WD97: Limitations Converting Documents from Word 97 to 6.x/7.0

• Microsoft Word 97 for Windows

SUMMARY

This article provides information about what happens when you convert a Microsoft Word 97 document to Word 6.x or Word 7.0 format.

MORE INFORMATION

The following table identifies the new features that are supported, not supported, or are partially supported.

                       Supported/
   Word 97 feature     Not supported     Comments
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------

   Embedded fonts      Not supported     Embedded fonts are lost, and Word
                                         7.x or Word 6.x assigns the
                                         closest font available.

   Outline and         Not supported     Outline numbered lists and heading
   heading numbered                      numbered lists are converted to
   lists                                 regular text but retain their
                                         appearance.

   Multilevel bullets  Not supported     Multilevel bullets are converted
                                         to regular text but retain their
                                         appearance.

   Arrow Styles        Not Supported     Arrow styles for lines are lost.

   Page borders        Not supported     Page borders are not converted.

   Character shading   Not supported     Character shading is lost.

   Character borders   Not supported     Character borders are lost.

   Paragraph borders   Not supported     Paragraph borders and shading are
                                         lost.

   Animated text       Not supported     Animated text formatting is lost.

   Embossed and        Not supported     Embossed and engraved character
   engraved                              formatting are lost.
   characters

   EMF, PNG, and       Supported         Graphics are saved in applicable
   JPEG graphics                         EMF, PNG, or JPEG format and are
                                         converted to WMF (Windows
                                         Metafile) or PICT (Macintosh)
                                         format. To avoid getting two
                                         copies of each graphic saved in
                                         the document, add the option
                                         ExportPictureWithMetafile=0
                                         in the registry at the following
                                         location:

                                         HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\
                                         Microsoft\Office\8.0\Word\Options

   Grouped Drawing     Partially         Grouped drawing objects become
   objects             supported         a single box, unable to ungroup   

   Floating pictures   Not supported     Floating pictures are converted in
   with text wrapping                    a frame to WMF (Windows Metafile)
   around them                           or PICT (Macintosh) format.

   Floating OLE        Not supported     Floating OLE objects are converted
   objects                               to text boxes.

   Highlighting        Partially         Highlighting is preserved in Word
                       supported         95 but lost in Word 6.x.

   Vertically merged   Not supported     Merged table cells are exploded
   table cells                           into unmerged cells.

   Vertically aligned  Not supported     Vertically aligned text is
   text in table                         reformatted so that the text
   cells                                 aligns at the top of the cell.

   Vertical text in    Not supported     Vertical text is reformatted as
   table cells                           horizontal text.

   HYPERLINK field     Partially         The last value of the HYPERLINK
                       supported         field is retained.

   Tracked changes     Not supported     Tracked changes for properties,
   for properties,                       paragraph numbers, and display
   paragraph numbers,                    fields are lost, but other
   and display fields                    tracked changes are retained.

   Password            Not supported     All document protection is lost.
   protection of
   documents

   Document            Not supported     All document protection is lost.
   protection for
   tracked changes,
   comments, and
   forms

   New document        Partially         New document properties are
   properties          supported         preserved in Word 95 but lost in
   introduced                            Word 6.x.
   in Word 97

   ActiveX controls    Partially         ActiveX controls can be used but
   on forms            supported         not modified.

   Unicode characters  Not supported     Result in potential data loss.
                                         Unicode characters (2 bytes per
                                         character) are mapped to
                                         corresponding ANSI (Windows) or
                                         Macintosh equivalents (1 byte per
                                         character) or converted to
                                         question marks (?). Foreign
                                         language characters are the most
                                         likely to be affected.

   DOCPROPERTY field   Partially         The DOCPROPERTY field is retained
                       supported         in Word 95, but only the most
                                         recent value of the field is
                                         retained in Word 6.x.

   Visual Basic        Not supported     Macros created in Word 97 Visual
   macros                                Basic are lost.

Cannot Edit a Word Document Embedded Object in Word 95

When you insert a Word document as an embedded object in a document in Word 97, save the document in the Word 6.x/95 format or Rich Text Format, and then open the document in Word 95, you may receive the error message "Word cannot edit the object" when you double-click the object to edit it. This occurs because when you save the document created in Word 97 in the Word 6.x/95 format or Rich Text Format, the embedded object is not saved as a Word 95 document object. To edit the object, you must have Word 97 installed on your computer.

Cannot Edit an Embedded Object Created

in a Word 95 Document after Saving in Word 97

If you create an embedded object in a Word 95 document, open the document in Word 97, and then save the document in Word 6.x/95 format or Rich Text Format, the embedded object is updated to a later version of the OLE object server program on the computer running Word 97. If you reopen the document in Word 95 on a computer that does not have Word 97 or Office 97 installed, you may not be able to edit the object.

This can occur with any OLE object, including objects created in Word 97 documents. To see a list of OLE server programs installed on your computer, view the list in the Object dialog box (Insert Menu).