chip@ateng.UUCP (Chip Salzenberg) (04/07/88)
I've found information on Microsoft's Rich Text Format (RTF) in the book
"More File Formats for Popular PC Software" by Jeff Walden. For the
curious, it is ISBN 0-471-85077-2.
The description is terse, but I think it will be sufficient for me to write
programs that generate RTF.
Here is a question: I know that Pagemaker, and perhaps other DTP programs
as well, can import MS-Word documents. Do they -- or will they -- accept
RTF? I hope so...
--
Chip Salzenberg "chip@ateng.UU.NET" or "codas!ateng!chip"
A T Engineering My employer's opinions are a trade secret.
"Anything that works is better than anything that doesn't."
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with a subject line of helpstephena@microsoft.UUCP (Stephen Arrants 3/1011) (04/08/88)
>I've found information on Microsoft's Rich Text Format (RTF) in the book >"More File Formats for Popular PC Software" by Jeff Walden. For the >curious, it is ISBN 0-471-85077-2. A revised, updated, and complete RTF specification is available from Microsoft Corporation. If you would like one (or if anyone else wants one), please send a USMAIL address to me. We'll get one out to you the same day. -- Steve Arrants stephena@microsof.beaver.washington.edu Applications/UserEd. stephena%microsof@uw-beaver.arpa Microsoft Corp. stephena@microsof.uucp Opinions posted are mine, not my employer's. So there. ---------------------------------------- Submissions to: desktop@plaid.sun.com Administrivia to: desktop-request@plaid.sun.com UUCP: {amdahl,decwrl,hplabs,ihnp4}!sun!plaid!desktop{-request} Archives can be gotten from the archive-server. To get information on the archive-server, send mail to: archive-server@plaid.sun.com -or- sun!plaid!archive-server with a subject line of help
briand@tekig4.TEK.COM (Brian Diehm) (04/13/88)
>Here is a question: I know that Pagemaker, and perhaps other DTP programs >as well, can import MS-Word documents. Do they -- or will they -- accept >RTF? I hope so... Actually, MS-Word and RTF are two completely different formats. Word allows you to save your file in RTF format, but we have found that doing so will lose some of the formatting information, at least in the Mac version. Should you then convert that RTF file to DCA, you will be lucky to retain just the text. -- -Brian Diehm (SDA - Standard Disclaimers Apply) Tektronix, Inc. briand@tekig4.TEK.COM or {decvax,cae780,uw-beaver}!tektronix!tekig4!briand ---------------------------------------- Submissions to: desktop@plaid.sun.com Administrivia to: desktop-request@plaid.sun.com UUCP: {amdahl,decwrl,hplabs,ihnp4}!sun!plaid!desktop{-request} Archives can be gotten from the archive-server. To get information on the archive-server, send mail to: archive-server@plaid.sun.com -or- sun!plaid!archive-server with a subject line of help
chip@ateng.UUCP (Chip Salzenberg) (04/20/88)
>Actually, MS-Word and RTF are two completely different formats. Word allows >you to save your file in RTF format, but we have found that doing so will lose >some of the formatting information, at least in the Mac version. Should you >then convert that RTF file to DCA, you will be lucky to retain just the text. What, exactly, is lost when a Word document is saved in RTF? Please give details, and workarounds too (if any). If a Word --> RTF --> Word transformation results in a severe loss of information, then RTF is not suitable for the tasks I have in mind. -- Chip Salzenberg "chip@ateng.UU.NET" or "codas!ateng!chip" A T Engineering My employer may or may not agree with me. "I must create a system or be enslaved by another man's." -- Blake ---------------------------------------- Submissions to: desktop@plaid.sun.com Administrivia to: desktop-request@plaid.sun.com UUCP: {amdahl,decwrl,hplabs,ihnp4}!sun!plaid!desktop{-request} Archives can be gotten from the archive-server. To get information on the archive-server, send mail to: archive-server@plaid.sun.com -or- sun!plaid!archive-server with a subject line of help
briand@tekig4.TEK.COM (Brian Diehm) (04/26/88)
>>Me: >>Actually, MS-Word and RTF are two completely different formats. Word allows >>you to save your file in RTF format, but we have found that doing so will lose >>some of the formatting information, at least in the Mac version. Should you >>then convert that RTF file to DCA, you will be lucky to retain just the text. >Chip Salzenberg: >What, exactly, is lost when a Word document is saved in RTF? Please give >details, and workarounds too (if any). >If a Word --> RTF --> Word transformation results in a severe loss of >information, then RTF is not suitable for the tasks I have in mind. Most specifically, we have found that multi-column formatting gets either lost or scrambled in the above set of conversions. The remainder of the formatting remains pretty much intact, though there is the occasional random screw-up. It is usable if you proofread. The random screw-ups can occur anywhere at any time. The loss of information cannot be considered severe, except in multi- column formatting, where the multi-column info is lost but the remainder of the formatting is pretty much intact. The real lost cause is the Word --> RTF --> DCA --> RTF --> Word transformation. This one loses just about all but the raw text. I believe it is because DCA is not rich enough, and there are bugs in MicroSoft's converter. My comments are about 6 months old; we don't do any of this after our initial experimentation told us it wouldn't do for us at all. MicroSoft may have cleaned it all up by now. Even under MultiFinder. On the Mac II. And pigs may fly. . . -- -Brian Diehm (SDA - Standard Disclaimers Apply) Tektronix, Inc. briand@tekig4.TEK.COM or {decvax,cae780,uw-beaver}!tektronix!tekig4!briand ---------------------------------------- Submissions to: desktop@plaid.sun.com Administrivia to: desktop-request@plaid.sun.com UUCP: {amdahl,decwrl,hplabs,ihnp4}!sun!plaid!desktop{-request} Archives can be gotten from the archive-server. To get information on the archive-server, send mail to: archive-server@plaid.sun.com -or- sun!plaid!archive-server with a subject line of help