libmwaw ☆
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Description:
Library for converting legacy Mac document formats
Type: Formula  |  Tracked Since: Dec 28, 2025
Links: Homepage  |  formulae.brew.sh
Category: Developer tools
Tags: library conversion legacy mac documents
Install: brew install libmwaw
About:
Libmwaw is a C++ library that parses and converts documents from legacy Mac word processors and spreadsheet applications, including MacWrite, MacWrite Pro, and Microsoft Works for Mac. It enables developers to extract text, formatting, and other data from these older file formats and export them to modern standards like HTML, ODT, or raw text. This tool is essential for digital preservation and data recovery efforts involving historical Mac documents.
Key Features:
  • Supports a wide range of legacy Mac document formats (e.g., MacWrite, ClarisWorks, Microsoft Works)
  • Provides import filters for integration into other applications
  • Can export data to HTML, ODT, CSV, and plain text
  • Written in C++ for performance and cross-platform compatibility
Use Cases:
  • Migrating old Mac documents to modern office suites
  • Building applications that need to read legacy Mac file formats
  • Digital archiving and data preservation of historical documents
Alternatives:
  • LibreOffice – LibreOffice has some built-in legacy filter support but libmwaw offers more specialized and comprehensive conversion capabilities for niche Mac formats.
  • textutil – A macOS command-line utility that can convert between text formats, but it has limited support for the specific, complex binary formats that libmwaw targets.
Version History
Detected Version Rev Change Commit
Sep 16, 2025 10:33am 0 VERSION_BUMP c34f1ec9
Nov 18, 2024 3:38pm 0 VERSION_BUMP dcc99b17
Sep 13, 2024 2:52pm 0 VERSION_BUMP 5b544f98
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