Com2txt
Com2txt is a utility that converts a DOS COM file to one whose bytes all belong to a certain set of ASCII characters, and which still has the same functionality. It was developed by Naoyuki Nide. Most of the information about it is in Japanese.
It's a silly hack, but it had some practical uses, such as for embedding a COM file in a Batch file, email, etc.
It has a -r option, to recover the original file.
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Disambiguation
Not to be confused with:
For other software with a similar name or function, see Executable envelopes#Transfer-encoded executables.
Identification
Only versions 1.11 and 1.41 have been evaluated.
The default format for 1.11-1.41 starts with ASCII "T_OOWW3=XXWX" (see the HDR_DATA.C source file). The signature "com2txt/Nide" also appears in the file, but is less reliable for format identification.
An alternate format is enabled with the -c option (undocumented in English in v1.11). It is named something like "com-batch shared format". For v1.11, such files start with ":=%00%AA5$QP". For v1.41, they start with ":?7%00%CCPY", though sometimes the initial ":" is edited to be ";".
There is apparently also an old format (e.g. from v1.00), whose files start with "TXPPP".
Software
- com2txt v1.11 (DOS binary + source code)
- com2txt v1.41: Vector Software Pack for Win Gold → Disc 2 → DOS/UTIL/BIN/CONV/COM2T141.TGZ
Sample files
- xpa167m.zip → *.COM (files have a customized signature)
- dexvert samples — archive/com2txtPacked
- Vector Software Pack for Win Gold → Disc 2 → DOS/UTIL/BIN/CONV/COM2T141.TGZ → sample/*.com
- ICEUNP.COM (v~1.41
-cformat)
