $50 (US) or equivalent to the following address..." Easy TeX
converts MacWrite documents into (Plain) TeX documents which give
output which approximates that of the MacWrite document.  For instance,
it will convert an "alpha" (in the Symbol font) to $\alpha$.  Of
course, the resulting TeX document can only be a starting point, since
the DA has no way of knowing that the symbol "I" in the sentence "Let I
be an infinite group" should be in math mode.  You have to intervene
manually, either before or after the Easy TeX conversion.

I personally think that it's better to leave WORD documents as they are,
but if you're really forced to convert to TeX, then this might be a
partial solution.

    Ken Ribet
    UC Berkeley Math Dept                   ribet@math.berkeley.edu
    Berkeley CA  94720 USA                  ...ucbvax!math!ribet