Help opening a .dat Wordperfect file in Word

[Guest]

My sister has a Mac and uses Wordperfect and sends me .dat files. How do I
open them in Word?

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

My sister has a Mac and uses Wordperfect and sends me .dat files. How do I

open them in Word?

The .dat files aren't WordPerfect files. Tell your sister with the Mac to
check her encoding (see below).

However, opening Wordperfect files in Word is a different question from the
Mac email question. Except are you sure she uses WordPerfect? because I
think WordPerfect gave up on the Mac platform a while back--in 2000, Google
tells me. Older versions still run, but they aren't that common.

DM

A Mac email program, Entourage, has this to say in Help:

About attachment encodings
When you choose an encoding format, it is helpful to understand how
Macintosh files differ from files created on other computers. Macintosh
files include additional resource information that files created on other
types of computers do not. If you are sending a data file, such as a
Microsoft Word document or Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, such resource
information may not be necessary. However, if you are sending something more
complex, such as a program, to another Macintosh computer, you must choose
an encoding format that preserves all the data.
The AppleDouble encoding format preserves the additional resource
information, and can be read by both Macintosh and other types of computers.
AppleDouble is a good choice for your default encoding format; it works most
of the time with most computers. However, if AppleDouble fails, you can
choose a different encoding format depending on the type of computer you are
sending the attachment to:
€ To send an attachment to a Macintosh computer, use BinHex, which
preserves the Macintosh resource information and data.
€ To send an attachment to a Windows-based computer, use MIME/Base 64,
which preserves the data only.
€ To send an attachment to a UNIX computer, use UUEncode, which preserves
the data only.

Try sending this explanation to your correspondent, asking them to change
their encoding. The help on any Mac email program will tell them how.

If you see something about "application/x-macbinary" when trying to open the
doc, sounds like they encoded it for Mac computers.

DM
Mac MVP for Word

 

[Guest]

Thank you for your informative response.
Can you think of what might have .dat files - MSN thought they were from
Wordperfect or their version of Office?

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

WordPerfect uses .wpd, I think. Google says a .dat files is used for ASCII
comma delimited files, but if you are getting "winmail.dat" files, see here:
http://www.gpc.edu/~jbenson/resource/winmail.htm
(usually, macs did not produce such files, but we have seen at least one
other recent suggestion that they do)
Otherwise, I haven't a clue. Google turned up some more possibilities.
".dat" files are linked to glitches in email, which is why I think it's your
sister's attachment encoding settings. Best bet is to ask your sister what
program created the files she is sending you. Please let the group know if
you find the answer.
DM