AsciiDoc to MS Converter
FileFlip converts AsciiDoc to MS entirely inside your browser, using Pandoc compiled to WebAssembly. The file is never uploaded to a server: it is read off your disk, converted on your own machine, and saved back by the browser. That means no file-size limit, no queue and no account.
How do I convert an AsciiDoc file to MS?#
- Drop your AsciiDoc file onto the converter at the top of this page, or click it to pick one from your computer. You can add as many as you like.
- Leave the target set to MS and the conversion starts on its own. FileFlip downloads 65.8 MB of WebAssembly the first time and nothing after that, then runs Pandoc on your own machine.
- Save the MS file. Your browser writes it straight to your downloads folder, because there was never a server holding it.
Does converting AsciiDoc to MS lose quality?#
Not in the sense of pixels or samples. Converting AsciiDoc to MS rebuilds the file in MS's own model rather than re-encoding it, so everything MS can represent comes through exactly and anything it cannot has to be dropped. Expect the words to come through exactly and the page breaks to move.
Is it safe to convert AsciiDoc files online?#
Yes, because nothing is uploaded. FileFlip converts AsciiDoc files inside the browser tab you already have open, using WebAssembly builds of the same engines a desktop converter would install. Your file is read from your own disk into the page's memory, and no request carrying it is ever made.
You do not have to take that on trust. Open your browser's network panel, run a conversion, and you will see the engine come down and your file go nowhere. There is no upload, no server-side copy, no retention window, and no account tied to what you converted.
How FileFlip works lists every engine, its version and its download size, and shows how to check for yourself that nothing leaves your machine.
What AsciiDoc to MS actually does to the file#
Converting AsciiDoc to MS runs on Pandoc, downloads 65.8 MB of WebAssembly the first time and nothing after that, rebuilds the file in the target's own model, keeps selectable text and page layout.
| Engine | Pandoc |
|---|---|
| Conversion path | One step: AsciiDoc → MS |
| Downloaded to your browser | 65.8 MB, once, then cached by your browser |
| Quality | Rebuilt in the target's model |
| You get back | One file |
| Where it runs | In a background worker, so the page stays responsive |
What survives the conversion
| What is in the file | This conversion | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Selectable text | Kept | Carried through into the converted file. |
| Page layout | Kept | Carried through into the converted file. |
What is an AsciiDoc file?#
An ADOC file holds AsciiDoc, a plain-text markup Stuart Rackham designed in 2002 with structural features like admonitions, includes and cross-references built into the syntax rather than bolted on afterward.
Choose AsciiDoc for technical documentation or a book that needs admonitions, includes and cross-references without hand-writing DocBook.
Convert AsciiDoc to Markdown when a document is moving to a tool or audience that only understands Markdown, accepting that admonitions, includes and cross-references have no Markdown equivalent.
What is an MS file?#
An MS file is a troff document marked up with the ms macro package, one of the original Unix macro sets for typesetting papers, letters and reports through groff or troff.
Use the ms macros to produce a document on a minimal Unix system where a full TeX install isn't available or wanted.
Convert ms output to PDF or HTML when the reader needs a normal document instead of a file that has to run through troff first.
AsciiDoc to MS questions people ask#
What's the difference between AsciiDoc and Markdown?
AsciiDoc is a plain-text markup built for technical documentation, with admonitions, file includes and cross-references defined in the syntax itself, where Markdown has none of these without an extension or raw HTML. AsciiDoc is correspondingly more to learn, and far fewer tools render it without going through a processor like Asciidoctor first.
What program opens an ADOC file?
An ADOC file is plain text, so any text editor opens it, but seeing it rendered means running it through Asciidoctor or an editor with an AsciiDoc preview plugin, such as VS Code's AsciiDoc extension or IntelliJ IDEA's AsciiDoc plugin. GitHub also renders .adoc files directly in a repository.
Does AsciiDoc convert cleanly to Markdown?
Basic AsciiDoc, headings, paragraphs, lists, emphasis, converts to Markdown with little loss. Admonition blocks, include directives and cross-references have no Markdown equivalent, so a conversion either drops them or flattens them into plain text and a broken link.
What is an .ms file?
An .ms file is plain text written with the ms macro package for troff, one of the original Unix formatters for papers and reports. It's read by feeding it to groff or troff rather than opening it in a document viewer.