converting 1stWord(+) and other atari word processor files for use on other platforms

introduction

This is one of the most frequently-asked questions in the comp.sys.atari.st newsgroup. Lots of people have used their Ataris for word processing over the years, writing theses, dissertations, books etc and suddenly find themselves needing to access old data. Others are active Atari users and need to collaborate with users of other computers.

I've avoided going into details about plain text (ASCII) export from 1STWord, as this will lose all your formatting and the other methods available preserve at least some of it. However, you will almost certainly have to do some editing in the target package whichever method you use. If you are trying to export data from a really obscure package you may have to resort to plain text, but it's the worst option.

Fortunately, in the case of 1STWord, there are comparatively simple ways of getting your data converted, largely as others have had the same problem and written handy utilities etc.

disk formats

Let's get this out of the way to start with. The Atari floppy format is almost identical to MS-DOS (Ataris have always been quite happy to read/write "real" DOS floppies), and from TOS 1.4 onwards the Atari desktop has formatted DOS-compatible floppies, so you may well find that PCs will read the disks with no problems. Note that most Ataris use only 720Kb floppies, not the current standard 1.44Mb HD floppies. Most PCs and Macs (not to mention most other platforms) will read these, if the formatting is correct (ie MS-DOS).

important disclaimer

Please note that it's a bad idea to start experimenting with your only copy of a disk. If at all possible, use a copy of it so that if the worst happens you still have your original. I'm offering this advice in the spirit of helpfulness, not as a world authority on disk formats: you must take full responsibility for the safety of your own data, and following any advice on this page implies you accept this. If you don't want to risk your data, don't mess with your disks!

Problem disks fall into three categories:

  1. Disks which were formatted with early TOS versions and formatting utilities which don't produce MS-DOS disks: DOS and Windows will not read these, nor will Macs etc which are capable of reading DOS format disks. There are three ways round this:
    • If your Atari has an old TOS version, just format some fresh 720Kb floppies on the PC and copy the files to the new disks using the Atari.
    • If you don't have an Atari any more, you may wish to try Gemulator Explorer available for free download from Emulators Inc. This will let you read the disk under Win95/98/NT and copy the files to your PC.
  2. Extended format floppies: if you can, try Gemulator Explorer. If you can't use that, you need to format new floppies as mentioned above and copy the files over.
  3. Single-sided 360Kb floppies: even if these are formatted to be DOS-compatible, many PCs just can't read these any more. The only way round it is to copy the files onto double-sided (720Kb) floppies as mentioned above.

Important!

Take the precaution of write-protecting the floppy before you put it in the PC's drive as Windows 95, 98 and NT will write things to it without your consent at first access. This is stuff for long filename support and may well render the disk unusable on the Atari.

direct file transfer methods

If you still have an Atari and have a large number of files (eg on a hard drive) to transfer to the PC, you can try one of several ways of making a direct connection between the two machines and transferring the files without having to copy them to floppies first. I'm no expert on this so I'll just list the methods here (I haven't tried any of them: I've been meaning to experiment for ages but haven't got round to it). When I can get round to finding URLs for the various programs I'll add them, but if you need advice on this sort of thing I'd advise you to check the quick FAQ and if that doesn't help ask in the comp.sys.atari.st newsgroup.

methods using a null modem cable

methods using the parallel port with a custom cable

other methods

You could get an ethernet connector for your Atari and set up a full-blown TCP/IP connection with the PC through a network card. However if you're up to this you don't need me to tell you anything!!!

if you still use an atari and need to swap files with pcs/macs

If you are going to stay with your Atari, you might consider upgrading to a more recent word processing package than 1STWord, one which supports import and export of RTF files, which are usable by most PC and Mac word processors. Atari word processors which support RTF are:

All of the above will import files from 1STWord. There may be others: if you know of any, let me know!

If you want to just export RTF files for use on other machines, you may prefer to use the WPLS2RTF utility to convert the files (see below). Note that this is a one-way conversion only, so if you want to import files from PCs or Macs you are restricted to plain text (ASCII), and will therefore lose all your formatting.

if you still have an atari and need a one-time conversion to pc or mac

Rather than spend money on a new word processor for your Atari, I'd recommend using the WPLS2RTF utility to convert the files to RTF (see below).

if you no longer have an atari to do the conversion

There is really only one native option, to convert the files to RTF using a utility called WPLS2RTF. It's available from this site:

WPLS2RTF.ZIP

or via FTP from:

ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/atari/utils/WPLS2RTF.ZIP

The archive includes Atari, DOS (works OK from a Windows 98 command prompt, so I guess it'll work on most PCs) and Mac executables, and the source code so you an compile it for whatever other platform (not that I have a clue about compiling it, but it's there anyway).

If you are trying to convert files from a different Atari word processor, you may need to try an emulator on your PC. I can confirm that Robert Best's converters run happily under MagiC-PC (commercial), and someone else in comp.sys.atari.st has used them happily under PaCifiST (freeware or shareware). You may find TOSbox or Gemulator OK too, though I can't confirm. I can personally confirm that Papyrus and Marcel work under MagiC-PC.

other atari word processor files

If you have any information concerning import/export capabilities of other programs (eg Signum! etc), please let me know so I can improve this information.