WD6x: WordPerfect 5.x Converter Enhancements in WinWord 6.0c

• Microsoft Word for Windows, version 6.0c

SUMMARY

This article summarizes corrections made to the WordPerfect converter in Word for Windows version 6.0c, which converts between Word and WordPerfect 5.0 and 5.1 for MS-DOS and WordPerfect 5.1 and 5.2 for Windows file formats.

All corrections listed here have been made since the immediately previous Word 6.0a product release. For a list of enhancements made in the Word 6.0 and 6.0a releases, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q105316
   TITLE     : WordPerfect 5.x Converter Enhancements in Word for Windows
               6.0

CORRECTED PROBLEMS

"Not Enough Memory to Complete Operation" / GPF Generated by Nested Formats

The above errors are no longer received when you import a WordPerfect document in which a box code (Figure, User, Text, Table, or Equation) exists between starting and ending mark codes. Mark codes are used to delimit the beginning and ending locations of table of contents, table of authorities, list, and index entries in WordPerfect. A code sequence that generates this problem in Word 6.0a might appear in WordPerfect Reveal Codes similar to the following:

   [Mark:ToC,1]...[Fig Box:1;test.wpg;]...[End Mark:ToC,1]

Multiple Pictures Overlap in Same Position

When you open a WordPerfect document in which box code 145 has been used to delimit an embedded graphic image, multiple pictures no longer overlap in a single location and pictures delimited by this code are no longer lost. Box code 145 is vaguely defined as "reserved" in the WordPerfect binary file format and is not recognized by the earlier WordPerfect converter. This code is used infrequently and is invisible to the WordPerfect user.

Contents of Expanded Master Document Lost

When you open a WordPerfect master document that has been expanded (contains the latest results of supporting subdocuments), content originating from the subdocuments is no longer lost.

Cannot Specify Path to Missing Subdocuments

When you open a WordPerfect master document for which supporting subdocuments are not available in the original directory locations specified in the master document, you can now specify the current locations of the secondary files. In Word 6.0a, Word provides an alert regarding the absence of these files but provides only the options to cancel conversion or continue conversion with loss of subdocument content.

Horizontal Box Position Incorrect If Gutter Margin Active

When you open a WordPerfect document, Text, Figure, User, Equation, and Table boxes are no longer misaligned horizontally if a gutter margin is present. In Word 6.0a, converted boxes are aligned horizontally relative to page, and the gutter margin is ignored in relation to placement of the converted box. This results in boxes appearing too far left or right by the amount of the gutter margin value.

Paragraph Number Cross References Lost

Cross-references to paragraph numbers are now retained as REF \N fields in Word. In Word 6.0a, the last generated result of each paragraph number cross-reference is retained as normal text only and cannot be updated following conversion.

Page Size Change Not Correctly Retained

When you open a WordPerfect document in which page-size or orientation changes exist, incorrect page sizes are no longer applied at locations of these changes.

For example, when Word 6.0a encounters a WordPerfect page orientation that changed from portrait to landscape, Word correctly sets the orientation to landscape, but Word leaves the page size set to portrait values (for example, 8.5-inch width by 11-inch height). The visual result is that pages of a document originally formatted as landscape display and print in portrait orientation in Word. The inverse of this scenario (portrait incorrectly appearing as landscape) is also possible.

Leading Paragraph Number Lost in Multilevel Numbered Paragraphs

When you open a WordPerfect document containing paragraph numbering, leading numbers are no longer lost from numbered paragraphs. For example, three paragraphs numbered as

   1.
   1.1
   1.1.1

   1.
    .1
      .1

Symbol Characters Appear at Beginning of Document

Font properties are now correctly set for the PRIVATE field that appears at the beginning of all converted WordPerfect documents.

In Word 6.0a, in some instances the content of the PRIVATE field is formatted as Symbol font. If the option to view hidden text is active, Symbol font characters appear in place of the word PRIVATE.

Endnote Number Converted Incorrectly / Endnote Text Cannot be Edited

In Word, when you open a WordPerfect document that contains endnotes, the first endnote number is now correctly retained, and the first 10 characters of the first endnote entry can be edited. In Word 6.0a, the first endnote number in the endnote pane appears incorrectly, and the first 10 characters of the endnote cannot be selected, deleted, or otherwise edited.

Endnote Reference and Endnote Text Styles Not Applied

In Word, when you open a WordPerfect document containing endnotes, the Endnote Reference style is now correctly applied to the endnote number in the document body and in the endnote pane. The Endnote Text style is also correctly applied to the endnote text. In Word 6.0a, neither style is applied, resulting in incorrect appearance.

Boxes in Footers Incorrectly Positioned at Top of Page

When you open a WordPerfect document in Word that contains a Figure, User, Text, Table, or Equation box within a footer that is positioned at top relative to page, the box is now correctly positioned at the top of the footer.

In WordPerfect, a position of top relative to page for a box within a footer really means top relative to footer. In Word 6.0a such boxes were incorrectly positioned at top of page.

Word Hangs If INPUT Code Without Associated Closing Tilde Encountered

In Word when you open a WordPerfect document containing a [Mrg:INPUT] merge code without the associated tilde character (~), a FILLIN field with no prompt message is now generated. In Word 6.0a, Word stops responding.

In WordPerfect, a [Mrg:INPUT] code is normally followed by message text and a tilde character acting as the message terminator. If the message text or tilde character is manually removed from a document for one or more [Mrg:INPUT] fields prior to conversion, earlier versions of Word stop responding.

Page Break Lost If Format Property Change Exists Within Header or Footer

In Word, when you open a WordPerfect document that contains hard page breaks preceded by header or footer definitions that contain formatting codes, the hard page breaks are no longer lost. In Word 6.0a, if a header or footer definition preceding a hard page break contains formatting codes such as a page numbering style change, the subsequent hard page break is sometimes ignored.

Legal Style Heading Numbering Exports as Outline Paragraph Numbering

Legal heading numbering is now exported as normal text with heading styles applied when you save in WordPerfect format. This retains the appearance of legal numbering. In Word 6.0a, legal heading numbering is exported to WordPerfect format as paragraph numbering with a paragraph numbering definition specifying Outline style. This functionality compromises legal appearance. Current functionality is the best compromise possible given paragraph numbering model differences in the two products.

TOC Levels Not Retained \ TOC Indentation Compromised Following Update

In Word, when you open a WordPerfect document containing table of contents entries with levels other than level 1, the appropriate level is now preserved through use of the \L switch in the resulting TC fields in Word. In Word 6.0a, all marked TOC entries are converted as level 1 entries. Therefore, although a converted TOC might appear correctly immediately following conversion, all indentation within the TOC is lost if the TOC is subsequently updated in Word.

Page Numbers for TOC Entries Incorrectly Suppressed

When you open a WordPerfect document containing a table of contents in Word, page numbers for all TOC entries are now correctly retained. In Word 6.0a, in isolated instances the TC field \N switch, which suppresses the page number for a TOC entry, is inappropriately emitted, resulting in page numbers not appearing for one or more levels of a converted table of contents.

"No sequence specified" or "No table of figures entries found" During Update of Converted Lists

In Word 6.0c, when you open a WordPerfect document containing a simple list (WordPerfect List options 1 through 5), you can now update the resulting table of contents successfully. In Word 6.0a, the converter incorrectly assumes any list it encounters is a list of Figure, Table, Text Box, User Box, or Equation captions (WordPerfect List options 6 through 10). When the resulting TOC is subsequently updated in Word, one of the above messages is received, given the absence of these captions.

Numbers Skipped in Paragraph Numbering Sequence

In Word 6.0c, when you open a WordPerfect document containing a series of numbered paragraphs, numbers are no longer skipped in the resulting heading number sequence when a change in the text preceding a paragraph numbering code is encountered. In Word 6.0a, a numbering sequence appearing as

   Section 101
   Sec. 102
   Sec. 103

   101
   103
   104

NOTE: By design, text preceding WordPerfect paragraph numbers is lost in Word when a WordPerfect document is converted to heading numbering because of differences between Word heading numbering and WordPerfect paragraph numbering models.

Flush Right Emulation Incorrect in Headers, Footers, Footnotes, Endnotes, and Boxes

When you open a WordPerfect document containing flush-right line format within a header, footer, footnote, endnote, or any type of WordPerfect box, the right-aligned tab stop emitted to emulate the flush-right format now appears at the correct horizontal position. In Word 6.0a, the tab-stop is sometimes positioned inaccurately.

"Unable to load equation converter, continue?"

When you save a Word document as WordPerfect format, the above error is no longer received unless the equation converter has not been correctly installed. In Word 6.0a, the converter looks for the equation converter dynamic link library (DLL) Wpft5.equ in the wrong location in some instances, resulting in this error.

Label Page Size Definitions on Every Page Generate GPF in Word

When you open a WordPerfect document containing page size definitions that themselves contain label definitions, you will no longer receive a general protection (GP) fault. Label definitions are converted to tables in Word. In Word 6.0a, if you encounter page size definitions on two or more consecutive pages in a WordPerfect document, the converter attempts to create an invalid Word document, and a GP fault subsequently occurs.

Various Indentation Problems

A variety of indentation problems have been corrected. Areas of improvement include:

• Preservation of hanging indents within numbered and other paragraphs
• Preservation of indentation during round-trip to and from WordPerfect
• Indentation of page numbers within imported tables of contents

Font / Font Size Import

Minor optimization has been made to the import of fonts and font sizes.

Character Mapping Import / Export Problems

In Word 6.0a, ANSI characters 139, 173, and 175 are not mapped optimally in round-trip conversion to and from WordPerfect. These characters now correctly retained.

In Word 6.0a, ANSI characters 135, 145, 148, 151, 164, 165, and 223 are exported incorrectly when you save as WordPerfect format. These characters are now mapped to their appropriate WordPerfect character equivalents.

Handling of Invalid WordPerfect Documents

It is common for documents exported in WordPerfect format by other third-party applications (for example, WordPerfect for the Macintosh) to contain technically invalid information. The most common problem Microsoft encounters is the existence of corrupted style packet definitions.

In some cases, such documents can be verified as invalid by observing behavior in WordPerfect. In many cases however, the problem is transparent to the WordPerfect user prior to attempting to open these documents into Word. When such documents are opened in Word, you may receive one or more of the following error messages, possibly followed by a GP fault:

   "Not enough memory to complete operation"

   "Cannot open file."

   "This document appears to be corrupt, continue?"

   "This is not a valid style name"

NOTE: The above error messages do not represent a problem in the converter. You should receive these error messages when converting WordPerfect documents that are damaged in any way.

MORE INFORMATION

For more information on current WordPerfect converter limitations, double- click the Help icon in Word, type "readme" (without quotation marks), press ENTER twice, choose File Conversion, choose Conversion Limitations, and view the "Converting Between Microsoft Word 6.0 and WordPerfect 5.0, 5.1, and 5.2" topic.