read/convert Ventura 3.0 DOS/GEM edition files

[Vahid Sadjadi]

I have a few files that they say have been generated with Ventura Publisher
Version 3.0. I don't have the Ventura Publisher anymore, but I need to find a
way to convert these files into some other format that I can use, for example
HTML or MS-Word, or even Text. I am especially interested in the textual part of
the document. The extension of the files are:

*.STY
*.CHP
*.CIF
*.WP
*.WID

are these really Ventura Publisher files? I have been trying to convert and/or
read the files with *.WP extenstion, which seem to be Word Perfect files (Don't
know the versions!), but couldn't do it with any of the existing editors and
converters that I found around. After the conversion of the *.WP files to any
format, it converts the Style information as the text itself. So for example:
@NEW SECTION, @COPYRIGHT,. @Z_TOC, @BULLET and similar strange style
information are still there after getting converted, or getting read by another
editor. What's the easiest way that I can convert these documents to anything
useful. Anyone any ideas please?

Thanks in advance

Vahid

[Jim Hart [C_Tech]]

Yes, these are really Ventura Publisher files. Prior to version 7, Ventura
used multiple files for the components of a Ventura document.

The CHP file is the basic structure of the document. It contains information
regarding page sizes, orientation, location of frames, as well as a list of
the graphic and text files used in the document. The CHP file also references
the stylesheet used to format the document.

The STY file is the stylesheet. This contains the detailed formatting
instructions for each paragraph tag. As well as the size and otientation of
the base page. The Stylesheet also references the width table (.WID)

The Width table contains the font metrics for the fonts used in the document.
It also serves as a lookup table for Fontnames as the fonts are references in
the stylesheet and in character attributes by VPFontID number.

The .CIF file is a chapter information file and is not critical. IT stores
information that can be used by 3rd party utilities for various purposes.

The .WP files are the text files used in the document. The extension suggests
that these files are in WordPerfect format. VP3 only supported WP5.x and 4.2.
There may be a .CAP file as well. This file contains text entered internally
in VP either in frames or in frame CAPtions (hence the extension).

There may be graphic files as well. Ventura stores internal graphics in a
.VGR file. Imported graphics are retained in their native format with their
native extensions. Open the .CHP file in a text editor or viewer and check
the list of files.

There is no single file containing a formatted document. VP3.0 was designed
as a final output application. Text and graphics are assembled in VP,
formatted and printed. The formatted document is not exportable for editing
in other applications.

The "@TAGNAME = " you see in the text files is how VP applies tags to text.
The tagname is referenced in the stylesheet to obtain and apply the required
formatting. When saving text files, VP3 could save in a native WP format, but
the only formatting information that would be saved in WP format would be
character level attributes such as bold, italic, underline, etc. Paragraph
level formatting was not saved in the text file, only the @TAGNAME reference
which you see.

If you have Ventura8, you can open the .CHP file and convert the document to
a .VP file. Since you do not list any graphics files, you may not have any to
deal with. If not, you can export the text as .RTF files. If you designate
.RTF markup, most of the formatting will be retained when the RTF file is
opened in a word processor.

If you have VP5, you can open the file and perhaps use the Tagwrite utility
to convert the file to SGML, or HTML.

If you do not have VP7 or VP8, you have what you have.

Whether or not this is usable depends on how you define usable.

-jrh

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