What is the rtf file format used for? Text at any cost: RTF

Often in conversation you can hear such phrases as “save in RTF...”, “file in RTF format...”. Also, if we don’t know where and on what device we will open our text documents, then we are advised to save them in RTF format. So what is RTF format?

RTF (rtf) is the name of files created in a text editor and is an abbreviation for rich text format, which means rich or extended text format. This partly means that this format is cross-platform, that is, it can be created, opened and edited in any application designed for editing texts.

Documents with the rtf extension, text documents can be opened and edited in almost all text editors in Windows, Mac OS and others, as well as in free office programs (OpenOffice, LibreOffice, etc.). Therefore, when sending your text RTF documents by email, you can be sure that the recipient can easily open and read them, even if he does not have Office installed on his computer.

What is it for?

The format was created in the eighties of the twentieth century by Windows programmers for the word processor Word and since then, in parallel with the development of the operating system, the rtf format has also changed. But the main thing remains that it is used to transfer documents between different word processors and even between different versions of Word. It is no secret that new types of Word files cannot be opened in the editor of previous generations.

RTF file sizes

The ability of files with the rtf extension to open on any computer and in any text editing program has become the reason for their cumbersomeness, in contrast to the already familiar docx file format. And if when working with small documents their “bulkyness” is not noticeable, then editing multi-page texts with tables and figures can significantly load the computer’s performance.

RTF and viruses

Another reason for the popularity of the rtf format is its “resistance” to the influence of various types of malicious code, including macro viruses. Experts admit that the security level of using the “rich” text file format is significantly lower than for files with the doc extension. However, they advise that you always check RTF documents received from somewhere with antiviruses with the latest databases.

How to save text in RTF

In order to convert a text file to rtf format, you need to open it and click on the “Save As” button. In the window that opens, select the RTF file type.

Thus, RTF is an extension of text files indicating their format. Despite the fact that the format has been used since the last century and adds significant “weight” to files, it is still a popular format. This is due to the cross-platform format and virus resistance of files of this type.

Rich Text Format (RTF)

This format was defined by Microsoft as a standard format for exchanging text documents. Therefore, this format is similar in purpose to the SYLK format for spreadsheets. RTF is supported by many Microsoft products. For example, starting with version 2.0, it was introduced into Windows as a Clipboard format, making it possible to exchange data between various Windows application programs. In addition, the RT format is supported by WORD for Macintosh, starting with version 3.X, and WORD for PC, starting with version 4.X.
RTF uses only character-representable codes from the ASCII, MAC and PC character sets to exchange documents. In addition to text, the file in RT format contains control commands in a readable form.
The document consists primarily of control commands for setting up a program for reading files in RTF format. These commands can be divided into control words and control symbols.
A control word is a sequence of characters with a delimiter at the end:
\lettersequence
A backslash "\" (backslash) is introduced before the control word.
The following characters can be used as separators:
Ш Space (space), and this character refers to the control word;
Number or sign "-". These characters must be followed by a delimited parameter. Space or other characters other than numbers and letters can be used as a separator;
In the RT format, letters from “A” to “Z” and from “a” to “z”, as well as numbers from “0” to “9” are used to specify the control sequence. National symbols do not belong to control information.
Individual letters are used as control characters. Each control character is preceded by a backslash "\":
\control symbol
Only a few of these symbols are currently defined. Therefore, unknown characters may be skipped when reading.
In the RT format, it is possible to combine individual sequences into groups using brackets:
(start of group
) end of group
Such groups are created, for example, when describing footnotes, headers, etc.
\\
\{
\}.
If you need to place the characters "\", "(" or ")" inside plain text, you must precede them with a backslash:
This allows the program reading the RTF sequence to recognize that the character should not be interpreted as a control character.
The RT format also uses some character codes to control printing
Code Meaning
09Н Tabulator
0AN CR symbol
0CH Symbol LF

CR and LF characters located inside text will be skipped. Microsoft uses these symbols for clarity when representing an RTF file. Within control words, the characters CR and LF can have a special meaning; this will be discussed in more detail when describing the commands.
Special control words

RTF has special purpose control words. Below are these words and their meaning.
\chpgn
The change page number control word displays the current page number.
\chftn
The change footnote control word activates the automatic numbering of footnotes.
\chdate
Using change date you can display the current date.
\chtime
With change time you can display the current time.
\chat
Link to note (text follows in group).
\chftnsep
\/
Indicates a change in the line separating footnotes from the text.
\:
Using this sequence, the text of the formula is entered.
\*
Indicates an index sub-item.
\~
Text may be skipped when reading RTF format.
\-
Specifies a hard (non-breaking) space between two words, i.e. in this position the sentence cannot be split when carried to the next line.
\_
The symbol indicates a non-required hyphen.
The symbol denotes a nonbreaking hyphen, in the place of which the word cannot be divided.
\"hh
The sequence allows direct input of hexadecimal numbers into text.
This sequence sets the transition to a new page.
\line
This sequence causes a transition to a new line in the text.
\para
Using this sequence, the end of a paragraph is marked in the text. The sequence \par can be replaced by the sequence \10 or \13. In this case, \10 corresponds to the ASCII character with code 10 (carriage return). You cannot enter ASCII code 10 (CR) directly, because it is ignored by the reader.
\sect
This sequence marks the end of a text fragment or text paragraph.
\tab
This sequence replaces the tabulator. You can also directly specify the ASCII code 09H.
\cell
End of table (column).
\row
End of table (row).

Destination control words
Using the control words described below, you can make basic settings for the RTF reader. They can only occur at the beginning of a document or at the beginning of a group. All operators together with parameters must be enclosed in parentheses, for example:
(\rtf0\pc.......)
The format of some statements is described below.

\rtf<параметр>
Specifies the start of the file. The program used to create the file can specify the version number as a parameter. For example:
(\rtf0.......)
The label must be at the beginning of the file. This statement may be followed by other statements or a closing parenthesis.
Setting the type of encoding for the saved text is carried out using the following operators:
\ansi: text is stored in standard ASCII format. This format is used, for example, in Windows.
\mac:. text is stored in Macintosh encoding
\pc: The IBM-PC character encoding is used for text output.
\rsa: IBM-PC Code Page 850 (model PS\2).
To transfer texts between different systems, the \ansi encoding must be used.

\colortbl
Windows and other programs use palettes to determine which colors to use. Most often, the palette consists of 16 different colors, obtained by combining the primary colors - red, green and blue. The \colortbl command allows you to change individual definitions in the palette. For each color, the table indicates the values ​​of the red, green and blue components. Each color is described by three parameters:
\red000
\green000
\blue000
Instead of 000, the value of the color fraction in the range from 0 to 255 is indicated. Example: in a table consisting of 16 colors, the 0th and 2nd colors must be redefined. The following sequence can be specified to override colors:
( \colortbl \redl28\green64\bluel28\;;\red0\green64\bluel2 8; )
The color definition ends with a semicolon. Since the 1st color remains unchanged, there are two ";" characters in the sequence. follow one after another. The sequence ends with a closing parenthesis.
The \cfn operator specifies the background color (with the default setting n=0), and the \cbn operator specifies the character color (with the default setting n=0).
\fonttbl
This operator is used to build a font table and correlates the name of the font (font group) with the font number. When defining a font, you can use the following operators:
\fnil: The font group name is unknown. The output must use a standard font.
\froman: Roman fonts should be used (for example, Times Roman)
\fswiss: This operator forces the use of fonts from the Swiss group (Helvetica, Swiss, etc.)
\fmodern: Pica, Elite and Courier fonts can be used.
\fscript: Italic fonts from the Script group are used.
\fdecor: When specifying this operator, fonts must be selected from the Decor group (Old English, etc.).
\ftech: select a group of fonts with technical and mathematical symbols (SYMBOL, etc.).
The command to create a font group can consist of the following statements:
(\fonttbl\f0\fnil default;)
(\fl\froman roman h;)
(\f2\fswiss helvetica;)
The \fonttbl keyword is followed by the first font number \f0. Next comes the definition of the font group. Here, after the number 0, \fnil is indicated, i.e. group name unknown. The next parameter specifies the name of the selected font (for example, roman h). The default instruction tells the reader to use a standard font. There is a semicolon after the font name.
In the example above, only fonts numbered 1 and 2 are defined. The entire sequence can be combined into a group using curly braces.

The font table must be filled with values ​​before the \stylesheet operator or text is encountered. The standard font is entered using the \deffn operator.
\stylesheet
This operator defines the font of the paragraph, i.e. size, style and name of the typeface, as well as how the paragraph text is aligned. This uses two key parameters:
\sbasedon000: instead of the 000 characters, the number of the font type that is used as the current one is indicated.
\snext000: assigns the number of the next font type (style), which will become the current one.
The operator could, for example, look like this:
(\stylesheet\s0\f3\fs20\qj Normal;)
Fonts are numbered from 0 to n (\s0...). The first line gives paragraph style 0 (\s0) the name Normal. Text is output in font 3 (\f3), size 10 points (\fs20). The \qj parameter indicates that the caption should be aligned to the format. The second line defines font style 1, which is named Heading Level 3. The font size is 15 points, bold (\b = bold) and the text is centered when displayed (\qc).

\pict
This operator is used when describing a picture in bitmap format.
The following parameters contain a description of the drawing in hexadecimal values.
Parameters can be selectively used to define the geometry of the drawing or its format:
\pich000: The operator specifies the height of the picture in pixels. Instead of three zeros, a numeric value is substituted. If there is no operator, the height of the drawing is determined from the current graphic data. Using the parameter, you can set a specific height for the picture.
\piw000: The operator specifies the width of the image in pixels. Everything said about the previous operator is true.
\picscaled: This operator scales the drawing so that it exactly fills the area allocated for it.
\wmetafilen: Specifies that the data is stored in Windows metafile format.
The n parameter specifies the metafile type (1 = MM-text).
\macpict: This option specifies that the data is stored in Macintosh Quick-Draw format.
\bin000:. the parameter specifies the number of bytes. Instead of three zeros, a hexadecimal number is written.
\wbitmapn: the parameter determines the format of the bitmap image. The n parameter specifies the type (0 corresponds to a logical bitmap).
\brdrs: defines a simple picture frame
\brdrdb: Defines a double border for the picture.
\brdrth: Defines a bold line for the picture border.
\brdrsh: Defines a shaded border for the picture.
\brdrdot: Specifies a dotted line for the drawing.
\brdrhair: Defines a thin line for the border of the picture.
\picwGoaln: sets the desired width of the image in twips
\piccroptn: describes the top margin of a picture in twips. For positive values ​​of the n parameter, the upper part of the picture is cut off. Negative values ​​of n make it possible to create a frame around the picture. The default value for n is 0.
\рiccrоbп: describes the bottom margin of a drawing in twips. For positive values ​​of the n parameter, the lower part of the picture is cut off. Negative values ​​of n make it possible to create a frame around the picture. The default value for n is 0.
\piccprorn: describes the right margin of a picture in twips. For positive values ​​of the n parameter, the image is cut off on the right. Negative values ​​of n make it possible to create a frame around the picture. The default value for n is 0.
\piccropln: describes the left margin of a picture in twips. For positive values ​​of the parameter n, the image is cut off on the left. Negative n values ​​make it possible to construct a frame around the picture. The default value for n is 0.
\wbmbitspixeln: Defines the number of bits per pixel for a bitmap image (default value is 1).
\wbmplanesn: Defines the number of bitplanes (default value is 1).
\wbmwidtbbytesn: Specifies the length of the bitmap in bytes.

\footnote
The statement should immediately follow the footnote mark and refer to the text.

\header
The operator defines the header of the current piece of text and therefore must appear at the beginning of the text.

\header
The operator defines a left hand header on which the page is left aligned.

\headerr
The operator sets the odd-numbered page header, on which the header is displayed with a right hand header.

\headerf
The statement sets the first page header.

\footer
The operator sets the footer of the current fragment and must be specified before the start of the text.

\footerl
The operator sets the footer of an even page (left hand footer), on which the footer is displayed aligned to the left.

\footerr
The operator sets the odd-numbered page footer on which it appears with a right hand footer.

\footerf
The operator sets the first page footer.

\ftnsep
The operator specifies the delimiter character for footnotes.

\ftnsepc
The operator specifies the separator for a footnote that continues on the next page (continued footnote).

\ftncn
This operator is used to indicate the continuation of footnote text.

\info
Using this keyword, an information block is opened at the beginning of the document. It may contain information about the title of the document, the date it was compiled, etc. The following operators may appear inside an information block that begins with the \info operator:
\title
\subject
\operator
\author
\keywords
\doccomm
\version
\nextfile
The listed commands allow you to transmit auxiliary information about the document, for example, the author's name, text version, title, etc. The RTF data reader is not required to process information block commands.

\vern000
Instead of 000, the statement contains the version number of the program in which the document was compiled.

\creatim
This keyword determines the date and time the document was created.
This data is encoded using the following operators:
\уr000: year of document creation
\to000: month the document was created
\dy000: day the document was created
\hr000: document creation time in hours
\min000: document creation time in minutes

\sec000: document creation time in seconds
\revtim

Determines the time and date the document was last updated. Both parameters are specified as specified in the description of the \creatim operator.
\printtim

Determines the time and date the document was last printed. Both parameters are specified as specified in the description of the \creatim operator.
\buptim

Defines the time and date of the last save of the document (backup). Both parameters are specified as specified in the description of the \creatim operator.
\edmins000

Stores the duration (in minutes) of the last editing session.
\nofpages000
\nofwords000
\nofchars000
\id000

The above statements contain qualifying information about the document (number of pages, number of words and number of characters), as well as the internal identification number.
\comment

The title may contain text marked with the \comment keyword.
In this case, we are talking about a comment in the text that is skipped by the RTF data reader.
\field
There is a group of operators that are used to describe fields inserted into WORD. A group begins with the keyword \field, which can be followed by the following operators:
\flddirty: the field was changed during the last update
\fldedit: the text was edited during the last update

\fldlock: the field is closed for access and cannot be updated
This group of statements begins with the character sequence \xe and can contain the following keywords:
\bхе: page numbers are set to bold.
\ixe: page numbers are set to italic style.
\txe text: text is used instead of the page number.
\rхе bookmark: generation of page numbers for the area containing the bookmark.

\tc
A group contains data elements for tables and can consist of the following keywords:
\tcfn: the table type is passed (n can have values ​​from A to Z, the default value is C).
\tcln: level number (default value n = 1).

The group of operators that define bookmarks includes only two operators:
\*\bkmkstart: start of area
\*\bkmkend: end of area

Document formatting operators
The next group includes commands for formatting text. These commands can be divided into subgroups:
· commands whose effect extends to the entire text,
· commands that change the format of only the current paragraph,
· commands that relate to the current text output.
This section describes document-wide formatting statements.

\paperw000
The command specifies the width of the sheet in twips (1 twip is equal to 1/20 of a point or 1/1440 of an inch).

The width value is specified instead of 000. If the command is absent, then the sheet width is set to 12240 twips.
\raperh000

The command sets the sheet height in twips. The height value is specified instead of 000. If the command is absent, then the sheet height is set to a different 15840 twips.
\margl000

Using this command you can set the width of the left margin when printing in twips.
The standard field width is 1800 twips.

\margr000
Using this command you can set the width of the right margin when printing in twips.

The standard field width is 1800 twips.
\margt000

Using this command you can set the width of the top margin (margin top) when printing in twips. The standard field width is 1440 twips.
\margb000

Using this command you can set the width of the bottom margin (margin bottom) when printing in twips. The standard field width is 1440 twips.
\facingp

The facing page operator determines the appearance of the page. It sets, for example, whether the header and footer is printed on even or odd pages. If h; operator followed by parameter 0, the output is suppressed.
\gutter000

Using this operator you can set the width of the binder margin (gutter inside facing page.
The operator turns on Wido control. If the operator is followed by a parameter 0, the monitoring is disabled again.

\endnotes
If this parameter is specified in the document, then the footnote texts are placed at the end of the fragment.

\ftobj
By default, footnotes are displayed at the bottom of the page (footnotes bottom justified).

This operator allows you to switch from the installation specified by the \endnotes operator to the standard installation.
\ftntj

Footnote texts are displayed in the text (footnotes top justified).
\ftnstart000

Instead of 000, the command contains the starting number of the first footnote. The standard value of the number is 1.
\ftnrestart

When this operator is specified, footnote numbering on each page starts at 1. Parameter 0 disables this setting.
\pgnstart000

Instead of 000, the command contains the starting page number. The standard value of the number is 1.
\linestart000

The value specified instead of 000 specifies the starting line number. The standard value of the number is 1.
\landscape

The command allows you to set landscape orientation. Specifying 0 restores portrait orientation.
\byphhotz

Defines an area that is designated as - Hyphenation hot zone.
\ftnsep

Defines a delimiter that separates footnotes from text.
\ftnsepc

Defines a delimiter that separates footnotes that continue onto the next page from the text.
\ftncn

Mark for next footnote.
\enddoc

Footnote at the end of the document.
\*\nextfile

Passes (in parentheses ()) the name of the output file or index file.
\*\template

After the operator, the name of the template file is indicated in parentheses () if it differs from the default.
\makeback

Automatic creation of a Backup file if the document is protected.
\defformat

Tells the RTF reader that the document should be protected.
\revison

Includes a change flag.
\margmirror

Indicates that the descriptions for the left and right margins should be mirrored.
\revproporn

The value of the n parameter specifies the style and method of highlighting characters when creating editorial notes. An n value of 0 is normal, 1 is bold, 2 is italic, 3 is underline (default setting), 4 is double underline.
\revbarn

Section formatting
The second group of operators controls the section format and consists of the following commands.

\sectd
The operator sets the standard settings for the section parameters.

\sbknone
The operator suppresses the transition to a new page before the start of a section (section break continuous).

\sbkcol
When this command is specified at the beginning of a section, a transition to a new column is performed (section break new column).

\sbkpage
When this command (section break new page) is specified at the beginning of the section, a transition to a new page occurs.

\sbkeven
When this command is specified at the beginning of a section, a transition to a new page is performed if the page number is even (section break even).

\sbkodd
When this command is specified at the beginning of a section, a transition to a new page is performed if the page number is odd (section break odd).

\pgostartsn
Page numbering starts from number n.

\pgnrestart
The command sets temporary page numbering, starting with value 1. Parameter 0 restores the previous numbering order.

\pgndec
Page numbers are displayed in decimal format.

\pgnucrm
Page numbers are displayed in large Roman numerals (upper case roman).

\pgnlcrm
Page numbers are displayed in small Roman numerals (lower case roman).

\pgncont
Continuous page numbering (standard setting).

\pgnucltr
Page numbers are displayed in upper case letters.

\pgnlcltr
Page numbers are displayed in lower case letters.

\pgnx000
Using this command, the X-coordinate of the page number is specified for automatic numbering. The value is relative to the top left corner of the page and is set to 720 twips by default.

\pgny000
Using this command, the Y-coordinate of the page number is specified during automatic numbering. The value is relative to the top left corner of the page and is set to 720 twips by default.

\linemod000
The operator sets the interval value when numbering lines.

\linex000
The operator sets the distance between lines. By default it is 360 twips.

\linestartn
Line numbering starts from the value n.

\linerestart
Returns the line number to 1. The command sets line numbering to start at 1.

\linepage
On each page, line numbering starts with the value 1.

\linecont
Line numbering continues from the previous section (previous chapter).

\headery000
The command specifies the Y-coordinate of the header. The value is relative to the top of the page and defaults to 720 twips.

\footery000
The command specifies the Y-coordinate of the footer. The value is specified relative to the bottom edge of the page and is set to 720 twips by default.

\vertalt
Vertical text is aligned to the top edge of the page. The text is located at the top of the page (vertically aligned at top of page).

\vertalc
The text is placed in the middle of the page. Vertical alignment of text is performed in the center of the page (vertical align centered).

\vertalj
Text is placed vertically to fill the entire page (vertical align justified).

\vertalb
Vertical alignment of text is performed at the bottom edge of the page (vertical align bottom).

\cols000
Using this command you can set the number of columns in a row. The default value is 1.

\colsx000
This command sets the distance between two columns in twips. The standard value is 720 twips.

\endnhere
When this operator is specified, posttext footnotes are displayed at the end of the section.

This output can be suppressed by setting the parameter to 0.
\titlepg

The operator specifies the output of the title page. Setting 0 suppresses the cover page output.
Paragraph formatting
The following commands control paragraph formatting.
\pard

The operator sets the default setting for the paragraph.
\s000

The command specifies the font for the given paragraph. Using the value substituted instead of 000, a selection is made in the font table.
\ql

When you specify the quad left command, the text is aligned to the left edge of the page.
\qr

When you specify the quad right command, the text is aligned to the right edge of the page.
\qc

The quad centered command places text in the center of the page.
\qj

When you specify the quad justified command, the text is aligned to the page format.
\fi000

The operator determines the amount of indentation of the first line of a paragraph (first line indent).
The default value is 0.

\li000
The operator determines the amount of paragraph indentation to the left (left indent). The default value is 0.

\ri000
The operator determines the amount of indentation of a paragraph to the right (right indent). The default value is 0.

\sb000
The operator specifies the number of empty lines inserted before the paragraph (spaces before). The default value is 0.

\sa000
The command sets the distance between lines in points. The standard value is one line (12 points). The \sl000 command enables auto line mode.

\intbl
A paragraph is part of a table.

\keep
When specifying this command, the belonging of the text to the current paragraph is recorded.

The command is disabled by specifying parameter 0.
\keepn

When this command is specified, the text is matched to the next paragraph. The command is disabled by specifying parameter 0.
\sbys

By specifying this operator, the side by side mode can be enabled. When setting the parameter to 0, the mode is disabled.
\pagebb

Specifying this statement can enable the page break before command. Setting the parameter to 0 disables the command.
\noline

When this command is specified, line numbering is disabled. Specifying parameter 0 suppresses the command.
\brdrt

Sets the line above the paragraph (boarder top).
\brdrb

Sets the line below the paragraph (boarder bottom)..
\brdrl

Sets the line to the left of the paragraph (boarder left).
\brdrr

Sets the line to the right of the paragraph (boarder right).
\box

Sets a border around a paragraph.
\brdrs

Sets the normal line (single thickness) for the frame.
\brdrtb

Sets a thick line for the frame.
\brdsu

Sets the shaded border (boarder).
\brdrdb

A double frame (boarder) is specified.
\brdrdot

The frame is indicated by a dotted line.
\brdrbair

The frame is indicated by a thin line.
\brspn

The distance in twips between the frame and the object.
\tqr

Indicates a tabulator relative to which the text is aligned to the right (right flush tab).
\tgc

Indicates a tab stop relative to which the text is centered (centered tab).
\tqdec

Indicates a decimal aligned tab.
\tldot

Indicates a tabulator for which empty space is filled with dots (tab leader dot).
\tibypben

Indicates a tabulator for which the empty space is filled with hyphens (tab leader hyphen).
\tlul

Indicates a tab leader for which the empty space is filled with underscores (tab leader underline).
\tith
Indicates a tab stop for which empty space is filled with bold

tab leader thick line. \
\tx000

This command sets the position of the tab stop.
\tb000

The command sets the position of the vertical tabulator. In this case, a vertical line is drawn along the entire length of the current paragraph.
The following commands allow you to place a paragraph at a specific position on the sheet.
\posxn

Positions the paragraph n twips from the left edge.
The horizontal paragraph is placed centered relative to the specified element (page, column).

\posxi
The paragraph is placed horizontally inside the specified element.

\posxl
The horizontal paragraph is placed to the left of the specified element.

\posxo
The paragraph is placed horizontally outside the specified element.

\posxr
The horizontal paragraph is placed to the right of the specified element.

\posysi
Positions the paragraph at a distance of "n" twips from the top edge.

\posyil
Positions the paragraph at the current position (inline).

\posyt
A vertical paragraph is placed at the top of the specified element (page, column).

\posyc
The vertical paragraph is placed in the center of the specified element.

\posyb
The vertical paragraph is placed at the bottom of the specified element.

\abswn
The absolute width of the paragraph text in twips.

\dxfrtextn
The horizontal distance in twips between the main text and an absolutely positioned object (a frame with text or a picture).

\pvmrg
Vertical position relative to the margins.

\pvpg
Vertical position relative to the page.

\phmrg
Horizontal position relative to the margins.

\рhpg
Horizontal position relative to the page.

\рhсol
Horizontal position relative to the column.

The following commands are defined to format tables.
\clbrdrb
Bottom edge of the table.

\clbrdrt
Top edge of the table.

\clbrdrl
Left edge of the table.

\clbrdrr
Right edge of the table.

\trowd
Sets the default table row values.

\trql
Left alignment when placing table rows (including columns).

\trqr
Right alignment when placing table rows (including columns).

\trqc
Centering table rows (including columns).

\trgapho
Half the distance between table cells (in twips).

\trrbn
Line height in twips.

\trleftm
The location of the left corner of the table.

\cellxn
Offset the right border of the table.

\clmgf
Merge the first cell with the remaining cells of the table.

\clmrg
Merge a cell with the previous cell.

Character formatting
This group of operators is used to format characters (bold, underline, etc.).

\plain
This command sets standard formatting options.

\b
Setting bold for printed text. To cancel, you must specify parameter 0.

\i
Sets italic style for printed text. The setting is canceled by specifying parameter 0.

\strike
The printed text will be strikethrough. To cancel, select option 0.

\outl
Setting the outline font for printed text. To cancel, select parameter 0.

\shad
The printed text will be shaded. To cancel, the parameter must be set to 0.

\scaps
Setting the text to be printed in small caps. To cancel, select option 0.

\caps
Sets the text to be printed in uppercase and lowercase letters. To cancel, you must select parameter 0.

\v
The printed text will be replaced with spaces (invisible). To cancel, set the parameter to 0.

\f000
Setting the font setting, specifying the font number as a parameter.

\fs000
The operator contains as a parameter the height of the characters, specified in units of 1/2 point. The standard height value is 24 units (12 points).

\expnd000
This parameter allows you to change the distance between characters by specifying the number of intervals of 1/4 point each.

\ul
Setting the text underlining mode. To cancel, you must select parameter 0.

\ulw
The operator allows you to specify underlining only words.

\uld
Specifies dotted underline text.

\uldb
Setting the double underline mode for text.

\ulnone
Cancel underlining of text.

\up000
Setting the superscript mode for writing characters. The size is specified in 1/2 point units.

\dn000
Setting the interlinear writing mode (subscript). The size is specified in 1/2 point units.

\cf000
Specifying the color number in the palette.

\сb000
Set the background color by specifying a number in the palette.

Subsequent versions of the RT format may be supplemented with new commands. If the program does not recognize the command, it may be skipped. The end of each command is marked with one of the separating characters described above (most often a semicolon).

The RTF file format is familiar to many users who deal with documents. A lot of business documentation, e-books and brochures, texts of various types and contents - they all exist, including in the form of rtf files. When the need arises to view the contents of such documents, the well-known text editor MS Word comes to the rescue, easily opening files of this type. But is this the only alternative? Of course not. In this article I will tell you how to open an RTF file, what programs will help us with this, and how to use them.

As is known, " .rtf" is one of the forms of text file extension. This letter combination is an abbreviation for the words “ Rich Text Format» (rich text format). A document in this format supports the so-called “rich text” (rich text), which allows you to operate with several text formatting options, different fonts and their sizes when editing a document, place JPG and PNG images inside the text, support custom tab settings, and so on.

The format was created by Microsoft in 1987, went through several modifications over the course of 20 years, and in 2008 Microsoft announced that it would no longer support it. However, "rtf" is now one of the most popular text formats.

Typically, the RTF text format is opened on almost any user's computer (usually using the installed MS Word text editor). If you do not have access to view files of this type, then I recommend installing and using one of the programs that I list below.

The best programs for opening rtf files

There are a sufficient number of programs that allow you to open text files with the rtf extension. The algorithm for opening such files is standard: you launch the appropriate program, click on the “File” tab in it, select “Open” there, and point the program to the path to the desired rtf file on the disk of your PC.

Among the RTF viewer software products, I can recommend the following options:

  • Microsoft WordPad is a simplified text editor from Microsoft, usually included in the Windows operating system starting with Windows 95. Allows you to view, edit and save text files in rtf format;

  • Microsoft Word, the popular text editor I have already mentioned, is part of the Microsoft Office suite of applications. The current version of the product is Microsoft Office Word 2016;
  • Microsoft Works is a simplified suite of office applications for home use. The text editor of this package in its functionality is something between the already mentioned WordPad and MS Word, providing effective support for the rtf format;
  • Atlantis Word Processor is a shareware text editor for Windows OS. Among its advantages are its compactness (takes up only 3 megabytes) and the speed of processing RTF files;
  • TextMaker Viewer is a free application for the Windows OS that can open and view the vast majority of text documents, including the rtf format we need;
  • Corel WordPerfect Office X6 is a well-known office software package from Corel, which includes the WordPerfect X3 text editor and supports the rtf format. The product is paid;
  • Apache OpenOffice is a free suite of office programs, an excellent alternative to the paid Microsoft Office. The text editor (Writer) included in this package effectively supports working with rtf files;
  • AbiSource AbiWord is a free text editor, similar in functionality to MS Word, and can be an effective answer to the question “how to open rtf”;
  • TextMaker is a text editor included in the SoftMaker Office office suite. It also supports the rtf format.

A file of this format is supported by other text editors that can work with formatted text.

How to open rtf file online

There are also several online tools that allow you to view and edit rtf online. I would note the Google Docs service, which allows you to view rtf documents online.

You can also install the appropriate extension (Docs Online Viewer) for Google Chrome or an analogue for Mozilla Firefox, which allows you to open rtf files using the functionality of the specified browsers.

In addition, you can use online converters (for example, Zamzar), which allow you to convert your RTF document into a text format that is more convenient for you (for example, into the equally popular “doc”).


Conclusion

The programs I listed above will help you with the issue of editing RTF extensions. I recommend paying attention to free alternatives, in particular, the OpenOffice office suite, which will allow you to work with files of this type absolutely free. For conservatives, I can recommend the template Microsoft Wordpad and Microsoft Word - many users, whatever one may say, choose them.

In contact with

Extensions are some of the files associated or which can be opened with the Microsoft WordPad. RTF files are text documents that can be created, opened, viewed, edited or changed using word processing applications for both Mac and Microsoft Windows-based computers, like Microsoft WordPad for Windows and Microsoft Word 2011 for Mac. It gives the users a wide cross compatibility support, which was the central objective for the improvement of the Rich Text Format technology, and these .rtf files can even be opened, viewed and used with database applications. The OpenBSD Unix platform is frequently used in computers running as Web servers of a secure network. OpenBSD files may be saved in directories of the OpenBSD system that were generated upon installation of the software applications. Files with the .openbsd extension can be opened by standard text editors, particularly well-known like Microsoft Notepad, and this text editor may also be used to create and edit OPENBSD files. Files with the .readme extension are text documents engaged to give users with beneficial information and specific details about certain applications installed in the system. These files can be opened, viewed and edited with a selection of text editors including Microsoft Notepad and Microsoft WordPad.

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word is a word processor program that is packed in the Microsoft Office Suite. It is developed by Microsoft Corporation, generating a .doc file extension when the file is saved. A document file format (.doc) is a text or binary file format for saving documents on a storage media, mainly for computer use, like typing text, charts, tables, page formatting, graphs, images and other documents whose content is created and edited. Contents of these documents are printable in any sizes and are capable of opening in other devices provided that its operating system is able to read DOC files. This .doc file extension has become extensive de facto standard for office documents, but it is an owned format and is not always totally supported by other word processors. A variety of programs that is able to open this type of file, and different operating systems and have installed programs that can open a 1ST file are: Microsoft Word, Microsoft Notepad, Microsoft Word, IBM Lotus WordPro, and Corel WordPerfect.

Microsoft Notepad

Microsoft Notepad

Notepad is a basic text editor used to create plain documents. It is commonly used to view or edit text (.txt) files, and a simple tool for creating Web pages, and supports only the basic formatting in HTML documents. It also has a simple built-in logging function. Each time a file that initializes with .log is opened, the program inserts a text timestamp on the last line of the file. It accepts text from the Windows clipboard. This is helpful in stripping embedded font type and style codes from formatted text, such as when copying text from a Web page and pasting into an email message or other “What You See Is What You Get† text editor. The formatted text is temporarily pasted into Notepad, and then immediately copied again in stripped format to be pasted into the other program. Simple text editors like Notepad may be used to change text with markup, such as HTML. Early versions of Notepad offered only the most basic functions, such as finding text. Newer versions of Windows include an updated version of Notepad with a search and replace function (Ctrl + H), as well as Ctrl + F for search and similar keyboard shortcuts. It makes use of a built-in window class named edit. In older versions such as Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me and Windows 3.1, there is a 64k limit on the size of the file being edited, an operating system limit of the EDIT class.


Microsoft Works

Microsoft Works

Microsoft Works is incorporated package software that was developed by Microsoft. It is less expensive, smaller, and has fewer features than Microsoft Office or other office suites. Its central functionality includes a word processor, a spreadsheet and a database management system. Newer versions have a calendar application and a dictionary while older versions included a terminal emulator. Files with WPS extension is utilized for output files of the Microsoft Works word processing application. These files are classified as text documents that can be created, saved, viewed and edited using the Microsoft Works program. Microsoft Word 2010, Microsoft Publisher 2010, Planamesa NeoOffice, and OxygenOffice Professional are some of the applications that are able to open and view the content of these WPS files. The contents of these WPS files can also be exported to other compatible word document formats. This promotes convenience and efficient document presentation, group collaboration and sharing between users of different systems and word processing applications; however, WPS document cannot be applied with macros and other formatting options available in Microsoft Word; so Microsoft discontinued support and development of the Microsoft Works application with its version 9 and the release of Microsoft Word 2010.

Notepad2

The Notepad2 application is a more advanced text editor for Windows developed by Florian Balmer. This program originated from the original built-in Microsoft Notepad which is why it is also effective and fast even when it is small. Notepad2 also has a lot of features such as syntax highlighting that allows a text or a source code to be displayed using different fonts and colors. This syntax highlighting feature of notepad2 allows users to write programming language easily and clearly. This amazing function of Notepad2 is also owing to several other features it possesses such as auto indentation, regular and expression-based find and replace feature, bracket matching, newline conversion, encoding conversion as well as multiple undo and redo features. These features make the function of the simple Notepad more advanced and it makes Notepad more interesting to use either to open files in .txt format or to write HTML codes. Notepad2 also supports many programming languages ​​such as ASP, C++, Perl, Java, etc.

RTF (Rich Text Format) is a text format that is more advanced than regular TXT. The goal of the developers was to create a format convenient for reading documents and e-books. This was achieved thanks to the introduction of meta tag support. Let's find out which programs can operate with objects with the RTF extension.

Three groups of applications support working with Rich Text Format:

  • word processors included in a number of office suites;
  • software for reading electronic books (so-called “readers”);
  • text editors.

In addition, objects with this extension can be opened by some universal viewers.

Method 1: Microsoft Word

If you have Microsoft Office installed on your computer, then RTF content can be displayed without problems using the word processor Word.


In general, Word works very correctly with the RTF format, correctly displaying all objects to which meta tags are applied in the document. But this is not surprising, since the developer of the program and this format is the same - Microsoft. As for the limitations on editing RTF documents in Word, this is more a problem of the format itself, rather than the program, since it simply does not support some advanced features that, for example, are used in the DOCX format. The main disadvantage of Word is that the specified text editor is part of the paid office suite Microsoft Office.

Method 2: LibreOffice Writer

The next word processor that can work with RTF is Writer, which is included in the free LibreOffice suite of office applications.


There is an alternative option for launching a text document in the LibreOffice start window.


To implement another option for opening an object, just move to the final directory in Conductor, select the text file itself and drag it, holding down the left mouse button, into the LibreOffice window. The document will appear in Writer.

There are also options for opening text not through the LibreOffice start window, but through the interface of the Writer application itself.


As you can see, LibreOffice Writer provides more options for opening text than Word. But, at the same time, it should be noted that when displaying text of this format in LibreOffice, some spaces are marked in gray, which can interfere with reading. In addition, the book view of Libre is inferior in convenience to the Word reading mode. In particular, in the mode "Book View" unnecessary tools are not removed. But the absolute advantage of the Writer application is that it can be used absolutely free, unlike the Microsoft Office application.

Method 3: OpenOffice Writer

Another free alternative to Word when opening RTF is to use the OpenOffice Writer application, which is included in another free office software package - Apache OpenOffice.


There is an option to launch from the start window of the OpenOffice package.


It is also possible to launch a document by dragging and dropping from Conductor to the OpenOffice start window in the same way as for LibreOffice.

The opening procedure is also carried out through the Writer interface.


Actually, all the advantages and disadvantages of OpenOffice Writer when working with RTF are the same as those of LibreOffice Writer: the program is inferior in visual display of content to Word, but at the same time, unlike it, it is free. In general, the LibreOffice office suite is currently considered more modern and advanced than its main competitor among free analogues - Apache OpenOffice.

Method 4: WordPad

Some ordinary text editors, which differ from the word processors described above in having less developed functionality, also support working with RTF, but not all of them. For example, if you try to run the contents of a document in Windows Notepad, instead of pleasant reading, you will get text interspersed with meta tags, the purpose of which is to display formatting elements. But you won’t see the formatting itself, since Notepad doesn’t support it.

But Windows has a built-in text editor that successfully copes with displaying information in RTF format. It's called WordPad. Moreover, the RTF format is the main one for it, since by default the program saves files with this extension. Let's see how you can display text of the specified format in the standard Windows WordPad program.


The fact is that in the Windows registry it is WordPad that is registered as the default software for opening this format. Therefore, if adjustments were not made to the system settings, then the text will open in WordPad using the specified path. If changes have been made, the document will be launched using the software that is assigned by default to open it.

It is possible to launch RTF also from the WordPad interface.


Of course, in terms of content display capabilities, WordPad is significantly inferior to all word processors that were listed above:

  • This program, unlike them, does not support working with images that can be embedded in a document;
  • She does not break the text into pages, but presents it as a single strip;
  • The application does not have a separate reading mode.

But at the same time, WordPad has one important advantage over the above programs: it does not need to be installed, since it is included in the basic version of Windows. Another advantage is that, unlike previous programs, in order to launch RTF in WordPad, by default you just need to click on an object in Explorer.

Method 5: CoolReader

RTF can be opened not only by word processors and editors, but also by readers, that is, software designed exclusively for reading, and not for editing text. One of the most popular programs in this class is CoolReader.


Overall, CoolReader displays the formatting of RTF content quite correctly. The interface of this application is more convenient to read than that of word processors and, especially, the text editors described above. At the same time, unlike previous programs, it is impossible to edit text in CoolReader.

Method 6: AlReader

Another reader that supports working with RTF is AlReader.


The display of RTF content in this program is not much different from the capabilities of CoolReader, so in this particular aspect the choice is a matter of taste. But in general, AlReader supports more formats and has a more extensive toolkit than CoolReader.

Method 7: ICE Book Reader

The next reader that supports the described format is ICE Book Reader. True, it is more geared towards creating a library of e-books. Therefore, opening objects in it is fundamentally different from all previous applications. You won't be able to run the file directly. It will first need to be imported into the internal library of ICE Book Reader, and only then opened.

  1. Activate ICE Book Reader. Click the icon "Library", which is represented by a folder-shaped icon on the top horizontal bar.

  2. After the library window opens, click "File". Select .

    Another option: in the library window, click on the icon "Import text from file" in the form of a plus sign.

  3. In the launched window, go to the folder where the text document you want to import is located. Select it and click "OK".

  4. The content will be imported into the ICE Book Reader library. As you can see, the name of the target text object has been added to the library list. To start reading this book, double-click the left mouse button on the name of this object in the library window or click Enter after its release.

    You can also select this object, click "File" and then select "Read a book".

    Another option: after highlighting the book name in the library window, click on the icon "Read a book" in the form of an arrow on the toolbar.

  5. For any of the above actions, the text will be displayed in ICE Book Reader.

In general, like most other readers, RTF content in ICE Book Reader is displayed correctly, and the reading procedure is quite convenient. But the opening process looks more complicated than in previous cases, since it is necessary to import into the library. Therefore, most users who do not have their own library prefer to use other viewers.

Method 8: Universal Viewer

Many universal viewers can also work with RTF files. These are programs that support viewing completely different groups of objects: video, audio, text, tables, images, etc. One such application is Universal Viewer.


There is also another option.


Universal Viewer displays the content of RTF objects in a style similar to the display style in word processors. Like most other universal programs, this application does not support all standards of certain formats, which may lead to errors in displaying some characters. Therefore, Universal Viewer is recommended to be used for general familiarization with the contents of the file, and not for reading a book.

We have introduced you to just a part of those programs that can work with the RTF format. At the same time, we tried to select the most popular applications. The choice of a particular one for practical use primarily depends on the user’s goals.

So, if an object needs to be edited, then it is best to use word processors: Microsoft Word, LibreOffice Writer or OpenOffice Writer. Moreover, the first option is preferable. To read books, it is better to use reading programs: CoolReader, AlReader, etc. If you also manage your own library, then ICE Book Reader is suitable. If you need to read or edit RTF, but do not want to install additional software, then use the built-in Windows text editor WordPad. Finally, if you don’t know which application to use to launch a file of a given format, you can use one of the universal viewers (for example, Universal Viewer). Although, after reading this article, you already know how to open RTF.



 

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