
          CONVERTING FILES TO AND FROM WORDSTAR FORMAT

WordStar comes with its own file conversion program called Star 
Exchange (a rebranded version of Software Bridge from Systems 
Compatibility Corporation).  It's in the folder C:\WS\CONVERT, 
and can be accessed from WordStar's opening menu by pressing A 
then S.  The full manual for the program is C:\WS\CONVERT in the 
file "Star Exchange (WordStar 7).pdf".

This WordStar archive collection also contains several 
alternative conversion utilities:

* Word for Word 7.2 (copyright 1996 by Adobe and MasterSoft) in 
  C:\WS\WFW.

* Legacy File Converter: a Windows shell for Word for Word 7.2; 
  you'll find it in C:\WS\LegacyFileConverter.

* ConvertPerfect 2.0d from WordPerfect 6.2 (copyright 1996 by 
  Corel) in C:\WS\CVWP.

* WS-CON in C:\WS\WS-CON.

* Plus these programs in C:\WS (and also in C:\WS\UTIL) written 
  by Peter Mierau, the principal author of WordStar 4.0 and 5.0:

   WSASC.COM:  Converts a WordStar file to plain ASCII format.  
               For any version of WordStar through 7.0.

   WSOLD.COM:  Converts a new WordStar file (versions 5.0 through 
               7.0) to the old WordStar format (versions 3.0 
               through 4.0).

   ASCWS.COM:  Converts an ASCII file to WordStar format, with 
               soft returns within paragraphs.  For any version 
               of WordStar through 7.0.

* "Printing" a WordStar file with ASCII.PDF or ASC256.PDF will 
  produce a copy of the file named ASCII.TXT or ASC256.TXT in 
  plain ASCII format (use ASCII.PDF for 7-bit ASCII and 
  ASC256.PDF for 8-bit ASCII).  You can assign a printer to a 
  file by issuing ^P? within a document.

* Finally, Robert J. Sawyer's very elaborate, very sophisticated, 
  and very idiosyncratic system for converting WordStar documents 
  to RTF can be found in C:\WS\RTF-RJS.  This system may or may 
  not work for you and will probably require customization.

-- Robert J. Sawyer
   sawyer@sfwriter.com
   August 2024
