Re: Xy4 and Hex 1a

[cld@xxxxxxxx (Carl Distefano)]

Reply to note from Leslie Bialler  Sun, 16 Dec
2001 10:39:06 -0500

> If you set d 1a=1, call up a word file in XP (I say, suh,
> that's expanded mode to old Leghorn!), delete the crap at the
> top and the bottom, and then re-save the file (under another
> name, of course!), you _can_ recall it as a pure text file.

Yup, that's what Robert's U2 frame ImportMSWord does: capitalizes on
the fact that all the junk in a Word file is confined to the top and
bottom of the file. Starting at the top, the program samples the
contents in 200-byte chunks, computing the text-to-junk ratio to
determine where the text portion begins. When the ration reaches
95.5%, the program deletes everything that came before. The
detritus at the bottom of the file is easy prey, because it usually
starts with an Ascii 1 or 4. What's left is text. Try it, it's fun
to watch.

--
Carl Distefano
cld@xxxxxxxx
http://users.datarealm.com/xywwweb/