Sustainability of Digital Formats: Planning for Library of Congress Collections

Note that this a preliminary format description with more detailed information to come.

The WordStar format is the default proprietary plain text format for the word processing application of the same name. This document describes the features of the WordStar word processing application as they are relevant to the resulting digital files but the focus of the information presented here is about the WordStar file format. First introduced in September 1978 with WordStar version 1 for CP/M (Control Program/Monitor or Control Program for Microcomputers), WordStar was one of the most influential word processing formats in early computing. As Matthew G. Kirschenbaum explains in his 2016 book Track Changes: A Literary History of Word Processing, as one of the first word processors, WordStar helped change the game for writers because it allowed them fast, direct, and intimate control over the text and how it would look on a printed page. WordStar processor was the first to render the document on screen as it would appear when printed, including page, margins, and justification. Among its legions of fans are Anne Rice, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Michael Chabon, Ralph Ellison, and perhaps most famously, George R.R. Martin for his Song of Fire and Ice novels. Arthur C. Clarke is another notable fan who wrote the 1982 sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey was written on an Archives III microcomputer running WordStar and Kirschenbaum notes that “last-minute corrections {of the manuscript] were transmitted through the Padukka Earth Station and the Indian Ocean Intelsat V.” Robert W. Sawyer calls this process "aiding creative composition" in WordStar: A writer’s word processor. WordStar's intuitive control-key commands were much more efficient than dedicated keys such as those on IBM PC keyboards because the WordStar application control-key commands can be typed from the home row without hunting for special keys elsewhere on the keyboard. Although as Jo Livingstone points out in How Literature Became Word Perfect, "Many of the highest-browed in the literary world resisted word processing for decades. Indeed, some writers would conceal the fact that they used a word processor for fear of being tarnished by an association with automation or inauthenticity." See History for more information about WordStar versions.

While WordStar files is associated with specific file extensions including .ws and more, these file extensions were not required by the WordStar software. The WordStar Reference Manual from 1983 p.1-12 states: "The most useful file name is one that helps you remember the file contents. In addition to the filenaming requirements listed on the screen, the following guidelines apply... You may include a period followed by an extension of one to three characters to describe the type of file. For example, you might add .LET after each letter file name, .REP after each report or .912 to indicate that September 12 was the last editing session." The only suggested restriction on file naming was to avoid using the .BAK extension because this is used by the WordStar application to name backup files.

A main characteristic of WordStar files are the four types of commands: single key, control key with one other key, control key with two other keys, and dot commands. The first three types of commands are applicable to the WordStar application to navigate menus and perform operations such as Print or Save. A dot command, on the other hand, is a command which is entered into a WordStar file itself by typing a period ("dot") in the first column, followed by two characters in upper or lowercase... Most dot commands are entered at the beginning of a file but can also be placed strategically throughout the file. The 1983 WordStar Reference Manual explains that "for example, the command for a new page is placed in the exact spot in the text where you want one page to end and another to begin." In addition dot commands take up space on the screen but not on the printed page.  A summary of WordStar version 3 Dot Commands includes

• .PO: page offset
• .PA: new page
• .PN: page number
• .CP: conditional page
• and many more

Structurally, a WordStar file is 7-bit ASCII code for printable characters as outlined in the File Format for WordStar Release 7.0, an ad hoc specification released in 1992 BY WordStar International Incorporated. An extension to the 7-bit ASCII character set by means of 3-byte sequences was introduced starting with release 3.4. "These codes all begin with the lead-in character 1Bh and end with the trailer 1Ch. The code in between these two characters can be any value in the range from 00h through FFh...All WordStar files terminate normal lines (paragraphs) with the sequence 0Dh, 0Ah, (carriage return, line feed). A 'soft return' 8Dh, 0Ah is inserted in the text stream at the points where lines are subject to word-wrap. A "soft space" A0h is inserted for tabbing, justification, and for left-margin indentation. In normal mid-paragraph lines, the blank characters (usually space) following words at the end of lines will be retained, so that the user's text is fully retained." In the versions of WordStar prior to the 5.0 release, the 8th bit or "high" bit of ASCII characters, which are usually reserved to extend the character set, were instead used to store print and formatting information. When these WordStar files are interpreted via typical encodings, they may appear as gibberish because of the additional bits.