Mac/DOS Conversion

[Kevin Justie]

>One problem I have is that our Public Relations Office uses MSWord
>on a Macintosh to produce all its news items.  We use DOS machines
>for all of our work (including HTML markup).  So we have been looking
>for software to convert their Mac files to DOS format so that we can
>mark them up and load on to our site.


1.  MSWord can most likely save in DOS text format, and if they're using a
PowerMac it can save it directly to a DOS disk (earlier models may require
additional software to read/write DOS disks)

2.  MacLinkPlus Translators from Dataviz can convert between numerous
formats, including many DOS/Windows formats, and includes HTML translators
(though I haven't used them).

3.  Check out Myrmidon at www.terrymorse.com.  It's works like a Mac
printer driver, in that you select it from the Chooser (like a printer)
then issue a normal Print command in any program (i.e. MSWord).  The
program then "prints" to the Myrmidon driver which does a very respectable
conversion to HTML.  It also gives you complete control over what types of
formatting to convert or ignore, such as only marking bold/italic, ignoring
font or font-size changes, different ways to handle lists, and many more.
The HTML file is usable as is since HTML is not platform-specific, though
you might still want to use option 1 or 2 to convert to true DOS text in
order to get hard returns between lines, which would simplify editing.



Kevin Justie
Head of Technical and Automated Services
Morton Grove Public Library, Morton Grove, IL
(847) 965-4220
kjustie at mgk.nslsilus.org
http://www.nslsilus.org/mgkhome/
Opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect
offical Library policy.

***   "The box said Windows 95 or better,...So I bought a Mac."   ***