Mark Tomlinson wrote: > For example, a Word document is not a standard --- there is no > reference > available (free or otherwise) that tells you how to decode it.
>From another point of view, if there is software to decode it then there is always a reference available. The assembly language of the Word document parser inside Word *becomes* the reference for what a Word document can look like. The very first computer languages were 'defined' like this: The only complete definition available of what was in the language and what wasn't was what the compiler accepted/rejected. Of course, it's a bad idea and language designers (decent ones anyway) haven't been so sloppy since the late 60's when tools and techniques became available for language design. Some application developers don't seem to have quite got there yet. Cheers, -- Carl Cerecke, Assistant Lecturer|email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Department of Computer Science, |Phone: +64 3 364 2987 ext. 7859 University of Canterbury, |Fax: +64 3 364 2569 Private Bag 4800, |http://www.cosc.canterbury.ac.nz/~cdc Christchurch, New Zealand. |
