From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Thu Nov 1 15:57:31 2007 Return-Path: Delivered-To: questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2F4AF16A46E for ; Thu, 1 Nov 2007 15:57:31 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from john@jnielsen.net) Received: from ns1.jnielsen.net (ns1.jnielsen.net [69.55.238.237]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 0D20813C4C1 for ; Thu, 1 Nov 2007 15:57:30 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from john@jnielsen.net) Received: from ns1.jnielsen.net (jn@ns1 [69.55.238.237]) by ns1.jnielsen.net (8.12.9p2/8.12.9) with ESMTP id lA1Fuh69054809; Thu, 1 Nov 2007 11:56:43 -0400 (EDT) (envelope-from john@jnielsen.net) Received: (from www@localhost) by ns1.jnielsen.net (8.12.9p2/8.12.9/Submit) id lA1FuhuY054808; Thu, 1 Nov 2007 11:56:43 -0400 (EDT) (envelope-from john@jnielsen.net) X-Authentication-Warning: ns1.jnielsen.net: www set sender to john@jnielsen.net using -f Received: from nc-2wac-zop05.wachovia.com (nc-2wac-zop05.wachovia.com [162.111.235.16]) by newwebmail.jnielsen.net (Horde MIME library) with HTTP; Thu, 01 Nov 2007 11:56:43 -0400 Message-ID: <20071101115643.16h4dbt6o0w888k0@newwebmail.jnielsen.net> Date: Thu, 01 Nov 2007 11:56:43 -0400 From: John Nielsen To: spellberg_robert MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format="flowed" Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit User-Agent: Internet Messaging Program (IMP) H3 (4.0.4) / FreeBSD-4.9 X-Virus-Scanned: ClamAV version 0.88.4, clamav-milter version 0.88.4 on ns1.jnielsen.net X-Virus-Status: Clean Cc: questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: extracting 7_bit_ascii from ms_word files X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 01 Nov 2007 15:57:31 -0000 Quoting spellberg_robert : > i finally ran into a situation where > my existing approaces are no longer satisfactory. > > i never bought "office". > i have a twelve_year_old version of "wordperfect" > from [ at that time ] novell that still works just fine > [ i first used wordperfect in the early 1980's; why change ? > ]. > it doesn't recognize new ms formats. > > sometimes, i can use "wordpad" on > my "win_98_se" box that still works; > but not always. > > my lawyer insists on hard_copy and snail_mail, > so my principal application is, actually, obviated. > > if files only had a few dozen lines, > i could edit them by hand in "vi". > > i simply did not have enough situations > to demand a more sophisticated approach; > now, i do. > > i started here [ over 1000 entries ] > > http://www.freebsd.org/ports/textproc.html > > where i found nothing relevant under "doc" and > where i found "word2x", which looks --really-- old and > where i found "wv", which seemed more promising. wv by itself could probably do most of what you're looking for. It includes a "wvText" binary which produces quasi-formatted text-only output from .doc input. It also includes wvHtml, wvPS, wvPDF, wvLatex, etc. Others have already commented on the GUI-based Word workalikes available but I'll add my own. I like Abiword since it's lightweight but I tend to use OpenOffice.org on modern-ish machines since it can handle more bells and whistles (and if I'm using a word processor instead of a text editor then bells and whistles are frequently the reason). Koffice/kword is between the other two in regard to complexity and is a good alternative if something doesn't work quite right elsewhere. All can read and write Word documents compatible with the 97/XP/2003 versions of Office. Not sure about the Word 2007 format. -JN > searching the questions and newbies mail archives, > i found antiword and catdoc, but this is from 2002_feb. > > while reading up on "wv", i found this > > http://www.abisource.com/ > > which caused me to search. > > i found this > > http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/ports.cgi?query=abiword&stype=all > > both of these seem to jog my memory, but my memory .... > > > > my application is to exchange text files, by e_mail, > with someone who thinks ms products are the be_all and end_all > [ after all, > if "everyone" is spending thousands of dollars on software, > just like he is, > what makes me so special ? > ]. > i anticipate acquiring other people like this in the near future, > so my time on this just may be well_spent. > in general, > these are not the kind of folks who find > manipulating files intuitively obvious. > yet, i may find that i have to give them special instruction. > > i am not looking for something wonderful, > just reasonably competent and reasonably current. > if, in addition to my desired direction, > i can convert a 7_bit_ascii to a ".doc" file for his benefit, > that's some further whining that i can avoid. > > > > i strongly suspect that, > as soon as this becomes a solved problem, > ms changes something critical, > so this may be a fool's errand. > none_the_less, i'll give it a try. > > which one or several things are generally accepted > for this format_conversion task ? > > is this "abiword" one of them or do i seek something else ? > > if something else, can someone point me in a useful direction > [ whether or not it is something i have named ] ? > > > > while 6.2 and, soon, 7.x are de rigeur, > if it works on 4.11 [ very long story ], that's a plus. > > > > thanks whole bunches in advance. > > [ please cc me, > as my attempt to re_subscribe to the list as a courtesy > doesn't seem to be taking. > ]