Rich Text Format Directory, also known as RTFD (due to its extension ''.rtfd''), or Rich Text Format with Attachments, is a primary document format of

TextEdit TextEdit is an open-source word processor and text editor, first featured in NeXT's NeXTSTEP and OPENSTEP. It is now distributed with macOS since Apple Inc.'s acquisition of NeXT, and available as a GNUstep application for other Unix-like ope ...

, an application native to

NeXTSTEP NeXTSTEP is a discontinued object-oriented, multitasking operating system based on the Mach kernel and the UNIX-derived BSD. It was developed by NeXT Computer in the late 1980s and early 1990s and was initially used for its range of propri ...

and

macOS macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...

which has also been

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

ed to other versions of

Unix Unix (; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multiuser computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, an ...

. The file format is based on the Rich Text Format, but can also include "attachments" such as images and animations. An RTFD document is a

bundle Bundle or Bundling may refer to: * Bundling (packaging), the process of using straps to bundle up items Biology * Bundle of His, a collection of heart muscle cells specialized for electrical conduction * Bundle of Kent, an extra conduction pat ...

, a folder containing files. It contains a Rich Text file called ''TXT.rtf'' that contains Rich Text formatting commands, as well as commands for including images or other attachments contained within the bundle. Images used in the document are stored in the bundle in their native formats. One advantage of RTFD is that it supports scalable high quality image formats like PDF, so an RTFD file can print with no information loss at large paper sizes. The standard RTF format also supports a number of scalable image meta file formats.

Compatibility

macOS

Like RTF, RTFD files can be opened on

, which supports bundles. Mac applications that support RTF and RTFD include Apple's

and

Pages Page most commonly refers to: * Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to: Roles * Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation * Page (servant), traditionally a young mal ...

, and a third-party free program called Bean. However, Microsoft's Office for Mac and most other document applications on the platform do not support RTFD.

Microsoft Windows

In contrast to RTF, RTFD files cannot be opened properly by applications on Windows, which does not support the concept of bundles. In Microsoft Windows, RTFD files are displayed as folders. Editing these folders may destroy the data inside the RTFD. In particular editing any of the elements, such as the text file, inside the folder will remove other elements, such as graphics. Any text associated with the RTFD file appears in the Windows folder as an RTF file. However, when the RTF file is edited in a text editor such as WordPad, Notepad or Word, graphics elements are replaced by a text notation showing their inclusion and, when saved, the graphics elements inside the folder are 'lost' when the RTFD file is subsequently opened in macOS. Note that, if the RTFD file is saved as an archive file (.zip, .rar etc.) it can also be "opened" on Windows using WinZip 8.1 as well as WinRar 3.7.1, meaning the user can extract the contents of the .rtfd file (.pdf, .rtf, .jpg, etc.) and then look at each extracted file using its native application (Acrobat, WordPad, Photo Gallery, etc.). However, as previously stated, some of the contents, such as graphics elements, will be lost after editing when the RTFD file is subsequently re-opened in macOS. If RTFD is converted to WebArchive on a Mac by using the "Save As" function in TextEdit, it may be opened and viewed in the web browser Safari even in Windows.

Linux

In contrast to RTF, RTFD files generally cannot be opened properly by applications on operating systems which do not recognize the bundled data. Most applications and operating environments on Linux, like Windows, treat the bundle as a folder containing unstructured data files. However, the applications written for the

GNUstep GNUstep is a free software implementation of the Cocoa (formerly OpenStep) Objective-C frameworks, widget toolkit, and application development tools for Unix-like operating systems and Microsoft Windows. It is part of the GNU Project. GNUste ...

environment, such as the Ink text editor, can open these documents and the GNUstep environment itself recognizes the concept of a bundle.

References

{{Reflist, refs= {{Cite web, publisher=

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...

, work=Mac Developer Library, url=https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/Cocoa/Conceptual/AttributedStrings/Tasks/RTFAndAttrStrings.html, title=RTF Files and Attributed Strings, accessdate=18 December 2012, date=19 October 2009 {{cite web, last=Frith-Macdonald, first=Richard, title=NSAttributedString additions, url=http://svn.gna.org:80/svn/gnustep/libs/gui/trunk/Source/NSAttributedString.m, work=GNUstep, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170506034210/http://svn.gna.org:80/svn/gnustep/libs/gui/trunk/Source/NSAttributedString.m, archive-date=6 May 2017 Computer file formats