Re: Notebook Format History?
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg126687] Re: Notebook Format History?
- From: JCW <Please.No.EMail at comcast.net>
- Date: Thu, 31 May 2012 02:47:34 -0400 (EDT)
- Delivered-to: l-mathgroup@mail-archive0.wolfram.com
- References: <jq4ktk$fvr$1@smc.vnet.net>
On May 30, 4:14 am, John Fultz <jfu... at wolfram.com> wrote: > On Tue, 29 May 2012 05:47:52 -0400 (EDT), JCW wrote: > > Please forgive my dragging up ancient history: I have been using > > Mathematica > > from version 2.2 through 7.0. I remember at least one (maybe two?) format > > conversions that were necessary to update old notebooks to the newer > > formats. I also remember at least one batch-notebook-conversion command. > > Unfortunately I cannot remember the details: > > > 1) Between which versions did these format changes occur? (I'm pretty > > sure there was one from the vs. 2.2 x.ma and x.mb format to the newer > > x.nb format. Was there another format change within x.nb versions?) > > > 2) What was the name of the batch converter (or converters) mentioned > > above? (I know I have it in my archives, but it's difficult to find > > without a name!) > > > Thanks in advance for any help! > > I'm always one for ancient history. > > There was only the one switch from 2.2 .ma/.mb files to 3.0 .nb files. > Possibly, you might be remembering v6 when pre-v6 notebooks were opened with an > compatibility tool added to the top, but the tool had nothing to do with the > file format...it was merely an aid to updating some of the code inside the > notebook. > > Also, .nb files are not wholly backward compatible. They'll always open in > older versions, but as new features get added to Mathematica, inputs/outputs > depending upon those features may not render or function correctly in older > versions. The most radical such change would be in v6, when we switched from > using PostScript for graphics to more native constructs in the notebooks. Which > means that pretty much any v6 or later notebook is going to produce graphics > which are wholly unusable by v5 or earlier (but the notebooks *do* open, and > textual content comes through just fine). > > The converter for .ma->.nb is Developer`NotebookConvert. It's still documented > in the latest shipping Mathematica. > > Sincerely, > > John Fultz > jfu... at wolfram.com > User Interface Group > Wolfram Research, Inc. >>I'm always one for ancient history.<< Thanks, John -- Exactly what I needed! -- JCW