TXT2COM (Keith P. Graham)
- See TXT2COM for other things with that name.
TXT2COM is a DOS utility that converts a text file to a COM file that, when executed, displays the text in a full-screen viewer. It was developed by Keith P. Graham.
To recover the original text file, run the .COM file in a DOS environment, then press the 'T' key.
Later versions include TXT2RES and/or TXT2PAS, special-purpose variants of the software.
Later versions support special features enabled by markup syntax in the source document.
Contents |
Overview of releases
The version numbering convention approved by the change log is that versions through 2.2 have one digit after the decimal point. Then came versions 2.03 through 2.10, which have two digits after the decimal point.
Some of the information in this table is guessed, as some releases do not contain a clear version number. For clarification, the "Size" column is the size in bytes of the TXT2*.COM file.
| Program | Version | Date | Size | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TXT2COM.COM | 1.0 | 1987-06-19 | 3757 | Creates files containing no version number. |
| TXT2COM.COM | 1.1 | 1987-07-21? | 3775 | Creates files containing "Vers 1.1". |
| TXT2COM.COM | 2.0 | 1987-07-26? | 3938 | Creates files containing "Vers 1.1". |
| TXT2COM.COM | 2.1 | 1987-08-30 | 4356 | Creates files containing "Vers 1.1". Includes README.COM from v2.0. |
| TXT2COM.COM | 2.2 | 1987-11-01 | 4380 | Creates files containing "Vers 2.2". |
| TXT2COM.COM | 2.03 | 1987-11-12 | 5173 | Creates files containing "Vers 2.3". |
| TXT2COM.COM | 2.06 | 1988-08-26 | 7772 | Creates files containing "Vers 2.06". |
| TXT2COM.COM | 2.10 | 1993-07-27 | 8525 | Creates files containing "Vers 2.10". |
| TXT2RES.COM | 1.0 | 1987-07-27 | 8837 | Included with TXT2COM v2.0-2.2. Creates files containing "TXT2COM" and "Vers 1.1". |
| TXT2RES.COM | 2.03 | 1987-11-12 | 9828 | |
| TXT2RES.COM | 2.06 | 1988-08-26 | 11400 | |
| TXT2RES.COM | 2.10 | 1993-07-27 | 12153 | |
| TXT2PAS.COM | 2.03 | 1987-11-12 | 10714 | |
| TXT2PAS.COM | 2.06 | 1988-08-26 | 12312 | |
| TXT2PAS.COM | 2.10 | 1993-07-27 | 13055 |
Versions 2.04 and 2.09 might also have been released, but they haven't been found. The README.COM file from v2.10 might have been created by v2.09.
Identification
COM files produced by all known versions of TXT2COM have the ASCII string "TXT2COM Conversion utility" somewhere near the beginning of the file. It's at:
- offset 3 for v1.0-v1.1
- offset 5 for v2.0 through at least v2.03 (It's probably not hard to identify the specific version, but that's not investigated here.)
- offset 14 for at least v2.06 and v2.10
Note: Versions 1.1 through 2.1 all produce files containing the version number "1.1".
If the string is at offset 3, the first 3 bytes of the file are:
-
e9 2f 01for TXT2COM v1.0 -
e9 38 01for TXT2COM v1.1 -
e9 d0 19for TXT2RES.COM from TXT2COM v2.0 and some later versions
Files produced by TXT2RES/v2.06 have "TXT2RES Conversion utility" at offset 3.
Files produced by TXT2PAS/v2.06 have "TXT2PAS Conversion utility" at offset 3.
See also
- ICE (executable compression)#See also, for other software by the same author
Software
Sample files
- The README.COM file included with most versions of the software
- STELTH24.ZIP → CATALOG.COM
