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Q194487: WD97: Difference Between RTF and RFT File Formats

Article: Q194487
Product(s): Word 97 for Windows
Version(s): WINDOWS:97
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbdta winword word97
Last Modified: 14-NOV-2000

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Word 97 for Windows 
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SUMMARY
=======

Two file formats with similar abbreviations (RFT and RTF) are commonly
confused.

The difference between these two formats is as follows:

- RFT-DCA (commonly referred to as RFT) represents IBM Corporation's
  Revisable-Form Text Document Content Architecture format. This format was
  developed by IBM for transfer of documents between its word- processing
  systems and other systems.

- RTF represents Microsoft Corporation's Rich Text Format. The Rich Text Format
  standard is a method of encoding formatted text and graphics for easy
  transfer between MS-DOS, Windows, OS/2, and Apple Macintosh applications.

MORE INFORMATION
================

For more information about RFT-DCA, please see the following articles in the
Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q96119 History of WinWord File Converters Categorized by Word Release

  Q119889 Word for the Macintosh: History of External File Converters

  Q136385 Supported Foreign File Formats in Word and Office 95

  Q125219 RFT-DCA Converter Enhancements in Word 6.0c for Windows

  Q119461 Supported Foreign File Formats in Word 6 for the Macintosh

  Q174813 WD: Third-Party Conversion Solutions

For more information about how to obtain the RTF specification, please see the
following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q86999 WD: Rich Text Format (RTF) Specification 1.6

  Q111716 How to Obtain the WinWord Converter SDK (GC1039)

  Q164472 WD97: GC1282: Rich Text Format Addendum (Spec. for Word 97)

NOTE: The RTF Specification version 1.6 is available in the MSDN library at the
following URL:

  http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/ (http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/)

Click Specifications, click Applications, and then click Rich Text Format (RTF)
Specification, version 1.6.

Additional query words: rftdca dcarft rft/dca dca/rft dca-rft rft dca rich- text

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Keywords          : kbdta winword word97 
Technology        : kbWordSearch kbWord97 kbWord97Search kbZNotKeyword2
Version           : WINDOWS:97
Issue type        : kbinfo

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