Created attachment 183793 [details] Sample Zarnegar75 file Description: Zarnegar was a commercial word processor from SinaSoft co. for DOS and later Windows that supported Persian/Arabic languages. It was the prominent word processor in Iran in 1990s. Libraries and elsewhere might have many Zarnegar files as a heritage. Being able to import and use these files can be very helpful to preserve them. More information about this format can be found here: Zarnegar (word processor) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zarnegar_(word_processor) The original software can be download from here: http://sinasoft.com/Downloads.html Two different versions of the program are available: * Zarnegar 5.2 (Windows): Has problems with Windows 10. The software interface is Persian. * Zarnegar 76 (DOS): Can be used with DOSBox https://www.dosbox.com/ Character encoding and examples: There are 2 common formats for Zarnegar: Zarnegar1 and Zarnegar75. Quoting from the wiki article above: "Zarnegar1 character set Zarnegar used an Iran System-based character encoding system, named Zarnegar1, with text file formats for its early versions, up to the Zarnegar 75 version. The Zarnegar1 character set is a two-form left-to-right (visual) encoding, meaning that every Perso-Arabic letter receives different character codes based on its cursive joining form, but most letters receive only two forms, because of the limited code-points available." A sample from the Python Zarnegar1 convertor: https://github.com/persian-computing/python-zarnegar-converter/blob/e3482740c34cba14e7c372a675c9166d213629be/samples/zar1-sample-text-01.zar Also from the same article: "Zarnegar75 character set With the Zarnegar 75 version, a new character encoding system was introduced, and the file format was changed to a binary format. The Zarnegar75 character set is a four-form bidirectional visual encoding, meaning that every Perso-Arabic letter receives a one, two, or four character code, depending on its cursive joining form, and these letters are stored in the memory in the semantic order." A sample Zarnegar75 binary file format is attached. Convertors: Some convertors available for Zarnegar file format. For example, this one for Zarnegar1 format is in Python, and provides some examples: Converter for Zarnegar Encoding and File Format to Unicode Text https://github.com/persian-computing/python-zarnegar-converter There is another (closed source) convertor that can convert Zarnegar format to RTF: https://www.noorsoft.org/file/downloads/productfile/Zarnegar.To_.RTF_.Converter_[www.noorsoft.org].zip
This could be a candidate for The Document Liberation Project. It's also tracked here, I'm setting its product. See https://www.documentliberation.org/ Note that the Python code is under GPLv3+ and can't be used.