Creating fillinable documents in Word 2004 that are fully functional in Works for Windows

[diane]

Hi Folks!

Happy Spring to everyone!

I was wondering, is it possible to create fillinable documents/forms in
Word 2004 for Mac that will be fully functional in Works for Windows?

Thank you thank you!!
Diane Dennis

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macintosh]]

Hi Diane:

Yes, but not the other way around, and there are issues.

The main issue is that artefacts render at a different size on the two
platforms, so when designing your forms you have to be careful that text is
going to fit on each platform.

Word PC forms are frequently full of ActiveX controls. These will not run
on the Mac.

However, forms created in Word on the Mac will function perfectly in Word on
the PC.

Hope this helps

Hi Folks!

Happy Spring to everyone!

I was wondering, is it possible to create fillinable documents/forms in
Word 2004 for Mac that will be fully functional in Works for Windows?

Thank you thank you!!
Diane Dennis

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

Wait, Diane said Works for Windows. John, you read it as Word, right? I
don't think any Word created doc (from any version, Win or Mac) will be
fully functional in Works--Diane, which did you mean?

DM

 

[diane]

Hi Daiya!

Thank you, yes I meant Works. [ Hi John! ]

So if I create a Word document on a Mac or PC and then use the forms
toolbar to add fill-in-able fields, there's no way I can save it
that'll allow a person using Works to be able to view, fill in and
print the form?

Thank you for your help!
Diane

Wait, Diane said Works for Windows. John, you read it as Word, right? I
don't think any Word created doc (from any version, Win or Mac) will be
fully functional in Works--Diane, which did you mean?

DM

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

You should ask on a Works newsgroup. But I don't think Works will show
forms from the forms toolbar, I think it's too advanced a feature for a
scaled-down word processor. Works and Word documents are not really
compatible with each other. I'm not even sure you could count on forms
created with tables opening up fine in Works. I know Word requires a
converter to open Works documents, not sure about the other way around.

If you want people to be able to view, fill in and print forms who don't own
Word, try Acrobat. That's one of the things PDF is made for. If you create
a fillable form, people using Adobe Reader will be able to type in it
(though not save changes to it), and then print it. I think you need Acrobat
Pro to create fillable forms, not Standard.

Daiya

Hi Daiya!

Thank you, yes I meant Works. [ Hi John! ]

So if I create a Word document on a Mac or PC and then use the forms
toolbar to add fill-in-able fields, there's no way I can save it
that'll allow a person using Works to be able to view, fill in and
print the form?

Thank you for your help!
Diane

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macintosh]]

Sorry, my bad... Thanks for the pick-up Daiya...

Daiya is correct: Works is not Word, the internals are completely
different. Although Works can read the Word file format, it simply can't
express many of the higher-complexity artefacts contained in those files.

Various versions of PC Works include a full copy of Word in the box, for
exactly this reason, so you can't get stuck with a document that won't work
right in Works.

Sorry.

Hi Daiya!

Thank you, yes I meant Works. [ Hi John! ]

So if I create a Word document on a Mac or PC and then use the forms
toolbar to add fill-in-able fields, there's no way I can save it
that'll allow a person using Works to be able to view, fill in and
print the form?

Thank you for your help!
Diane

Wait, Diane said Works for Windows. John, you read it as Word, right? I
don't think any Word created doc (from any version, Win or Mac) will be
fully functional in Works--Diane, which did you mean?

DM

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410