Hi, followerofChrist.
It appears the
textutil conversion only works well if the source Web page uses relatively simple HTML. I performed the following experiment:
1. In Safari, created a Web archive of
the Google Home page, a page known for its simple appearance and low-graphics content.
2. Used
textutil to convert the Web archive as you described,which produced one HTML file and a .gif file for the Google logo.
3. Opened the HTML file: it bore no resemblance to the Google home page: the logo did not display, the search field was not shown, and some elements were out of place.
4. Compared the source code of the Google home page to the converted page. One can view the source code for a Web page in Safari using either View > View Source or the Command-Option-U keyboard shortcut.
The comparison showed significant differences. In particular, the Google Home page depends on a script which is not included in the conversion from Web archive via
textutil.
Therefore, I suspect
textutil will give one a pretty good conversion if the page in the Web archive is basic HTML, but once advanced Web features come into play — such as Javascript, CSS, Java, etc. — then the conversion won't be satisfactory. In other words, this appears to be a limitation in the deign of
textutil.
Hope that helps.
Good luck and God Bless!
😉 Dr. Smoke
Author:
Troubleshooting Mac® OS X
