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HABit WordStar Converter

The HABit WordStar Converter runs under Windows, with versions for Windows 3, and Windows 95 and later, and can convert most WordStar for DOS, including WordStar 2000 for DOS, files into plain text, text with formatting, or HTML formats.

The HABit WordStar Converter WSCONV runs in Windows rather than DOS, so may be an easier alternative for non-DOS users who need access to old WordStar files. The converter is available in versions for Windows 95 and later, and for Windows 3.x as detailed below:

Windows 3

The 16-bit (Windows 3.x) version is designed for WordStar 4 files, but will also cope with earlier WordStar versions.

The program gives options for replacing soft-spaces, etc., with hard-spaces to keep the layout with a fixed-pitch font, and for converting WordStar extended characters to the Windows equivalent. Full details for installation and use are included in the downloads.

If you use the Windows 3 version of the converter to convert files from WordStar versions later than version 4, the file preview may not display the file contents. If the document is simple, and doesn't use features introduced after WordStar 4, such as paragraph styles, you may just be left with some formatting and other code in the converted result, otherwise you could be left with an unusable result.

Windows 9x/2000/XP/NT/ & later

The 32-bit (Windows 9x, 2000, XP, & NT) version 3 converter (updated March 2005) has support for most DOS WordStar versions including WordStar 2000. Output can be in plain text or HTML, the HTML output preserving character attributes such as boldface, etc. In addition to the two output formats, there are two conversion options:

The keep layout option will try to preserve formatting (see the table below). This option is only applicable to plain text output, not HTML.

The Convert Extended Characters (ECS) option will convert the WordStar for DOS IBM extended character set to the Windows ANSI character set based on Latin-1 coding. Where there isn''t a matching character in the normal Windows fonts the nearest equivalent will be used. HTML conversions use special HTML characters to display characters in the Extended ASCII range

Footnotes, are changed to end notes.

There is also a batch conversion option to convert all files with the same file extension in a directory.

The conversions are summarised in the tables below. Point at the symbols for more details on a specific feature.

From WordStar DOS to Plain Text
               
Feature:
3.31
4.0
5.5
6.0
7.0
2K
 Notes
Soft Returns
Converted to Hard Returns if Keep Layout Option Set
Converted to Hard Returns if Keep Layout Option Set
Converted to Hard Returns if Keep Layout Option Set
Converted to Hard Returns if Keep Layout Option Set
Converted to Hard Returns if Keep Layout Option Set
Converted to Hard Returns if Keep Layout Option Set
 } Keep
} layout
} option
Blank lines
Yes if Keep Layout Option Set
Yes if Keep Layout Option Set
Yes if Keep Layout Option Set
Yes if Keep Layout Option Set
Yes if Keep Layout Option Set
Yes if Keep Layout Option Set
Multiple spaces
Yes if Keep Layout Option Set
Yes if Keep Layout Option Set
Yes if Keep Layout Option Set
Yes if Keep Layout Option Set
Yes if Keep Layout Option Set
Yes if Keep Layout Option Set
Text attributes
Not Applicable to Plain Text
Not Applicable to Plain Text
Not Applicable to Plain Text
Not Applicable to Plain Text
Not Applicable to Plain Text
Not Applicable to Plain Text
 Not applicable
Tabs
Don''t Know
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
  
Centering
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
No
No
No
No
  
Footnotes
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Don''t Know
Don''t Know
Yes as End Notes
No
 As end notes
Extended characters
Yes if Convert ECS Option Set
Yes if Convert ECS Option Set
Yes if Convert ECS Option Set
Yes if Convert ECS Option Set
Yes if Convert ECS Option Set
Yes if Convert ECS Option Set
 ECS option
                 
                 
From WordStar DOS to HTML
               
Feature:
3.31
4.0
5.5
6.0
7.0
2K
 Notes
Soft Returns
Converted to Hard Returns if Keep Layout Option Set
Converted to Hard Returns if Keep Layout Option Set
Converted to Hard Returns if Keep Layout Option Set
Converted to Hard Returns if Keep Layout Option Set
Converted to Hard Returns if Keep Layout Option Set
Converted to Hard Returns if Keep Layout Option Set
 Ignored
Blank lines
No
No
No
No
No
No
  
Multiple spaces
No
No
No
No
No
No
  
Text attributes
Don''t Know
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
  
Tabs
Don''t Know
Yes as String of Non-Breaking Spaces
Yes as String of Non-Breaking Spaces
Yes as String of Non-Breaking Spaces
Yes as String of Non-Breaking Spaces
Yes as String of Non-Breaking Spaces
 As spaces
Centering
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
  
Footnotes
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Don''t Know
Don''t Know
Yes as End Notes Linked to Main text
No
 As end notes
Extended characters
Yes if Convert ECS Option Set
Yes if Convert ECS Option Set
Yes if Convert ECS Option Set
Yes if Convert ECS Option Set
Yes if Convert ECS Option Set
Yes if Convert ECS Option Set
 ECS option
                 
                 
Key
Yes
Yes
No
No
Don''t Know
?
Not Applicable
N/A

 




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