Oracle Text Supported Document Formats

Oracle Text uses the HTML export technology of Oracle Outside In for automatic filtering. This appendix provides tables with the document and graphic file formats supported by the automatic AUTO_FILTER filtering technology for this release.

This appendix contains the following topics:

See Also:AUTO_FILTER” for information on using AUTO_FILTER

About Document Filtering Technology

The automatic filtering technology in Oracle Text enables you to convert documents to HTML for document presentation with the CTX_DOC package.

To use automatic filtering for indexing and DML processing, you must specify the AUTO_FILTER object in your filter preference.

To use automatic filtering technology for converting documents to HTML with the CTX_DOC package, you need not use the AUTO_FILTER indexing preference.

This section contains these topics:

Latest Updates for Patch Releases

The supported platforms and formats listed in this appendix apply for this release. These supported formats are updated for patch releases.

Restrictions on Format Support

The formats listed in this appendix are those formats recognized by AUTO_FILTER. Recognizing a format does not necessarily mean that text can be extracted from it. For example, a scanned document is usually an image and AUTO_FILTER does not perform optical character recognition. Similarly, text cannot be extracted for indexing from multimedia file types.

Password-protected documents and documents with password-protected content are not supported by the AUTO_FILTER filter.

For other limitations, see “Supported Document Formats” concerning specific document types.

Supported Platforms for AUTO_FILTER Technology

These are the supported platforms for automatic filtering technology that enables you to convert documents to HTML with the CTX_DOC package.

Supported Platform Details
Windows Server (x86 64-bit)
  • Windows Server 2008 x64 Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter Editions (64-bit Extended Systems)

  • Windows Server 2013 x64 Standard, Datacenter, and Essentials editions

  • Windows Server 2016 x64 Standard, Datacenter, and Essentials editions

  • Windows Server 2019 x64 Standard, Datacenter, and Essentials editions

HP-UX
  • HP-UX (PA-RISC 64-bit) 11.i

  • HP-UX (Itanium 64) 11i

IBM AIX
  • IBM AIX on POWER Systems (64-bit) 7.1

  • IBM AIX on POWER Systems (64-bit) 7.x

Red Hat Linux
  • Red Hat Linux (x86-64) Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6, 7, 8

  • Red Hat Linux (z-series, s390-64) Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6, 7, 8

  • Red Hat Linux (PPC-64) Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6, 7, 8

  • Red Hat Linux (Arm-64) Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), 6, 7, 8

SuSE Linux
  • SuSE Linux (X86-64) 12, 15

  • SuSE Linux (z-series, s390-64) 12, 15

  • SuSE Linux (PPC-64) 12, 15

  • SuSE Linux (Arm-64) 12, 15

Sun Solaris
  • Sun Solaris (SPARC 64 bit) 11.x

  • Sun Solaris (X86-64) 11.x

Note: Some of these platforms may not be supported by the Oracle AI Database.

Filtering on PDF Documents and Security Settings

A PDF document can have different levels of security settings as follows:

Table 1 AUTO_FILTER Behavior with PDF Security Settings

Security Level Description PDF Version Encryption AUTO_FILTER Support Level
Level 1 Requires a password for opening the document. 1.2+ 40 bit RC4 Not supported.
Level 1 Requires a password for opening the document. 1.4+ 128 bit RC4 Not supported.
Level 1 Requires a password for opening the document. 1.5+ 128 bit RC4 Not supported.
Level 1 Requires a password for opening the document. 1.6+ 128 bit AES Not supported.
Level 1 Requires a password for opening the document. 1.7+ 256 bit AES Not supported.
Level 2 Disallows user printing of the document. 1.2+ 40 bit RC4 Supported.
Level 2 Disallows user printing of the document. 1.4+ 128 bit RC4 Supported.
Level 2 Disallows user printing of the document. 1.5+ 128 bit RC4 Supported.
Level 2 Disallows user printing of the document. 1.6+ 128 bit AES Not supported.
Level 2 Disallows user printing of the document. 1.7+ 256 bit AES Not supported.
Level 3 Disallows user modification or change of the document. 1.2+ 40 bit RC4 Supported.
Level 3 Disallows user modification or change of the document. 1.4+ 128 bit RC4 Supported.
Level 3 Disallows user modification or change of the document. 1.5+ 128 bit RC4 Supported.
Level 3 Disallows user modification or change of the document. 1.6+ 128 bit RC4 Not supported.
Level 3 Disallows user modification or change of the document. 1.7+ 256 bit AES Not supported.
Level 4 Disallows the user from copying or extracting content from the document. 1.2+ 40 bit RC4 Supported.
Level 4 Disallows the user from copying or extracting content from the document. 1.4+ 128 bit RC4 Supported.
Level 4 Disallows the user from copying or extracting content from the document. 1.5+ 128 bit RC4 Supported.
Level 4 Disallows the user from copying or extracting content from the document. 1.6+ 128 bit AES Not supported.
Level 4 Disallows the user from copying or extracting content from the document. 1.7+ 256 bit AES Not supported.

Note: Starting with Oracle Database 21c, older encryption and hashing algorithms are deprecated. The deprecated algorithms for DBMS_CRYPTO and native network encryption include MD4, MD5, DES, 3DES, and RC4-related algorithms as well as 3DES for Transparent Data Encryption (TDE). Removing older, less secure cryptography algorithms prevents accidental use of these algorithms. To meet your security requirements, Oracle recommends that you use more modern cryptography algorithms, such as the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES).

PDF Filtering Limitations

The following limitations apply when filtering PDF files:

Environment Variables

No environment variables need to be set by the user.

General Limitations

AUTO_FILTER filter technology has the following limitations:

Supported Document Formats

Document filtering is used for indexing, processing data manipulation language (DML), and converting documents into HTML with the CTX_DOC package. These are the document formats that Oracle Text supports for filtering.

Note: These lists do not represent the complete list of formats that Oracle Text is able to process. The USER_FILTER and PROCEDURE_FILTER enable Oracle Text to process any document format, provided an external filter exists that can filter to some textual format like plain-text, HTML, XML, and so forth.

Archive File Format

These are the archive formats that Oracle Text supports. When filtering an archive file, all the contents of the files inside the archive are exported to a single output file. This also includes the contents of all subfolders and files inside the archive file.

Table 2 Supported Archive File Formats

Archive Format Version
7z (BZIP2 and split archives not supported) -
7z Self Extracting .exe (BZIP2 and split archives not supported) -
LZA Self Extracting Compress -
LZH Compress -
Microsoft Office Binder -
Microsoft Cabinet (CAB) 95 - 97
RAR 1.5, 2.0, 2.9, 5.x, 6.x
Self-extracting .exe -
UNIX Compress -
UNIX GZip -
UNIX Tar -
Uuencode -
Zip PKZip
Zip WinZip
Zip Zip64

Database Formats

These are the database formats that Oracle Text supports for filtering.

Format Version
DataEase 4.x
DBase III, IV, V, X, X1
First Choice DB Through 3.0
Framework DB 3.0
Microsoft Access (text only) 1.0, 2.0, 95-2019
Microsoft Access Report Snapshot (File ID only) 2000 - 2003
Microsoft Works DB for DOS 2.0
Microsoft Works DB for Macintosh 2.0
Microsoft Works DB for Windows 3.0, 4.0
Paradox for DOS 2.0 - 4.0
Paradox for Windows 1.0
Q&A Database Through 2.0
R:BASE R:BASE 5000
R:BASE R:BASE System V
Reflex 2.0
SmartWare II DB 1.02

E-Book Formats

These are the supported e-book file formats that are viewable on e-book readers.

Format Version
EPUB (File ID only) -
MOBI (File ID only) -

Email Formats

These are the formats that Oracle Text supports for email messages, encodings, attachments, Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) formats, and so on.

Format Version
Apple Mail Message (EMLX) 2.0
Encoded mail messages MHT
Encoded mail messages Multi Part Alternative
Encoded mail messages Multi Part Digest
Encoded mail messages Multi Part Mixed
Encoded mail messages Multi Part News Group
Encoded mail messages Multi Part Signed
Encoded mail messages TNEF
EML with Digital Signature SMIME
IBM Lotus Notes Domino XML Language DXL 8.5
IBM Lotus Notes NSF (File ID) 7.x, 8.x
IBM Lotus Notes NSF (Win32, Win64, Linux x86-32 and Oracle Solaris 32-bit only with Notes Client or Domino Server) 8.x
MBOX Mailbox RFC 822
Microsoft Outlook Message (MSG) 97 - 2013
Microsoft Outlook Express (EML) -
Microsoft Outlook Forms Template (OFT) 97 - 2013
Microsoft Outlook OLM 2011 for Mac
Microsoft Outlook OST 97 - 2013
Microsoft Outlook PST 97 - 2013
Microsoft Outlook PST (Mac) 2001
MSG with Digital Signature SMIME

MIME Support Notes

The following formats are supported:

In addition, the body of a message can be encoded in several ways. The following encodings are supported:

The attachments of a MIME message can be stored in many formats. Oracle Corporation processes all attachment types that its technology supports.

Graphic Formats (Raster and Vector Image)

The graphic formats that the AUTO_FILTER filter recognizes ensure that indexing a text column containing any of these formats produces no error. Formats are categorized as either embedded graphics or standalone graphics.

Embedded graphics are inserted or referenced within a document.

Table 3 Supported Raster Image Formats for AUTO_FILTER Filter

Format Version
Adobe Photoshop 4.0
Adobe Photoshop PSD (File ID only) -
Adobe Photoshop CS1 - 6, CC 2014 - 2018
CALS Raster (GP4) Type I
CALS Raster (GP4) Type II
Computer Graphics Metafile ANSI
Computer Graphics Metafile CALS
Computer Graphics Metafile NIST
Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) TIFF header Only
GEM Image (Bitmap) -
Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) -
IBM Graphics Data Format (GDF) 1.0
IBM Picture Interchange Format 1.0
JBIG2 Graphic Embeddings in PDF
JFIF (JPEG not in TIFF format) -
JPEG -
JPEG 2000 JP2
Kodak Flash Pix -
Kodak Photo CD 1.0
Lotus PIC -
Lotus Snapshot -
Macintosh PICT BMP only
Macintosh PICT2 BMP only
MacPaint -
Microsoft Windows Bitmap -
Microsoft Windows Cursor -
Microsoft Windows Icon -
OS/2 Bitmap -
OS/2 Warp Bitmap -
Paint Shop Pro (Win32 only) 5.0, 6.0
PC Paintbrush (PCX) -
PC Paintbrush DCX (multi-page PCX) -
Portable Bitmap (PBM) -
Portable Graymap PGM -
Portable Network Graphics (PNG) -
Portable Pixmap (PPM) -
Portable Arbitrary Map (PAM) (File ID only) -
Progressive JPEG -
StarOffice Draw 6.x - 9.0
Sun Raster -
TIFF Group 5 & 6
TIFF CCITT Group 3 & 4
TruVision TGA (Targa) 2.0
WebP (File ID only) -
Word Perfect Graphics 1.0
JT Image (File ID only) 8.0, 9.0, 10.0
WBMP wireless graphics format -
X-Windows Bitmap x10 compatible
X-Windows Dump x10 compatible
X-Windows Pixmap x10 compatible
WordPerfect Graphics 2.0 - 10.0

Table 4 Supported Vector Image Formats for AUTO_FILTER Filter

Graphics Format Version
Adobe FrameMaker (MIF only) 3.0 - 6.0
Adobe Illustrator Postscript Level 2
Adobe Illustrator 4.0 - 7.0
Adobe Illustrator (PDF Preview only) 9.0, CS1 - 6
Adobe Illustrator XMP CS1 - 6
Adobe InDesign XMP CS1 - 6
Adobe InDesign Interchange (XMP only) -
Adobe PDF 1.0 - 1.7 (Acrobat 1 - 10)
Adobe PDF Package 1.7 (Acrobat 8 - 10)
Adobe PDF Portfolio 1.7 (Acrobat 8 - 10)
Ami Draw SDW
AutoCAD Drawing 2.5, 2.6
AutoCAD Drawing 9.0 - 14.0
AutoCAD Drawing 2000i - 2015, 2016 - 2021
AutoShade Rendering 2
Corel Draw 2.0 - 9.0 and X7
Corel Draw Clipart 5.0, 7.0
Enhanced Metafile (EMF) -
Escher graphics -
FrameMaker Graphics (FMV) 3.0 - 5.0
Gem File (Vector) -
Harvard Graphics Chart DOS 2.0 - 3.0
Harvard Graphics for Windows -
Hewlett Packard Graphics Language (HPGL) 2.0
IGES Drawing 5.1 - 5.3
Micrografx Designer (DRW) Through 3.1
Micrografx Designer (DFS) 6.0
Micrografx Draw (DRW) Through 4.0
Microsoft XPS (Text only) -
Novell PerfectWorks Draw 2
OpenOffice Draw 1.1 - 3.0
Oracle Open Office Draw 3.x
SVG (processed as XML, not rendered) -
Visio (Page Preview mode WMF/EMF) 4.0
Visio 5.0 - 2010
Visio (text only) 2013
Visio XML VSX (File ID only) 2007
Windows Metafile (WMF) -

Multimedia Formats

This table lists the multimedia formats that are recognized by AUTO_FILTER.

Recognizing a format does not necessarily mean that text can be extracted from it. Also, the file name and file header information are not indexed. A scanned document is usually an image, and AUTO_FILTER does not perform optical character recognition. Similarly, text cannot be extracted for indexing from multimedia file types.

Format Version
AVI (Metadata only) -
DICOM (File ID only) -
Flash (text extraction only) 6.x, 7.x, Lite
Flash (File ID only) 9, 10
Real Media (File ID only) -
MP3 (ID3 metadata only) -
MPEG-1 Audio layer 3 V ID3 v1 (Metadata only) -
MPEG-1 Audio layer 3 V ID3 v2 (Metadata only) -
MPEG-1 Video V 2 (File ID only) -
MPEG-1 Video V 3 (File ID only) -
MPEG-2 Audio (File ID only) -
MPEG-4 (Metadata only) -
MPEG-7 (Metadata only) -
QuickTime (Metadata only) -
Windows Media ASF (Metadata only) -
Windows Media DVR-MS (Metadata only) -
Windows Media Audio WMA (Metadata only) -
Windows Media Playlist (File ID only) -
Windows Media Video WMV (Metadata only) -
WAV (Metadata only) -
Apple HEIF (File ID only) -
WebM (File ID only) -

Other Formats

Format Version
AOL Messenger (File ID only) 7.3
Microsoft InfoPath (File ID only) 2007
Microsoft Live Messenger (via XML filter) 10.0
Microsoft Office Theme files (File ID only) 2007 - 2019
Microsoft OneNote (text only) 2007 - 2019
Microsoft Project (table view only) 98 - 2010
Microsoft Windows Compiled Help (File ID only) .chm
Microsoft Windows DLL (File ID only) .dll
Microsoft Windows Executable (File ID only) .exe.com
Microsoft Windows Explorer Command (File ID only) .scf
Microsoft Windows Help (File ID only) .hlp
Microsoft Windows Shortcut (File ID only) .lnk
Trillian Text Log File (via text filter) 4.2
Trillian XML Log File (File ID only) 4.2
TrueType Font (File ID only) Ttf, ttc
vCalendar 2.1
vCard 2.1
Yahoo Messenger 6.x - 8

Presentation Formats

These are the presentation file formats that Oracle Text supports for filtering.

Format Version
Apple iWork Keynote (text and PDF preview) 09, 2014, 2020
Harvard Graphics Presentation DOS 3.0
IBM Lotus Symphony Presentations 1.x
Kingsoft WPS Presentation 2010
LibreOffice Impress 4.x, 5.x, 6.x
Lotus Freelance 1.0 - Millennium 9.8
Lotus Freelance for OS/3 2
Lotus Freelance for Windows 95, 97, SmartSuite 9.8
Microsoft PowerPoint for Macintosh 4.0 - 2016, 2019
Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows 3.0 - 2016, 2019
Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows Slideshow 2007 - 2019
Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows Template 2007 - 2019
Novell Presentations 3.0, 7.0
OpenOffice Impress 1.1, 3.0, 4.x
Oracle Open Office Impress 3.x
StarOffice Impress 5.2 - 9.0
Strict Open XML -Presentation (File ID only) 2013, 2019
WordPerfect Presentations 5.1 - X7
Advanced Function Presentation (AFP) (File ID only) -

Spreadsheet Formats

These are the spreadsheet file formats that Oracle Text supports for filtering.

Format Version
Apple iWork Numbers (text and PDF preview) 09
Apple iWork Numbers ( File ID only) 2014, 2020
Enable Spreadsheet 3.0 - 4.5
First Choice SS Through 3.0
Framework SS 3.0
IBM Lotus Symphony Spreadsheets 1.x
Kingsoft WPS Spreadsheets 2010
LibreOffice Calc 4.x
Lotus 1-2-3 Through Millennium 9.8
Lotus 1-2-3 Charts for DOS and Windows Through 5.0
Lotus 1-2-3 for OS/2 2.0
Microsoft Excel Charts 2.x - 2007
Microsoft Excel for Macintosh 98 - 2011
Microsoft Excel for Windows 3.0 - 2019
Microsoft Excel for Windows (text only) 2003 XML
Microsoft Excel for Windows (.xlsb) 2007 - 2019 (Binary)
Microsoft Works SS for DOS 2.0
Microsoft Works SS for Macintosh 2.0
Microsoft Works SS for Windows 3.0, 4.0
Multiplan 4.0
Novell PerfectWorks Spreadsheet 2.0
OpenOffice Calc 1.1 - 3.0
Oracle Open Office Calc 3.x
PFS: Plan 1.0
Quattro Pro for DOS Through 5.0
Quattro Pro for Windows Through X7
SmartWare Spreadsheet -
SmartWare II SS 1.02
StarOffice Calc 5.2 - 9.0
SuperCalc 5.0
Symphony Through 2.0
VP-Planner 1.0

Text and Markup Formats

These are the formats for text and markup versions of documents that Oracle Text supports.

Format Version
ANSI Text 7 and 8 bit
ASCII Text 7 and 8 bit
Ami Pro for OS2 -
Ami Pro for Windows 2.0, 3.0
Apple iWork Pages (text and PDF preview) 09
Apple iWork Pages (File ID only) 2014, 2020
DEC DX Through 4.0
DEC DX Plus 4.0, 4.1
Enable Word Processor 3.0 - 4.5
First Choice WP 1.0, 3.0
Framework WP 3.0
Hangul 97 - 2010
IBM DCA/FFT -
IBM DisplayWrite 2.0 - 5.0
IBM Writing Assistant 1.01
Ichitaro 5.0, 6.0, 8.0 - 13.0, 2004, 2010, 2013
JustWrite Through 3.0
Kingsoft WPS Writer 2010
Legacy 1.1
LibreOffice Writer 4.x
Lotus Manuscript Through 2.0
Lotus WordPro (text only) 9.7, 96 - Millennium 9.8
MacWrite II 1.1
Mass 11 Through 8.0
Microsoft Publisher (File ID only) 2003 - 2016
Microsoft Word for DOS 4.0 - 6.0
Microsoft Word for Macintosh 4.0 - 6.0, 98 - 2011
Microsoft Word for Windows 1.0 - 2016, 2019
Microsoft Word for Windows (text only) 2003 XML
DOS character set -
EBCDIC -
HTML (HTML5 advanced elements are limited to those typically found in HTML based emails.) 1.0 - 5.0
IBM DCA/RFT -
Macintosh character set -
Rich Text Format (RTF) -
Unicode Text 3.0, 4.0
UTF-8 -
Wireless Markup Language -
XML (Text only) -
XHTML (File ID only) 1.0
XML Localization Interchange File Format (File ID only) -
XML Forms Data Format (File ID only) -

Word Processing and Desktop Publishing Formats

These are the formats for word processing and desktop publishing handled by Oracle Text filters.

Format Version
Adobe FrameMaker (MIF only) 3.0 - 6.0
Adobe Illustrator Postscript Level 2
Ami -
Ami Pro for OS2 -
Ami Pro for Windows 2.0, 3.0
Apple iWork Pages (Text and PDF preview) 09
Apple iWork Pages (File ID only) 2014, 2020
DEC DX Through 4.0
DEC DX Plus 4.0, 4.1
Enable Word Processor 3.0 - 4.5
First Choice WP 1.0, 3.0
Framework WP 3.0
Hangul 97 - 2010
IBM DCA/FFT -
IBM DisplayWrite 2.0 - 5.0
IBM Writing Assistant 1.01
Ichitaro 5.0, 6.0, 8.0 - 13.0, 2004, 2013
JustWrite Through 3.0
Kingsoft WPS Writer 2010
Legacy 1.1
LibreOffice Writer 4.x
Lotus Manuscript Through 2.0
Lotus WordPro (text only) 9.7, 96 - Millennium 9.8
MacWrite II 1.1
Mass 11 Through 8.0
Microsoft Word for DOS 4.0 - 6.0
Microsoft Word for Macintosh 4.0 - 6.0, 98 - 2011
Microsoft Word for Windows 1.0 - 2016, 2019
Microsoft Word for Windows (text only via XML filter) 2003 XML
Microsoft Word for Windows 98-J
Microsoft WordPad -
Microsoft Works WP for DOS 2.0
Microsoft Works WP for Macintosh 2.0
Microsoft Works WP for Windows 3.0, 4.0
Microsoft Write for Windows 1.0 - 3.0
MultiMate Through 4.0
MultiMate Advantage 2.0
Navy DIF -
Nota Bene 3.0
Novell PerfectWorks Word Processor 2.0
OfficeWriter 4.0 - 6.0
OpenOffice Writer 1.1 - 3.0
Oracle Open Office Writer 3.x
PC File Doc 5.0
PFS: Write A, B
Professional Write for DOS 1.0, 2.0
Professional Write Plus for Windows 1.0
Q&A Write 2.0, 3.0
Samna Word IV 1.0 - 3.0
Samna Word IV+ -
Signature 1.0
SmartWare II WP 1.02
Sprint 1.0
StarOffice Writer 5.2 - 9.0
Strict Open XML -Document (file ID only) 2013, 2016, 2019
Total Word 1.2
Wang IWP Through 2.6
WordMarc Composer -
WordMarc Composer+ -
WordMarc Word Processor -
WordPerfect for DOS 4.2
WordPerfect for Macintosh 1.02 - 3.1
WordPerfect for Windows 5.1 - X7
WordStar 2000 for DOS 1.0 - 3.0
Wordstar for DOS 3.0 - 7.0
Wordstar for Windows 1.0
XyWrite Through III+