Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 3:58 am Post subject: RTFD-format in NO
I have to deal a lot with files in RTFD-format. Up to now only in Textedit or XCODE I could open them, which is completely unsatisfactory for further formatting and modifications. I hoped that NO 3.0 could deal with this format, but I have not been able to figure out how.
Searching in the WEB the only information I found was: “Rich Text Format Directory, also known as RTFD (due to its extension), is the primary document format of TextEdit, an application native to NeXTSTEP and Mac OS X which has also been ported to other versions of Unix. The file format is based on the Rich Text Format, but can also include "attachments" such as images. One big advantage with RTFD is that it supports scalable high quality image formats like PDF, so an RTFD file can print with no information loss at large paper sizes. RTF does support a number of scalable image meta file formats.â€
This is part of the explanation given in wikipedia. As the leading open source package for the Mac NO should be able to handle this format or not, or am I in such a special situation and no one else cares about this? Anyway, what must I do to open RTFD's in NO or how can I convert them to a file format NO can handle? Are there special converters in some place, maybe as third party tools? I wonder if Apples own iWORK can deal with it.
Joined: Feb 12, 2005 Posts: 607 Location: Australia
Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 5:33 am Post subject: Options
Hi Frieder
Amongst commercial programs, Pages from iWork can certainly open and edit .rtfd files. Currently .rtfd files are not opened by NeoOffice, unlike.rtf files. It has been suggested from time to time, but IIRC this is not likely to happen because OpenOffice.org is unlikely to produce an .rtfd filter.
However, there is a free, opensource workaround if you wish to try it: open your .rtfd files in Bean 2.0 beta* and from the File menu, select Export > either Doc (with pictures) or RTF (with pictures). You should then be able to open these files in NeoOffice. You won't be able to save them as .rtfd files: if that is critical to you, I suggest you use Pages.
Peter
* This may also work in Bean 1.3.3, but I find Bean 2.0 quite stable, so why not use it?
Actually, I wonder if the OOo people might be interested in doing this as a Google SoC project.
From the wikipedia description, it would require parsing most of the internal txt.rtf file in RTF conversion filter, and including the media in the resulting ODF file from the remaining unparsed commands..
Best wishes,
Oscar _________________ "What do you think of Western Civilization?"
"I think it would be a good idea!"
- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Wouldn't it be very nice to have this export option Been offers directly in NO?
Been is open source and maybe it could become integrated into NO via an extension or ad-on, the way we got the media browser from Karelia?
Open source or not, integrating Been into NeoOffice or OpenOffice.org is not a trivial project and is more like taking an engine out of a Ford car and trying to make it fit into a BMW: every single wiring difference must to patched and every mismatched bolt must be bridged.
To put it another way, NeoOffice's underlying OpenOffice.org has a very specific and detailed set of functions that must be used to import and export data and Been has its own different set. Yanking the gut import/export code out of Been (its engine) and then trying to transplant it into OpenOffice.org would require rewriting all of the all of the points in code where the Been engine was cut out of the Been application.
Unfortunately, our very limited funding and developer resources limits the current scope of the NeoOffice project to keeping a native version of OpenOffice.org running on Mac OS X and fixing OpenOffice.org bugs is outside that scope.
I know that you would like NeoOffice to handle all file formats out there, but essentially you are asking for open source projects to use their scarce resources to duplicate the already existing and well-functioning TextEdit and Been applications.
Actually, I wonder if the OOo people might be interested in doing this as a Google SoC project.
From the wikipedia description, it would require parsing most of the internal txt.rtf file in RTF conversion filter, and including the media in the resulting ODF file from the remaining unparsed commands..
Best wishes,
Oscar
I wonder if they have a page for suggestions for this summer yet? You should definitely suggest it.
Smokey _________________ "[...] whether the duck drinks hot chocolate or coffee is irrelevant." -- ovvldc and sardisson in the NeoWiki
Joined: Feb 12, 2005 Posts: 607 Location: Australia
Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 4:33 pm Post subject: Option 2
Hi Frieder
I had a feeling that what you were asking was beyond the scope of NeoOffice - and it clearly is. The workaround will have to suffice if you want to do this without cost. Also, given that rtfd sems to be Mac only, I wonder how much interest OOo would have in it.
Another option [not open source or free, but at least cheap if you go the Express route] is to use Nisus Writer or Nisus Writer Express, which both open and save rtfd. It calls RTFD Rich Text Format Directory, and it seems to work.
Peter
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