Convert button on Office Button menu

[NeilT]

Hi all,

My company is preparing to deploy Office 2007 and focused on training users
now to avoid headaches later. We want users to know how to convert old files
to the new format.

I know that users can open an old file and use the Save As command to save
in the new format. My concern is that users will use Save As, but not delete
the old file. Then another user will look for the file and find two. Which
file is current?

Under the Office Button Menu, there is a command called 'Convert'. On the
user's local machine, this command will convert the original document to the
new format. That is to say, it does not produce a copy; it changes the
original file avoiding the two file scenario mentioned above. However, if
the file is on the network, the Convert command produces the same results as
Save As. I would like to change this behavior. Perhaps this is simply not
possible, but I was hoping to get some insight regarding the Convert command.

Thanks.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Hi all,

My company is preparing to deploy Office 2007 and focused on training users
now to avoid headaches later. We want users to know how to convert old files
to the new format.

I know that users can open an old file and use the Save As command to save
in the new format. My concern is that users will use Save As, but not delete
the old file. Then another user will look for the file and find two. Which
file is current?

Under the Office Button Menu, there is a command called 'Convert'. On the
user's local machine, this command will convert the original document to the
new format. That is to say, it does not produce a copy; it changes the
original file avoiding the two file scenario mentioned above. However, if
the file is on the network, the Convert command produces the same results as
Save As. I would like to change this behavior. Perhaps this is simply not
possible, but I was hoping to get some insight regarding the Convert command.

Which edition of Office 2007 do you have? I ask because I'm unable to find a
Convert command in any of the Office 2007 apps here.

As far as the main problem's concerned, would it be practical to do a bulk
conversion of all the binary files on the network to the new format? This could
probably be automated.

 

[Gordon]

Which edition of Office 2007 do you have? I ask because I'm unable to
find a
Convert command in any of the Office 2007 apps here.

2007 Standard here - the Convert button only appears when I have opened a
97-2003 format document - then if I click on the Office button it's in the
drop-down options...

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

2007 Standard here - the Convert button only appears when I have opened a
97-2003 format document - then if I click on the Office button it's in the
drop-down options...

Ah, yes, I see. Thanks.

[foreheadslap] I should've thought to open a binary format document here.

 

[NeilT]

We have Professional Plus, but as Gordon stated, the command only appears
when you have opened an old format document.

Bulk conversion may be an option, but it would be nearly impossible to feel
confident that we have found every old doc in every folder on every server.
I think the goal is to leave file conversion up the users who know where
their files are, what they are for and if they should be converted. Some of
our users are not terribly computer savy, so to have a simple command that
converts without reproducing files would be ideal.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

We have Professional Plus, but as Gordon stated, the command only appears
when you have opened an old format document.

Bulk conversion may be an option, but it would be nearly impossible to feel
confident that we have found every old doc in every folder on every server.
I think the goal is to leave file conversion up the users who know where
their files are, what they are for and if they should be converted. Some of
our users are not terribly computer savy, so to have a simple command that
converts without reproducing files would be ideal.

It should be fairly simple to write an add-in that:

Saves the current file in the new format, to the same folder and filename (but
different extension) as the old file and, after it's successfully done that, deletes
the old file.

They'd have to be trained to use it rather than the built-in CONVERT command.