Repair damaged WP files | Copy text of a WP file to the Windows clipboard | Copy the Windows clipboard to a WP file | Abbreviation expanders and replacement spelling dictionaries | Disk-search programs | Convert dBase files to WP merge files | Macro collections, manuals, and tools | Keyboard and other language tools | Non-blinking DOS cursor | A Windows-based "descriptive name" viewer | TrueType and Type 1 Fonts with WPDOS 5.1 | StampIt for WordPerfect | Software by Seidman tools for WPDOS | MALT and MPE4WP: two utilities by Michael Shacter | Password recovery tools | Screen-reader software | Robert Holmgren's GoWP | Miscellaneous utilities | View WP files without WP | Books about WordPerfect | Home page
WordPerfect and Corel tools and links to Corel and other WPDOS sites may be found on separate pages.
If you get error messages when you try to download files from Corel's web site, see this site's troubleshooting guide for Corel downloads.
A free Windows-based document-repair utility for WP 6.x or later files is available from Corel's web site. See the description of WPLook.exe on another page.
David Seidman wrote a variety of shareware tools for repairing damaged WPDOS 5.x and 6.x files, reducing file size by removing excess data, and for extracting technical information from them. These tools may be found in the Software by Seidman section of this page.
This site provides a utility that copies the contents of a WPDOS file to the Windows clipboard; WordPerfect itself is not required, and it runs under 32- and 64-bit Windows, whether or not WP is installed.
Download WPtoClipboard.exe and move it to any convenient folder. You may either drop a WP file on to the utility (or a shortcut to it) or launch the utility and select a WP file when prompted. The contents of the file will be saved to the Windows clipboard, and can then be pasted into other applications.
If the application into which you paste the contents uses formatted text (for example, a word-processor) then the basic formatting of the original WP file will also be copied, though the results can never be perfect. If the application into which you paste the contents uses only plain text (for example, Notepad), then only the text of the original file will be copied.
The utility uses the old Word for Word converters to produce the output that is copied to the clipboard. An alternate version of the utility uses the old ConvertPerfect conversion filters instead of the Word for Word filters, and may, in some cases, produce better results. You may download the alternate version, named WPtoClipboard-CV.exe, and experiment with both.
Note: Your anti-virus software may refuse to run these programs. Either figure out for yourself how to tell your anti-virus program to make an exception for them, or submit them to your anti-virus program's web site for testing. Don't ask me how to do that for your specific anti-virus software, because I do not know the answer.
This site provides a utility that creates a WP file from the contents of the Windows clipboard (provided that the Windows clipboard contains text). You can download ClipToWP from this site.
When you run Clip2WP.exe, it creates a WP-format file (in the same directory), named #CLIP.WPD, which contains the text in the clipboard. If you create a shortcut to the program, or run the program from the command line, you can write the file to anything you like by using a filename as a command-line parameter (e.g. Clip2WP C:\Users\Roscoe\Desktop\myfile.wpd; put quotation marks around any path that contains a space). Any existing file will be overwritten by the new one that the program writes.
If you rename the program so that it includes "5" or "five" in its name (e.g. WriteMeAFiveFile.exe), it will create a file in WP5 format, named (by default) #CLIP.WP.
The program runs by launching an invisible copy of the vDos DOS emulator, which in turn runs Corel's ConvertPerfect utility to create the file. You don't need WordPerfect on your system to run this utility.
Other features: You can add a /date switch to the command, like this:
clip2wp /date
This will create a WP or WPD file in the current working directory (the directory from which you launched the program) with a filename that looks like 06170650.WPD - where the first digits are the day of the month, then the hours, minutes, and seconds (since you might run this twice in one minute).
You may also want to use MultiClipWP. This is a program that creates a WP file named #MCLIP.WPD in its current working directory. If you run it a second time from the same directory, the current contents of the clipboard are appended to the contents of #MCLIP.WPD. The clipboard keeps getting appended to #MCLIP.WPD whenever you run MultiClipWP until you delete or rename #MCLIP.WPD. If you run MultiClipWP after deleting or renaming #MCLIP.WPD, a new #MCLIP.WPD file is created with the contents of the clipboard only. Suggestion for use: Create a keyboard shortcut for this program, and use the shortcut to add copied text to a WP file for copying into WP later.
You can download MultiClipWP from this site.
MultiClipWP details: Two hard-rights are inserted between each clipboard capture (this seemed useful, but can be changed). The program does not actually append to #MCLIP.WPD each time; instead it converts #MCLIP.WPD to a text file, appends the current clipboard to that text file, and then converts the combined text file to WP format. The WP file is in WP51 format because the program is a lot faster that way.
The built-in spell-checking dictionaries in WPDOS can enhanced or replaced in two ways: with add-on abbreviation expanders (which automatically expand a preset abbreviation to a full word or phrase) or with replacement spelling dictionaries. These two solutions can be used together, or either can be used separately.
Abbreviation expanders for WPDOS are discussed in detail on this site's medical transcriptionist survival guide page.
Replacement spell-checking dictionaries in WPDOS are available from third-party sources. A variety of medical, pharmaceutical, technical, and legal dictionaries are (or were) available from Spellex Development. A food-and-beverage spell checker was available from Linda Lipsky. If you know of other products that should be listed, please send me feedback.
For information on additional word-lists and spelling tools for medical transcriptionists, post a question at the WP51 bulletin board at MT Daily. You must become a member of the site before you can post.
Most disk-searching programs (e.g. Google Desktop Search and Windows' built-in search feature) cannot find or display WPDOS files, and even programs that are able to search for WordPerfect files that have a .WPD file extension cannot locate WPDOS files that have non-standard filename extensions or no filename extension at all. A few programs, however, can search and display all WPDOS files, no matter how those files are named. The ones that I know about are listed below.
X1 is a $50 desktop search program that searches and displays all WPDOS files; I strongly recommend it. You may also be able to use a free, older (2005) version of the same program that was formerly distributed by Yahoo! as Yahoo! Desktop Search; the Yahoo! version is no longer available from Yahoo!, is no longer updated, and the download site may disappear at any time. I have not tried to use the Yahoo! version since 2005.
dtSearch is a $199 search program that searches and displays all WPDOS files; it is less elegant and more expensive than X1, but has many advanced options that may make it worth considering as an alternative.
If you know of other programs that can search for WordPerfect for DOS files with any filename extension or no filename extension at all, please send me feedback.
A utility written and generously provided by Jon Wilks converts dBase .dbf files into WPDOS 5.1 merge files; these files can of course also be used as merge files in WPDOS 6.x or WordPerfect for Windows. Download and run dbf2wp51.exe from the DOS command line, using the syntax: dbf2wp51 inputfile.dbf outputfile.dat (or any other filename or extension that you prefer). This utility seems to expect dBaseIII files and, in 64-bit Windows, must be run under vDos or DOSBox.
See also the list of other miscellaneous links on this site's links page.
For WordPerfect 6.x:
By far the best book on WPDOS 6.x macros is Gordon McComb's WordPerfect 6 Power Tools. The book is out of print, but used copies can sometimes be found through used-book search engines; this link opens a search for this book on bookfinder.com; check the results carefully to be certain you get the correct title. The files originally included on a disk with the book are available from Gordon McComb's web site (unfortunately, some of the files on Gordon McComb's web site were corrupted when the site was transferred to a different server; the full set of uncorrupted files should instead be downloaded from this site in this self-extracting archive); the version posted on 10 July 2005 includes corrected code in two macros (thanks to Timothy J. McGowan).
The full text of the WPDOS 6.x macro help screens may be downloaded from Corel's website in two files; search for and download mprgrm.exe (for macro programming commands) and mprdct.exe (for commands that correspond to WordPerfect functions). These files, when expanded, create files with a .TXT extension, but the files are actually WordPerfect 6.x files. Open them in WordPerfect for DOS, or change the .TXT extension to .WPD and open them in WordPerfect for Windows.
Informative articles on macros and other features, and dozens of macros (mostly for sale, not free) for many versions of WPDOS and WPWin, are available at the microCounsel site.
A WPDOS 6.x macro for accessing an older version of the Oxford English Dictionary was written by Robert Holmgren and is available from the xywwweb site.
For WordPerfect 5.1:
By far the best book on WPDOS 5.1 macros is Gordon McComb's WordPerfect 5.1 Macros and Templates. The full text of the book is available free in electronic format from Gordon McComb's web site, and this link opens a search for the book on bookfinder.com. The files on the two disks that accompanied the book (listed in detail on this page on Gordon McComb's web site) may be downloaded from this site in this archive file (posted with Gordon McComb's permission and also through the generosity of Timothy J. McGowan).
A variety of useful and ingenious macros by Norma Chase (including macros that provide useful information for other macro-writers) may be found on her web site. One of the macros lets you use WPDOS 5.1 as a math scratch pad.
A set of miscellaneous macros and keyboards that help speed editing is available as the hieSpeed utilities; see a description of the complete set.
Informative articles on macros, and dozens of macros (mostly for sale, not free) for many versions of WPDOS and WPWin, are available at the microCounsel site. One of the articles includes full code for a WPDOS 5.1 macro that dials telephone numbers through your modem.
A collection of articles by Jerry Stern on WPDOS macros and other topics is available from his website.
Alex Ogden's free set of macros for printing booklets from WPDOS 5.x is available from his web site.
An excellent WPDOS 5.1 macro for converting documents to HTML was formerly available from David Adams' page at Southampton University and may now be downloaded from this link.
A collection of over a hundred macros by Alan Kaplan for automating basic and complex features in WPDOS 5.x is available from the author's web site.
Gregory Sweitzer's "Macro Meistro," an extensive collection of simple WPDOS 5.1 macros for cutting, pasting, etc., may be downloaded from this site in this Maestro.zip archive.
Larry Christensen's QwikMacro macro management utility is available for download from an archived copy of his web site.
Microsoft offers detailed advice on converting WPDOS macros into Microsoft Word's Visual Basic for Applications language. A Microsoft Word template that converts WPDOS 5.1 macros into a plain text file (inside Word) is also available. (Note: This page seems to have disappeared; the link above is to an archived version.)
Various tools for managing and listing macros may be found among the Software by Seidman tools for WP5. If you only need a program that will list descriptions of WP5 macro files, download the Macrodsc.exe program written by Halász Sándor and kindly donated by Mr. Halász to this site. (Sample usage: macrodsc c:\drive\directory\*.wpm for a list of filenames and descriptions displayed on screen; macrodsc c:\drive\directory\*.wpm > filename.txt for the same list written to a text file.)
Additional macro-editing tools: Macro editors for WP51, all with slightly different features, include MPE4WP by Michael Shacter (described elsewhere on this page), programs provided with the Software by Seidman tools for WP5, and the following special-purpose tools:
Note that only the Seidman tools are able to display macro commands in languages other than English, because they use the .MRS file from your system, and that file contains local language versions of the macro command names. All other macro-editing tools display macro commands with their English-language names only.
If you know of other well-written macro collections and tools, please contact me.
WordPerfect Corp., followed later by Corel, created a full set of "language modules" designed for those who wanted to work in languages other than the default language of their copy of WordPerfect. These included keyboard files, spelling and hyphenation tools, and other language-related files; the modules for Greek, Cyrillic, Hebrew, and Arabic also included screen fonts and special printer drivers. These modules cannot legally be posted online because they contain copyrighted material that WordPerfect Corp. and Corel licensed from other vendors. A CD containing the full set of WordPerfect Language Modules can sometimes be found on eBay or elsewhere.
Freeware WP Language Assistants, written by Willem Smouter, are available for users who need to type only a few characters in the Greek, Hebrew, or Cyrillic alphabets, and do not need the full-scale WP language modules.
A utility for converting WPDOS 6.x files with alphabets not included in the WP character set (like Tibetan) into files that display and print correctly under WPWin is available from this site's workaround page.
Utilities that convert Russian text files (in formats such as KOI-8, CP 1251, CP 866, LEXICON, and others) into WPDOS 5.x format may be downloaded from the web site of the author, Ralph E. Kenyon, Jr.
NoBlink Accelerator, by Robert Adamson, is a utility that creates a non-blinking block cursor in DOS and in Windows DOS boxes and full-screen DOS windows. (It also works at the Windows NT/2000/XP command prompt.) It is mostly compatible with WordPerfect, although the cursor sometimes disappears and needs to be restored by pressing the program's hotkey (Ctrl-Shift-5). Robert Adamson has generously made this program available at no charge to users (it was formerly a commercial product), although he retains the copyright. Despite minor problems, I find the steady NoBlink cursor more restful to look at than the ordinary blinking DOS cursor.
A free Windows-based Explorer-like program that displays WordPerfect "descriptive names" (long names) is available from Knowis Inc. Download and install the free WP Descriptive Name Explorer.
If you use TrueType for WordPerfect or PrimeType for WordPerfect and want to print to a network or USB printer, or fax through a Windows fax program, please contact me. Full instructions will be posted here in the future.
WPDOS 6.x supports TrueType and Type 1 (PostScript) soft fonts without the need for any additional software, and can print these fonts to any printer that supports graphics. WPDOS 5.1 can use TrueType fonts only with the help of an add-on utility, TrueType for WordPerfect, by LaserTools, a company that no longer exists. The product is no longer available for sale, but the original authors have generously permitted this site to make it available for download in a 3.5 MB self-extracting TT4WP51.EXE archive. (Note: The final version of the program, dated 13 September 1993, was posted on this site on 3 May 2001, replacing the older version that had been posted until then.) To use this program, you must run TTWP.EXE, not WP.EXE (some explanations are included with the archive).
Hebrew and Arabic versions of TrueType for WordPerfect were designed for use the WPDOS 5.1 Arabic Language Module dated 27 April 1993 and the Hebrew Language Module dated 19 May 1993. These TTWP programs were not included in the CD issue of the WP Language Modules, but may be downloaded in this 750 KB self-extracting TTHebrew.exe archive and this 710 KB self-extracting TTArabic.exe archive. (The Arabic version may also be used for Farsi and Urdu.) After downloading one or the other, copy the downloaded program into a temporary directory; run it to extract the files, and run the Install program. These versions are useful only with the Hebrew and Arabic versions of (or modules for) WPDOS 5.1.
Note: TrueType for WordPerfect may not recognize some recent TrueType fonts with large symbol sets, and may refuse to install them. If you need a basic set of TrueType fonts for use with TTWP, try to find a copy of Windows 3.1 or Windows for Workgroups 3.11, and use the TrueType fonts in the Windows\System directory, or you may download this self-extracting WIN31TTF.EXE file (680 KB) that contains the font files; the self-extracting file will run only under Windows in order to insure that the copyrighted fonts are accessible only to users who already have a copy of Windows.
LaserTools also created PrimeType for WordPerfect (marketed outside the US as Adobe TypeManager for WordPerfect), a tool for use with Type 1 soft fonts, which allows these fonts to be used in WPDOS 5.1 with non-PostScript printers that support graphics. I have not been able to locate a copy of this program on the Internet. The original authors have told me that Adobe is legally entitled to a royalty on every copy sold, so the program may not legally be posted for downloading (although it is very unlikely that anyone at Adobe cares very much about this after ten years).
One useful feature of PrimeType for WordPerfect was its ability to install Type 1 soft fonts into existing WPDOS 5.1 PostScript printer drivers (in addition to making the fonts usable with non-PostScript drivers). The files that perform this function contain no copyrighted Adobe code, and, thanks to the generosity of the original authors, that portion of PrimeType for WordPerfect may be downloaded from this site.
Note: LaserTools also created Fonts-on-the-Fly, which used the Intellifont font format with WPDOS 5.x in the same way that PrimeType used Type 1 fonts. None of these utilities is needed with WPDOS 6.x, because WPDOS 6.x includes its own internal support for TrueType and Type 1 soft fonts (along with Speedo, Intellifont, and PCL bitmap soft fonts).
Note that the original WPDOS 5.1 PostScript printer drivers include support for many Adobe soft font packages; these drivers are available from Corel's page for WPDOS 5.1 printer drivers; in your browser, search for "PostScript (additional" with only one parenthesis.
With the permission of SoftMaker, Inc., this site also has a free download of infiniType Plus, a program (like PrimeType) that lets you use Type 1 PostScript fonts with WordPerfect for DOS. To install and run the program, do the following: (1) Download this self-extracting Itdisks.exe archive and save it to a temporary directory; open a DOS prompt and navigate to the temporary directory; run the Itdisks.exe to extract three further programs; run each of the programs in order to create a set of three installation floppy disks for infiniType Plus (you will need three diskettes). (2) Run the installation program from the first diskette; when prompted to choose the printer, choose one that seems most like your existing printer. (3) To launch the program, run the IT.exe program, not WP.exe or WP.com; you can create a shortcut for IT.exe using the techniques found elsewhere on this site; make sure to enable Expanded (EMS) Memory on the Memory tab of the shortcut. You will see references in the IT printer drivers to "special effects" such as shading and other typographic variations; ignore these, as they are unusable without a copy of the printed manual.
StampIt for WordPerfect was a commercial program that made it easy to print watermark-style text like "Secret" or "Draft" diagonally across pages. Through the generosity of the authors of the program, Enhancement Software, versions of StampIt for WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS and for WordPerfect 6.x for DOS are now available for no charge from this site.
For WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS: StampIt 2.0 for WordPerfect 5.1 may be downloaded in this self-extracting archive (STMPTW51.EXE). After downloading the file, move it to a temporary directory, run the archive program to unpack the files, and copy all the unpacked files (except STMPW51.EXE) to a floppy disk. Run the Install.exe program from the floppy disk to install the program; the installer will not run from a subdirectory on your hard disk or any other disk. Please visit the Enhancement Software web site and try a copy of StampIt for Microsoft Word for Windows.
Warning: For reasons that I do not understand, with the installer will sometimes fail with a "Runtime Error 202" message after you type the drive letter that contains your WP files. On my system, the error occurs when I choose drive C:, but does not occur when I choose drive E: (which contains a different copy of WPDOS). If you encounter this problem, you may want to use a program like PartitionMagic to create a 2GB FAT drive (instead of the NTFS drives that are standard under Windows 2000, XP, and Vista), and install WPDOS on that drive. This will also protect you from the F5-F5 problem that WPDOS 5.1 has with the NTFS drive format used by default with Windows 2000, XP, and Vista.
For WordPerfect 6.x for DOS: StampIt for WordPerfect 6.0 may be downloaded in this self-extracting archive (STAMP6D.EXE). After downloading the files, run it under Windows, and let it extract the file to a temporary directory (it will suggest C:\TEMP\STAMPIT6, but it can be any convenient directory). After extracting the files, read the included README!.TXT file for instructions for installing and running the program.
David Seidman formerly offered a popular set of utilities for WPDOS 5 and 6 at his own web site. Because that site is closed, he has generously allowed his utilities to be offered here, and has included the full set of registered programs, together with some minor updates that were never available publicly. Because the tools are so extensive, details may be found on separate pages devoted to the Software by Seidman tools for WPDOS 5.x and to the Software by Seidman tools for WPDOS 6.x.
Michael Shacter, the author of two classic utility packages for WPDOS, has generously made them available through this site, and has released them as freeware. They may be downloaded in the form of self-extracting archives.
MALT (More Alt-Keys for the Perfects) is a memory resident utility (TSR) that adds 90 new keys for running Alt-like macros in DOS versions of WordPerfect 5.x and 6.x.
MPE4WP is a replacement for the WPDOS 5.x macro editor that lets you create and edit macros in an editing screen that has full editing capabilities. (The same capability is built-in to WPDOS 6.x.)
These tools may now be found on a separate page.
The JAWS for DOS screen-reader software (for users who have difficulty seeing the screen) is now available from its vendor as a free download. Go to the this site for links to the software itself and a page of instructions for installing it.
Robert Holmgren, author of the Clip macro system available elsewhere on this site, has written a utility called GoWP that may be used in batch files and other Windows scripts and programs. Among other things, it can force a WPDOS window to have the keyboard "focus" (which means that keystrokes typed at the keyboard are fed into the WPDOS window), and can also feed keystrokes directly into WPDOS. This utility is part of the Clip system, and is also available separately, with full documentation, from the XyWWWeb website.
I have not tested any of these programs and do not know enough about them to endorse any of them.
Wp2Html: A widely-used DOS-based program by Andrew Scriven that converts WPDOS 5.x and 6.x files to HTML, available from the author's Wp2Html page. The program is free for evaluation; a registered copy with support costs a small amount.
WPAHTML: A free Windows-based program that converts WPDOS 5.1 files to HTML may be found at the WPAHTML home page.
WP2LaTeX: A free program that converts WordPerfect files (all versions) into LaTeX. May perhaps also be useful in retrieving data from damaged WP files. Download from the WP2LaTeX home page.
The Letterhead Kit: A set of macros and templates for correspondence, labels, etc., for WPDOS 5.x and 6.x is for sale from Science Translations.
GraphCat: A program for producing printable catalogues of your fonts and graphics from within WPDOS 5.x or 6.x is for sale from Science Translations.
FontKat: A program for producing printable catalogues of your fonts within WPDOS 6.x (and from later versions of WordPerfect for Windows) is available for sale from Science Translations.
Shroom (Shell Room): A utility that increases available DOS memory when a program "shells" to DOS (as in WPDOS, Ctrl-F1, Go to DOS); apparently useful only for older WPDOS versions (such as the original version 5.1) that do not use WP.COM for similar functions. It seems to have no effect on versions 5.1+ or 6.x, unless these are run with the /DL startup switch. Download a copy from Klaus Meinhard's 4DOS information page (search for Shroom).
If you have old WordPerfect for DOS files but no longer have WordPerfect, you can view their contents in many different ways, among them:
(1) Any version of Microsoft Word for Windows can read and open WPDOS files. You may need to run the Word (or Microsoft Office) installer program and add import filters if the import filters do not already exist on your system. See another page on this site for further information on importing WP files into Word.
(2) Any version of WordPerfect for Windows can open WPDOS files. Buy a copy.
(3) Quick View Plus is the most widely-used file viewer on the Windows platform, and reads all WPDOS files. Buy a copy from the "online store" link on the Quick View Plus web page.
(4) View, a DOS-based freeware program, by Windmill Shareware, displays the contents of files created by WP and many other programs. Download from this link. (The author says you may now ignore all statements about payment that you may find in the documentation.)
WordPerfect for DOS was the subject of hundreds of third-party books; a few stand out above all the rest: the two books by Gordon McComb about WPDOS macros (described in the macro section elsewhere on this page) and the following titles published by Que Corporation:
For WordPerfect 5.1: Using WordPerfect 5.1 Special Edition (Que, 1989; ISBN 0880225548), and a later edition, Using WordPerfect 5.1 & 5.1+ for DOS Special Edition (Que, 1995; ISBN 0789702398). This link opens a search for these books on bookfinder.com. Check the results carefully to make certain you find the right title; some similar titles refer to books about Windows versions.
For WordPerfect 6.x: Using WordPerfect 6, Special Edition (Que, 1992; ISBN 1565290771; a label on some copies changes the ISBN to 1565293517). The title on the cover (which differs slightly from the title-page title) reads: Using WordPerfect Version 6 for DOS, Special Edition. Some booksellers omit the words "Special Edition" when listing the book, but there was no non-special edition, so any book with approximately this title, published by Que Corporation, is the one you want. This link opens a search for this book on bookfinder.com. Check the results carefully to make certain you find the right title; some similar titles refer to books about Windows versions.