Document created in one Word version being edited in other versions

[Loretta Albert]

We are using shell documents (not true templates) as the
starting point for requirements documents. If the shell
documents were created in a version of Word higher than
97, would there be a problem in modifying the requirements
documents in Word 97?

A shell document could have been created in Word 2000,
send to a Word 97 requirements analyst for updating, then
to a XP/Word 2002 tech writer for editing. The tech writer
indicates that the document from the Word 97 analyst is
crashing her system multiple times. I'm concerned that we
may have issues going forward about using various versions
of Word.

Any problems with the tech writer using 2002 to edit a
document and then sending it back to a Word 97 analyst for
updates?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Margaret Aldis]

Hi Loretta

Basically, yes, there are compatibility issues between the Word versions,
and if you continually 'round trip' between versions you are likely to get
crashes and corruptions.

Having said that, it's not uncommon to just have to make it work across
versions! My recommendations (based on a bit of bitter experience <g>) would
be:

Use the setting in Word 2002 on Tools > Options > Save to 'disable features
after Word 97', but don't expect it to be a panacea.

Recreate all the shell documents in Word 97 if possible. Make a new document
and paste the content in, but don't paste in section breaks and don't paste
in tables from Word 2000 or above. You should also make sure that any font
colours you use are the basic Word 97 ones, not custom colours.
(Incidentally, setting up the documents in 97 should also make sure you have
Tools > Options> Compatibility settings in the document for 97, which you
should not update if you open documents in later versions).

Check out which editing and formatting features were introduced in each
version, and make sure the doc editors know which features they should use,
and which to avoid. (This is probably slightly easier with 2002 that 2000,
thanks to the 'disable features' feature, but that isn't foolproof). For
instance, Word 2000 and above allow merged cells and other table formatting
that isn't available in 97 - if a 2000 document is edited in 97, some form
of conversion will take place, but it may not be what you want and it is
even less likely to work correctly when reopened in 2000 or 2002.

Be very particular about keeping 'snapshots' of the documents at frequent
and identifiable intervals, so that if a document does corrupt you can get
back most or all of the content. If you do have to backtrack, pasting
content back into a clean shell would be advisable.

Finally, your incompatibilities could also be between editors. There are
many different ways of using Word, and it could be that the Word 97 analyst
is going about things in a way that doesn't fit with the way the tech writer
would approach the same problem. Making sure you have a clean set of styles
and consistent 'House Style' may also make things more stable.

Hope this is some help