Mike
McBride

# &kword; file format

&kword; uses two open source, independently developed standards for its file format. The combination was chosen for its balance between convenience and open development models.

First, it should be noted that all &kword; files are multiple &XML; files that are compressed to reduce their space requirements.

Select the &kword; version you are interested in:

- &kword; 1.1 and earlier.

- &kword; 1.2.

- &kword; 1.3.

## &kword; 1.1 and earlier

The &XML; files are compressed into a single file using the same algorithm as used by tar.

You can uncompress the files with the following command:

    % tar -xzvf filename

This will expand the &kword; document file into its component files.

The text portion of all &kword; files are &XML; (eXtensible Markup Language) files.

For more information on &XML; documents, processors and technology, please visit

- World Wide Web Consortium &XML; pages
- XML.org Resource Guide
- The &XML; FAQ

All &kword; documents consist of at least two &XML; files:

`maindoc.xml`

  This file contains the bulk of the &kword; text, tables and formula information. It is marked with &XML; tags according to the official DTD. A copy of the &kword; 1.1 DTD is located at: http://www.koffice.org/DTD/kword-1.1.dtd.

`documentinfo.xml`

  This file contains the document information. This is information entered into the dialog boxes when selecting File Document Information from the menubar. This information is useful for tracking authors, contact information &etc;

  The DTD for &koffice; 1.1 is located at: http://www.koffice.org/DTD/document-info-1.1.dtd.

In addition, there may be other files included in the &kword; document file. Pictures, embedded documents and other binary information are stored within the &kword; document as separate files.

For more specific information on &kword; file storage or other internal information, please see The KOffice API and the General &kde; developer information pages.

## &kword; 1.2

The text files are compressed into a single file using the same algorithm as used by zip. This change was made because of its broad use in other open source office suites and its improved performance with lower memory requirements.

You can uncompress the files with the following command:

    % unzip filename

This will expand the &kword; document file into its component files.

The text portion of all &kword; files are &XML; (eXtensible Markup Language) files.

For more information on &XML; documents, processing and technology, please visit

- World Wide Web Consortium &XML; pages
- XML.org Resource Guide
- The &XML; FAQ

All &kword; documents consist of at least three files:

`maindoc.xml`

  This file contains the bulk of the &kword; text, tables and formula information. It is marked with &XML; tags according to the official DTD.

  A copy of the &kword; 1.2 DTD is located at: http://www.koffice.org/DTD/kword-1.2.dtd.

`documentinfo.xml`

  This file contains the document information. This is information entered into the dialog boxes when selecting File Document Information from the menubar. This information is useful for tracking authors, contact information etc.

  The DTD for &koffice; 1.2 is located at: http://koffice.kde.org/DTD/document-info-1.2.dtd.

`mimetype`

  This file contains the mimetype for &kword; files. This information is used by &kde; to determine that this is a &kword; file.

  This file always contains: application/x-kword

In addition, there may be other files included in the &kword; document file. Pictures, embedded documents and other binary information are stored within the &kword; document as separate files.

For more specific information on &kword; file storage or other internal information, please see The KOffice API and the General &kde; developer information pages.

## &kword; 1.3 (current version)

The text files are compressed into a single file using the same algorithm as used by zip. This change was made because of its broad use in other open source office suites and its improved performance with lower memory requirements.

You can uncompress the files with the following command:

    % unzip filename

This will expand the &kword; document file into its component files.

The text portion of all &kword; files are &XML; (eXtensible Markup Language) files.

For more information on &XML; documents, processing and technology, please visit

- World Wide Web Consortium &XML; pages
- XML.org Resource Guide
- The &XML; FAQ

All &kword; documents consist of at least three files:

`maindoc.xml`

  This file contains the bulk of the &kword; text, tables and formula information. It is marked with &XML; tags according to the official DTD.

  A copy of the &kword; 1.3 DTD is located at: http://www.koffice.org/DTD/kword-1.3.dtd.

`documentinfo.xml`

  This file contains the document information. This is information entered into the dialog boxes when selecting File Document Information from the menubar. This information is useful for tracking authors, contact information etc.

  The DTD for &koffice; 1.3 is located at: http://koffice.kde.org/DTD/document-info-1.3.dtd.

`mimetype`

  This file contains the mimetype for &kword; files. This information is used by &kde; to determine that this is a &kword; file.

  This file always contains: application/x-kword

In addition, there may be other files included in the &kword; document file. Pictures, embedded documents and other binary information are stored within the &kword; document as separate files.

For more specific information on &kword; file storage or other internal information, please see The KOffice API and the General &kde; developer information pages.