WD: How Word Converts WordPerfect 5.x/6.x Hard and Soft Returns

• Microsoft Word 98 Macintosh Edition
• Microsoft Word 97 for Windows
• Microsoft Word for Windows 95 version 7.0
• Microsoft Word for Windows versions 1.x, 2.x, 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0c
• Microsoft Word for Windows NT version 6.0
• Microsoft Word for the Macintosh versions 5.0, 5.1, 5.1a, 6.0, 6.0.1

SUMMARY

This article discusses the various types of "carriage returns" that are available in WordPerfect and Word for Windows, and how those returns are converted from one product to the other.

MORE INFORMATION

WordPerfect 5.x and 6.x hard and soft returns are supported in conversion to Word. WordPerfect's dormant hard returns are converted to normal paragraph marks.

Differences in character spacing between the two products may cause soft returns to be located in different locations than they appear in the original WordPerfect document.

Leading for hard returns (secondary leading) is converted to spacing after import from WordPerfect only. Leading for soft returns (Primary leading) is not supported for conversion.

Soft returns are automatically inserted by WordPerfect when text reaches the end of a line; a hard return is inserted by pressing ENTER.

A WordPerfect dormant hard return dictates that if a hard return appears alone on a line at the top of a page that starts with a soft page break, it will be changed from a hard return code into a dormant hard return code. This is done so that the text at the top of the document is not needlessly shifted downward.

The most common instance in which a dormant hard return is inserted in WordPerfect occurs if a user manually presses ENTER twice between the last paragraph of one page and the first paragraph on the next page. In this case, the formatting appears in Reveal Codes similar to:

   Text at end of first page...[HRt-SPg]
   [Dorm HRt]Text at beginning of following page...

The solution is to delete the extra paragraph mark following conversion. If the unwanted paragraph mark appears at the top of a page in the converted document, set Paragraph Spacing After to 12 pts in the last paragraph of the preceding pagefirst page to restore original layout. This process can be automated using Word's Autoformat feature, which converts manual double- spacing between paragraphs into paragraph spacing after.