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+12-Oct-85 17:47:22-MDT,00000003019;000000000001
+Date: 12 Oct 1985 1747-MDT
+From: Beebe (Nelson H.F. Beebe)
+Subject: [Beebe (Nelson H.F. Beebe): WordStar to LaTeX translation]
+To: op.hendry, fh.harris
+cc: BEEBE
+
+2
+ ---------------
+
+Date: 11 Oct 1985 1804-MDT
+From: Beebe (Nelson H.F. Beebe)
+Subject: WordStar to LaTeX translation
+To: C-GRISS, CH.JM.DOWNING, FH.HARRIS, MA.PETERSEN, OP.BOWMAN, OP.DUNCAN,
+To: OP.HENDRY, OP.LICHTY, OP.WILLETT, VI.FULLERTON, GU.KILLIAN
+cc: BEEBE, MA.HOPPENSTEADT, CH.JM.KLING, BI.PARKINSON, bi.kofOID, CH.MAYNE,
+cc: vi.leaver, ma.othmer
+
+I completed today a pair of programs for assisting in the
+conversion of files from WordStar (a popular microcomputer
+word processor) to LaTeX. The subject manuscript was Pete
+Conwell's Ph.D. thesis, which Ed Leaver is going to massage
+further into a form that LaTeX will accept.
+
+WordStar file format makes extensive use of the high-order
+bit of 8-bit ASCII characters to flag "hard" and "soft" line
+breaks, underlining, subscripting, superscripting,
+boldfacing, etc. The exact sequences to do this are
+described in a document which the authors of WordStar market
+for $500; needless to say, I did not buy it, but just
+reverse engineered the job.
+
+The WordStar file was KERMITed to the DEC-20 from an IBM PC
+by issuing SET FILE 8-BIT then SERVER to KERMIT-20, followed
+by a normal KERMIT-PC SEND command.
+
+Both programs are in the directory APS:<BEEBE.UTILITY>.
+
+The first of them, WS87.PAS, can be used to copy any 8-bit
+file to a 7-bit file, turning all characters in the range
+128 .. 255 into printable \nnn octal escape sequences. This
+allows examination of the WordStar file on the DEC-20, and
+could be used for other 8-bit files as well.
+
+The second, WSLTEX, is a 535-line workhorse which identifies
+all the WordStar magic sequences used in Pete's thesis and
+turns them into appropriate LaTeX commands. It would be
+straightforward to modify WSLTEX now for any other document
+formatter, and if necessary, to recognize other WordStar
+sequences not used in the thesis.
+
+Conversion time was 19 sec on the DEC-20 for 6000 lines of
+WordStar input.
+
+WordStar is not a well-designed formatter, in that it does
+not consistently identify document features. In particular,
+double spacing actually appears verbatim (and is converted
+to single spacing by WSLTEX, except at paragraph
+boundaries), and centered text (as in chapter titles) is
+just centered without any identification. Consequently, an
+editing session is still necessary to take the output of
+WSLTEX and convert it into true LaTeX input. The important
+thing is that every special feature in the input WordStar
+document is preserved, something which is not possible if
+the 8-th bit is just lopped off.
+
+Help yourselves. Extensions, modifications, and bug reports
+are welcome. It's all public domain, so don't sell it!
+-------
+ ========
+-------
+ ========