There are many formats for documents, and few are as difficult to parse as Rich Text Format (RTF), the internal format for Microsoft Word. Unlike structured formats such as XML and SGML, or even the less structured formats such as HTML or Troff, RTF reduces all styles, formats, fonts, etc., to pure presentational commands. It's filled with arcane, redundant, incomprehensible markup. Why use RTF then? Because we have to. Microsoft® Word is a ubiquitous application, and love it or hate it, we're stuck with it. So we frequently find ourselves having to deal with RTF files, either to convert to or from another format, or to make global changes. Additionally, there is little or no printed documentation for RTF. You can't always stop to search for the piece of information you need online--or take the time to wade through irrelevant or even erroneous online information.When you need to get to a solution quickly, the new "RTF Pocket Guide is the book you'll want to have.

Small and easy to use on the job, the "RTF Pocket Guide" focuses on the "workhorse" codes that programmers can't do without, including text style codes, paragraph formatting codes, and page formatting codes - all with many examples of real use.

Rich Text Format, or RTF, is the internal markup language used by Microsoft Word and understood by dozens of other word processors. RTF is a universal file format that pervades practically every desktop. Because RTF is text, it's much easier to generate and process than binary .doc files. Any programmer working with word processing documents needs to learn enough RTF to get around, whether it's to format text for Word (or almost any other word processor), to make global changes to an existing document, or to convert Word files to (or from) another format.

RTF Pocket Guide is a concise and easy-to-use tutorial and quick-reference for anyone who occasionally ends up mired in RTF files. As the first published book to cover the RTF format in any detail, this small pocket guide explains the syntax of RTF with examples throughout, including special sections on Unicode RTF and MSHelp RTF, and several full programs that demonstrate how to work in RTF effectively.

Most word processors produce RTF documents consisting of arcane and redundant markup. This book is the first step to finding order in the disorder of RTF.