Converting (WordStar || 1-2-3) ==> ASCII

[Mitch Che]

In article <241 at pbseps.UUCP> rdp at pbseps.PacBell.COM (Richard Perlman) writes:
>I am looking for a program (filter) to translate WordStar and/or
>Lotus 1-2-3 documents to POA (Plain Old ASCII).  I realize each

I have (gulp) a "freeware" program from 1984 (hey, this was before
anyone was worried about virus programs, right?) named wscnvn that
runs under PCDOS.  Don't know if newer versions are still available,
or if it is fully compatible with every version of Wordstar that
is now out (release 5 for instance).  A name and address are
given at the end.  Here is all the documentation that exists.
========================
"This program has been used extensively to port files between Wordstar 
and a large variety of other word processors on micros (PC DOS, MS DOS 
and CP/M systems) and minis (DEC VAX, UNIX systems) as well as 
dedicated word processors (NBI, WANG, DEC Writer systems).

The main problem encountered with transferring a file to Wordstar is 
that paragraph reform is lost because every line has a hard carriage 
return. The main problem with exporting Wordstar files to other word 
processors is that Wordstar uses the high order bit to form characters 
which are non-ASCII i.e. 128-255.

The conversion of an output file from another word processor to Wordstar 
is done with the "O" option in WSCNVN. Input which meets the criteria of 
a soft paragraph is converted to a single string of text. When the file 
is brought up into Wordstar, a file reform using ^Q^Q^B1 will produce a 
standard file with paragraph reform active.

When the option "W" is selected, Wordstar files are converted according 
to selections made by the user, and all the high order bit settings are 
zapped to produce an ASCII file. The choices are:

     1) Carriage Returns - if Hard is selected, every lZe of Wordstar 
text is ended with a CRLF to make it hard. If Soft is selected, all of 
the Wordstar soft returns within a paragraph are deleted to form a 
contiguous line of text. This will normally be automatically reformed 
into paragraphs by the destination word processor.

     2) Dot Commands - if Strip is selected, all dot (.) commands 
associated with print time forming are deleted from the file. MailMerge 
commands are retained as they are probably of value to be known in the 
destination word processor. If Retain is chosen, dot commands are 
kept in the output file.

     3) Special Codes - if Strip is chosen, all of the special meaning 
codes to Wordstar are stripped out except 'skip to new page' and tabs - 
tabs are converted to spaces on an 8 byte boundary basis consistent with 
the way Wordstar uses tabs. If Identify is chosen then <<^*>> is 
displayed for every code, where * is the Wordstar operation e.g. B means 
Bold printing. It is a simple matter to Find & Replace these fields with 
the equivalent function of the destination word processor.

If you find this program useful, it is suggested that you forward a
contribution of $25 to:
                         SaraKoi
                         P.O. Box 2161
                         Saratoga CA 95070

Even if you do not contribute, please feel free distribute this program 
freely to others so that they may benefit from the use of WSCNVN.

NOTE: It is possible to use special versions of WSCNVN to port files 
between different word processors, and retain the special print form 
capabilities of each automatically. Such versions are customized to the 
user's preferences and may be contracted for at a standard fee of $250.
-- 
Mitch Che   Pacific Bell   415-823-2454
---------------------------------------  R&D excuse #1:"My dog ate my research."
disclaimer, disclaimer, too              R&D excuse #2:"My research ate my dog."
uucp:{ames,bellcore,sun}!pacbell!pbhyf!che