Downloading a Text File
Web pages are text files and are easy to download. For 
example, to save the file that you are reading right now, 
click "File--Save As" on your browser's toolbar, and save the 
file on your hard drive or floppy disk, either as a plain text 
(.TXT) or HyperText Markup Language (.HTM or .HTML) file. You 
should be able to open such files in your word processor or 
browser.
Since saving an HTML file as a simple text file strips out all 
the hypertext code, note that the saved file will require some 
editing in your word processor. It may have odd line lengths 
and other odd format features. Open it in your word processor 
to edit it.
Internet information providers often make word-processed files 
more immediately accessible by providing simple text files 
(usually with a "TXT" file extension). Text files are simple, 
universal, and transportable, but unfortunately they cannot 
convey attributes (such as underlining or bold). Here, for 
example, is a text file of the page you are reading. Try 
saving it and opening it in your word processor. This time the 
simple text file will look much better, because I've 
edited it for you beforehand.
[Text file]

To make formatted files that will travel well from one type of 
computer or software to another, programmers created a format 
that can handle text formatting. It is called "Rich Text." 
Files in this format have an "RTF" extension. "Rich Text" 
files can be opened by the major word processors in both IBM 
and Mac environments. Here's a link to another version of the 
page you're looking at, in Rich Text format: (Go ahead and 
click it, but be aware that his link may behave differently 
from the previous ones. Your browser may have opened the "TXT" 
file directly, but it may download the "RTF" file to your hard 
drive or floppy disk, where you can open it with your word 
processor. Or, depending upon how your software is configured, 
your computer may open your word processor automatically to 
read the file.)
[Rich Text file]
For really large blocks of text, Internet sites sometimes use 
yet another format: "zipped" or compressed files, usually with 
the file extension "ZIP." Such files are usually, but not 
always, self-extracting; that is, when you double-click on 
such a file, it automatically decompresses itself. Note: 
unlike text and image files that contain only data, compressed 
files can contain executable code such as computer viruses. 
Avoid downloading a ZIP file unless you are confident of the 
source's integrity, and even then, run a virus checker after 
downloading, just to be safe.
Back to "Downloading a Text File"
Back to beginning of The Research Process CD--Trial Version
Back to home page