Plain Text Formats

Plain-text file formats supplied with Word 2000 The following formats do not use a file converter.* File Format

Comments

Text only

Saves text without its formatting (ie no page margins,auto indents, soft spaces etc). Converts all section breaks, page breaks, manual line breaks, and new line characters to paragraph marks (13,10). Renders tab chars and spaces as user typed. Uses the ANSI character set. Select this format only if the destination program cannot read any of the other available file formats. (.txt)

MS-DOS text only

Converts files the same way as Text only format. Uses the extended ASCII character set, which is the standard for MS-DOS-based programs. Use this format to share documents between Word and nonWindows-based programs. (.txt)

Text only with line breaks, MS- Saves text without formatting. Converts all line breaks DOS text only with line breaks (including soft line breaks), section breaks, and page breaks to paragraph marks. Use this format when you want to maintain line breaks — for example, when transferring documents to an electronic mail system. (.txt) Text with layout, MS-DOS text with layout *uses a file converter.

Preserves line breaks. Inserts spaces in a converted document to approximate indents, tables, line spacing, paragraph spacing, and tab stops. Converts section breaks and page breaks to paragraph marks. Use this format to convert a document to a text file format while preserving the page layout. (.ans or .asc)

Rich Text Format (RTF)

Saves all formatting. Converts formatting to instructions that other programs, including compatible Microsoft programs, can read and interpret.

Encoded text

Saves text without its formatting. Uses the encoding standard that you choose. Use this format when you share documents with people who use system software in another language