Contents of an RTF File

An RTF file has the following syntax:

<File>'{' <header> <document> '}'

This syntax is the standard RTF syntax; any RTF reader must be able to correctly interpret RTF written to this syntax. It is worth mentioning again that RTF readers do not have to use all control words, but they must be able to harmlessly ignore unknown (or unused) control words, and they must correctly skip over destinations marked with the \* control symbol. There may, however, be RTF writers that generate RTF that does not conform to this syntax, and as such, RTF readers should be robust enough to handle some minor variations. Nonetheless, if an RTF writer generates RTF conforming to this specification, then any correct RTF reader should be able to interpret it.