Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!uwm.edu!marque!lakesys!mikes
From: mikes@lakesys.lakesys.com (Mike Shawaluk)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Word Perfect File Format consistent for Amiga & IBM PC?
Message-ID: <1166@lakesys.lakesys.com>
Date: 2 Oct 89 13:19:16 GMT
References: <26826@dhw68k.cts.com>
Reply-To: mikes@lakesys.UUCP (Mike Shawaluk)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Lake Systems - Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Lines: 45

In article <26826@dhw68k.cts.com> daveegan@dhw68k.cts.com (Dave Egan) writes:
>I am curious about the following scenario:
>    
>   1)  Create a file with Word Perfect on an IBM PC,
>   2)  Transfer (via modem) to my Amiga,
>   3)  Make changes with the Amiga Version of WP.
>   4)  Modem back to PC and make further changes.
> 
>Are steps 3 & 4 possible?  That is, is the WP file format standard across
>different platforms?

Yes, the above scenario is indeed possible, although with the current version
of Amiga WP, things can be a little (!) awkward, since it is at version 4.1,
and the IBM PC version is at 5.0.  WP 5.0 on the PC has an option to save in
WP 4.2 format, which the Amiga version isn't at, but if you save via the PC
in 4.2 format, and then run WP 4.2 on the PC, retrieve the file, and save it
in 4.1 format (sheesh!  sounds like a pain, no?), *THEN* the Amiga can read
it just fine!  Now, I have heard that the upcoming Amiga WP update will be
able to *read* 4.2 format files, although it won't be able to access any of
the special features (like table of authorities, etc.) that 4.2 added.  But
at least it would be a little easier to share files between the two systems!
A slight positive note: WP 5.0 on the PC will directly read the Amiga's 4.1
format files without problems (at least in my experience it has, although I
don't know what it does about some of the Amiga enhancements, such as
italics, which weren't part of WP 4.1 or 4.2, but are now standard on 5.0)

As a side note, I should mention that many people who have WP on the PC (such
as our company) originally had 4.1 or 4.2 and later upgraded to 5.0, and they
will often choose to keep a running copy of the earlier version available, as
there were enough serious changes in the way WP dealt with documents between
4.X and 5.0 (i.e., storing default document settings in each document,
allowing margins & tabs to be set in inches, cm, or characters, graphics
support, intelligent font management, etc.), and often an "older" document
created under 4.X wouldn't print quite right under 5.0, at least without
twiddling a few settings, so it was often easier to fire up 4.2 and print the
document, if it was just a one-time access, than to bother with importing and
reformatting, etc.  I believe this use of the older & newer version of the
same package was allowable under WP's licensing agreement.  Anyway, the point
of the above explanation was that I had at my disposal the 4.2 version of WP
for the PC, with which I could save a document to 4.1 format, when I needed
to.
-- 
   - Mike Shawaluk 
       (mikes@lakesys.lakesys.com  OR  ...!uunet!marque!lakesys!mikes)
   "If spirit == essense, then spiritual == essential!"  - me