tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8616610987649128333.post8226730968384667830..comments2024-03-07T18:07:32.939+01:00Comments on That grumpy BSD guy: Compatibility Is Hard: CHARTEST.DOC Is From 1989, Was Not Readable By 2003Peter N. M. Hansteenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12852746787621165833noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8616610987649128333.post-54232567912001153682013-11-17T23:16:12.732+01:002013-11-17T23:16:12.732+01:00I didn't check thoroughly, but antiword - the ...I didn't check thoroughly, but antiword - the program I use for ".doc" files I recieve - seemingly did the job...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08403280595072424564noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8616610987649128333.post-31246455426033539582013-11-11T22:06:43.680+01:002013-11-11T22:06:43.680+01:00I think you should be able to recover your documen...I think you should be able to recover your document just by using:<br />"strings -n 2 CHARSET.doc" | headtajhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01174347568532735250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8616610987649128333.post-73495023448722195362013-11-11T02:55:47.075+01:002013-11-11T02:55:47.075+01:00Opened your CHARTEST.DOC in MicroEmacs by JASSPA....Opened your CHARTEST.DOC in MicroEmacs by JASSPA. There were a few characters of "junk" like this at the top:<br />1¾«VS++++++> (but in the old IBM ascii characters). Then your table started with: <br />33 ! <br />34 " etc.<br /><br />The table looked good until 127-144 and 147-159 which display (on Windows XP) as a thick vertical bar. <br /><br />145-146 display as single right-quote <br /><br />160-255 are the various IBM symbols, followed by accented characters for various non-English languages.<br /><br />The file ends with more "garbage":<br />€VSyµCH +<br />É . H@C+ H C:\WORD50\DOCS\*^,^0^5^:^>^" cm p10 p12 pt li C7 x ð\^^^a^d^h^l^o^1¾« €WSÿÿµCH +<br />É . H@C+ H C:\WORD50\DOCS\*^,^0^5^:^>^" cm p10 p12 pt li C7 x ð\^^^a^d^h^l^o^1¾« - +^v (0chartest4/3/89 07/07/88ÖC=HuHéæ=CuHé* = uHé =QuHé<br /> ‹F £#M‹F+‹V+£%M‰+'M‹F-‹V £)M‰++M‹F>£-M‹F+‹V+ <br /><br />I didn't use MS-Word back then, but it looks like MS didn't add much of a header or footer to the actual characters in the file. In other words, it should be possible to recover simple files (without extensive formatting) by opening with Emacs or other plain text editor.<br /><br />I used FinalWord II back in the 80's, for many things including a 900 page textbook. Like you, I was able to generate Postscript (with some character substitutions for the PS Symbol font) and print my drafts on an Apple LaserWriter.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com