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mcwaddams

Working with Legacy Formats

“I was told I could keep my legacy documents at a reasonable location from nine to eleven…”

Legacy formats (.doc, .xls, .ppt) require special handling. mcwaddams uses OLE Compound Document parsing to extract content from files dating back to 1997.

The Basics

Section titled “The Basics”

Legacy formats just work:

Extract text from ancient-contract.doc

mcwaddams automatically:

  1. Detects the OLE structure
  2. Parses the binary format
  3. Extracts text with proper encoding
  4. Handles embedded objects

Common Quirks

Section titled “Common Quirks”
  • Encoding issues — Old files may use non-UTF-8 encoding; we detect and convert
  • Embedded fonts — Text renders correctly even without the original fonts
  • Macros — VBA macros are detected but not executed (security)

Full tutorial coming soon.

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VISITOR
I Was Told There Would Be Extraction
I Was Told There Would Be Extraction Started your mcwaddams journey
Basement Dweller
Basement Dweller Learned about Milton and the legacy documents
PC Load Letter
PC Load Letter Successfully installed mcwaddams
Case of the Mondays
Case of the Mondays Completed the quick start guide
TPS Report Expert
TPS Report Expert Read the complete tools reference
The Bobs Approved
The Bobs Approved Understood the architecture
Did You Get The Memo?
Did You Get The Memo? Checked the test dashboard
O Face
O Face Witnessed the torture test results
I Have Your Stapler
I Have Your Stapler Found the credits and attributions
Jump to Conclusions
Jump to Conclusions Completed your first extraction tutorial
Spreadsheet Survivor
Spreadsheet Survivor Mastered table extraction
37 Pieces of Flair
37 Pieces of Flair Discovered the flair leaderboard
Cinema Enthusiast
Cinema Enthusiast Explored the Office Space gallery
0 / 13 pieces of flair

"We need to talk about your document processing..."

— Stan, Manager