The various software packages written for IBM PCs are not compatible. This book is designed to help readers transfer text and other data between various packages running under PC/MS DOS on a microcomputer. The book’s 19 chapters describe text file exchange between the most popular word processors (including WordPerfect, Microsoft Word, Wordstar, Multimate, XyWrite, Volkswriter, and DisplayWrite) and data exchange between word processors, spreadsheets, and databases. The author also discusses the hardware used to transfer data between an IBM PC and a Tandy computer or an Apple Macintosh. The book ends with a short description of software products for file conversion. Five appendices give some programming tips for data conversion and present the ASCII character set, including the markup for the IBM and international character sets.

The book is not too long. The text is concise and a useful structure helps readers navigate through the text. The layout is plain and includes many poor-quality images of actual computer screens. The book is based on work done at Columbia University to help students learn basic file conversion skills, so it contains no references beyond the product information in chapter 19, “File Conversion Software.” The index is comprehensive and, despite conflicting terms, useful.

The book will serve as a narrative manual for people who have to solve file conversion problems. Expert microcomputer users could find many useful tips, but ordinary users may find that the book makes their everyday work more difficult. It does not address the conversion of graphics, fonts, or style sheets, which are currently causing problems for users of IBM PCs and compatible computers. In contrast, the Apple Macintosh does not ask users to be hackers in order to exchange data (text, numbers, or graphics) between their applications.

The problem this book addresses is disappearing with the development of end-user computing and file conversion software. Even Wordstar 6.0 includes tools for converting text files between most common word processing systems, and the new Windows 3.0 shell utility gives microcomputer users an integrated environment that makes file conversion transparent. While Ross has produced a worthwhile work, it may have come too late. The book could be useful as supplemental material in the many courses that use the software it covers.