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<h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading">
<span id="openzim-page-title" class="mw-page-title-main"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Formatted text</span></span>
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.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}
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</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Not to be confused with <a href="Typesetting" title="Typesetting">Text formatting</a>.</div>
<div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">"Rich text" redirects here. For text/richtext, see <a href="Enriched_text" title="Enriched text">Enriched text</a>. For the file format, see <a href="Rich_Text_Format" title="Rich Text Format">Rich Text Format</a>.</div>
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<p>In <a href="Computing" title="Computing">computing</a>, <b>formatted text</b>, <b>styled text,</b> or <b>rich text</b>, as opposed to <a href="Plain_text" title="Plain text">plain text</a>, is <a href="E-text" title="E-text">digital text</a> which has styling information beyond the minimum of semantic elements: colours, styles (<a href="Boldface" class="mw-redirect" title="Boldface">boldface</a>, <a href="Italic_type" title="Italic type">italic</a>), <a href="Point_(typography)" title="Point (typography)">sizes</a>, and special features in <a href="HTML" title="HTML">HTML</a> (such as <a href="Hyperlink" title="Hyperlink">hyperlinks</a>).
</p>
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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Beginnings_of_formatted_text">Beginnings of formatted text</h2></div>
<p>Formatted text has its genesis in the pre-computer use of underscoring to embolden passages in <a href="Typewritten" class="mw-redirect" title="Typewritten">typewritten</a> <a href="Manuscript_(publishing)" title="Manuscript (publishing)">manuscripts</a>.
</p><p>In the first interactive systems of early computer technology, underlining was not possible, and users made up for this lack (and the lack of formatting in ASCII) by using certain symbols as substitutes. Emphasis, for example, could be achieved in ASCII in a number of ways:<sup id="cite_ref-ham95_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-ham95-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-mul15_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-mul15-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p>
<ul><li>Capitalization: <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r886049734">
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.mw-parser-output .monospaced{font-family:monospace,monospace}
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</style><span class="monospaced">I am NOT making this up.</span></li>
<li>Surrounding with underscores: <span class="monospaced">I am _not_ making this up.</span></li>
<li>Surrounding with asterisks: <span class="monospaced">I am *not* making this up.</span></li>
<li>Spacing: <span class="monospaced">I am n o t making this up.</span></li></ul>
<p>Surrounding by underscores was also used for book titles: <span class="monospaced">Look it up in _The_C_Programming_Language_.</span>
</p>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Markup_languages">Markup languages</h2></div>
<div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="Markup_language" title="Markup language">Markup language</a></div>
<p>Formatting can be marked by tags distinguished from the body text by special characters, such as angle brackets in <a href="HTML" title="HTML">HTML</a>. For example, this text:
</p>
<dl><dd>The dog is classified as <i>Canis familiaris</i> in taxonomy.</dd></dl>
<p>is marked up in <a href="HTML" title="HTML">HTML</a> thus:
</p>
<div class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-html mw-content-ltr" dir="ltr"><pre><span class="p"><</span><span class="nt">p</span><span class="p">></span>The dog is classified as <span class="p"><</span><span class="nt">i</span><span class="p">></span>Canis familiaris<span class="p"></</span><span class="nt">i</span><span class="p">></span> in taxonomy.<span class="p"></</span><span class="nt">p</span><span class="p">></span>
</pre></div>
<p>The italicised text is enclosed by an opening and a closing italics tag. In <a href="LaTeX" title="LaTeX">LaTeX</a>, the text would be marked up like this:
</p>
<div class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-latex mw-content-ltr" dir="ltr"><pre>The dog is classified as <span class="k">\textit</span><span class="nb">{</span>Canis familiaris<span class="nb">}</span> in taxonomy.
</pre></div>
<p>Most markup languages can be edited with any <a href="Text_editor" title="Text editor">text editor</a>, needing no special <a href="Software" title="Software">software</a>. Many markup languages can also be edited with specialized software designed to automate some functions or present the output as <a href="WYSIWYG" title="WYSIWYG">WYSIWYG</a>.
</p>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Formatted_document_files">Formatted document files</h2></div>
<p>Since the invention of <a href="MacWrite" title="MacWrite">MacWrite</a>, the first <a href="WYSIWYG" title="WYSIWYG">WYSIWYG</a> word processor, in which the typist codes the formatting visually rather than by inserting textual markup, word processors have tended to save to <a href="Binary_files" class="mw-redirect" title="Binary files">binary files</a>. Opening such files with a <a href="Text_editor" title="Text editor">text editor</a> reveals them embedded with various binary characters, either around the formatted text (e.g. in <a href="WordPerfect" title="WordPerfect">WordPerfect</a>) or separate from it, at the beginning or end of the file (e.g. in <a href="Microsoft_Word" title="Microsoft Word">Microsoft Word</a>).
</p><p>Formatted text documents in binary files have, however, the disadvantages of formatting scope and secrecy. Whereas the extent of formatting is accurately marked in markup languages, <a href="WYSIWYG" title="WYSIWYG">WYSIWYG</a> formatting is based on memory, that is, keeping for example your pressing of the boldface button until cancelled. This can lead to formatting mistakes and maintenance troubles. As for secrecy, formatted text document file formats tend to be proprietary and undocumented, leading to difficulty in coding compatibility by third parties, and also to unnecessary upgrades because of version changes.
</p><p><a href="WordStar" title="WordStar">WordStar</a> was a popular word processor that did not use binary files with hidden characters.
</p><p><a href="OpenOffice.org" title="OpenOffice.org">OpenOffice.org</a> Writer saves files in an <a href="XML" title="XML">XML</a> format. However, the resultant file is a binary since it is compressed (a <a href="Tar_(file_format)" class="mw-redirect" title="Tar (file format)">tarball</a> equivalent).
</p><p><a href="PDF" title="PDF">PDF</a> is another formatted text file format that is usually binary (using compression for the text, and storing graphics and fonts in binary). It is generally an end-user format, written from an application such as <a href="Microsoft_Word" title="Microsoft Word">Microsoft Word</a> or <a href="OpenOffice.org" title="OpenOffice.org">OpenOffice.org</a> Writer, and not editable by the user once done.
</p>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2></div>
<ul><li><a href="Character_encoding" title="Character encoding">Character encoding</a></li>
<li><a href="Online_rich-text_editor" title="Online rich-text editor">Online rich-text editor</a></li>
<li><a href="Prepress" title="Prepress">Prepress</a></li>
<li><a href="Word_processor" title="Word processor">Word processor</a></li></ul>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>
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<li id="cite_note-ham95-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-ham95_1-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">
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</style><cite id="CITEREFHambridge1995" class="citation journal cs1">Hambridge, Sally (October 1995). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc1855">"RFC1855: Netiquette Guidelines"</a>. <i>IETF Datatracker, Internet Engineering Task Force</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">February 4,</span> 2024</span>.</cite></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-mul15-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-mul15_2-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFMullen2015" class="citation web cs1">Mullen, Ed (July 26, 2015). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://edmullen.net/mozilla/moz_stext.php">"Structured Text"</a>. <i>edmullen.net</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">February 4,</span> 2024</span>.</cite></span>
</li>
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