🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <QXqfI=y00WA403wHRq@andrew.cmu.edu>
(William M. Bumgarner) writes:
     | You are going to have a very difficult time doing so-- You
     | can try MicroSoft, but it is doubtful that that will help.
     | Give Aldus and Ashton-Tate a call-- both have worked with
     | the Word format (PageMaker and FullWrite deal with it),
     | and they may have something they can send.

Both Word and Excel binary formats are.. shall we say.. "evolving"
formats, and are proprietary.  Aldus nor Ashton-Tate will give out the
binary formats as they would be under a NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement).

     | An example of the lock-up on formats that Microsoft has:
     | For the publishers of the, as yet unreleased, _Wingz_
     | spreadsheet package to be able to import Excel 'sheets,
     | they hired a hacker/guru to dissasemble Microsoft's code
     | to figure out the format of the Excel documents.  They
     | were able to do it, but Microsoft never lifted a finger to
     | help in any way...

Hmm, well all I can say is good luck to them.  I view it like this
(personal view only here).. it would be like Apple saying to a clone
company.. "Oh, you want to manufacture a Macintosh clone!.. Oh sure, let
me just dig out the source to the ROMs for you, save you some development
time" sheesh! :-) :-).

That's the way the corporate world works mate.  If there is a product that
would benefit Word or Excel by being able to read thier binary formats,
then I'm sure Microsoft would support that (under NDA of course) and has
done so in the past (PageMaker is just one example).

If anyone seriously wants the binary formats to Excel and Word, send a
letter explaining your project and needs to:

The Program Manager
Microsoft Word for the Macintosh (or Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh)
16011  NE 36th Way.
Redmond  WA.  98073-9717

It is rare that these formats are releases however.

A better alternative in the case of Word, might be the Rich Text
(interchange) format.  This is a published format and if you want a free
copy of the spec, call customer service at (206) 882 8088 and ask them to
send you the "Rich Text Format Specification" document.

     | b.bum wb1j+_@andrew.cmu.edu

Hope this helps,

Stu.

__Paths to my door:_______________________
microsoft!stuartb@beaver.cs.washington.edu  -   Usual disclaimer, that all
microsoft!stuartb@uw-beaver.arpa            -   the above is pure fantasy
microsoft!stuartb@uunet.UU.NET              -       and Microsoft only
[DE01HB]stuartb@DASNET#   {from AppleLink}  -    gave me the Mountain Dew
stuartb@microsoft.uucp    {well connected}  -      to dream it all in a
D2012 {@applelink.apple.com - shared acct}  -        caffeine haze :-)
__________________________________________________________________________