Subj : Re: DOC file format
To   : comp.programming
From : learningseeker
Date : Wed Oct 12 2005 11:44 am

Well, I'm not sure that I can be of much help, but here's what I know
about the Word .doc format.  First, M$ is very protective of it and you
generally have to have a really compelling reason for them to give you
the format (that's why someone got it and blasted it onto the
internet).

The document on wotsit.org actually describes (yes, in painful detail)
all of the inner workings of the word document beast.  A word file is
actually just a big gnarly object written from Word to disk in binary
format (that's why in Notepad it looks all funky).  It kind of operates
on a hybrid between HTML and pure C++ object-oriented code - with a
little general file system flaire thrown in.  The text of the document
is stored in various data structures (all of which are listed in that
document on wotsit.org; just search for 'data structure' in it).  These
data structures are ordered (somehow) so that when word opens the
document up, the text is retrieved and displayed in the correct order
and format.

I'm sure this isn't what you're asking for, but it's not a simple
answer to a simple question.

I hope that helps (a little).

.