.docx not bringing over all the formatting

[Cheryl]

An office worker received a document that was .docx. She used the
Open XML Conversion application since we are running Word 2004,
version 11.5.1. The document included track changes and outlining.
Some of the outlining did transfer over but some did not. Since the
only copy was from the email attachment she received, she didn't
realize it didn't contain some of the outlining until she made changes
and returned it to the sender, who in turn replied that outlining was
missing. Has anyone else had this problem? Is there any workaround
on this (besides upgrading to Office 2008)? Thanks.

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Cheryl;

I can't give you a definitive answer to your questions, but I can tell you
that Numbering is one of the more complex and least understood constructs in
a Word document. In general the converters do a pretty good job, but if
there is going to be a problem Outline Numbering would be one of the more
likely issues to cause it.

However, that can be the case for a single user whose document never
ventures away from home. If the appropriate procedures are not followed to
the letter when the numbering is constructed it can definitely lead to
complications & errors.

Track Changes can also contribute to the destruction of a document, so it
isn't unlikely that the combination of the two may have caused some amount
of corruption. There may also be a number of other factors involved as well.

It's most likely, therefore, that the causes of the problem are in the
original document - even though it may not be apparent as yet - and that the
converters simply are having a problem accurately reading the file content.
IOW, my guess would be that it isn't the conversion that's at fault so much
as it is the source file that's being converted.

You might have a look at this web article & try some of the procedures
described there for un-corrupting a document. Comparable techniques can be
employed on the PC side;

http://word.mvps.org/Mac/DocumentCorruption.html

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Cheryl:

In addition to Bob's response, I would add that you need to expect that
"some" information will be lost in the down-conversion from .docx to .doc,
because the older application and the older .doc format either can't handle
some items that Word 2008 can produce, or the old file format cannot store
them.

Tracked changes will normally survive, but not if they track a change to an
object (such as a graphical element) that Word 2004 can't display.

If by "Outlining" you mean "Outline Numbered Lists", these will not
transport unless they are produced by List Styles.

You need to create a List Style, then define your numbering into that, and
then define your Paragraph styles into the List Style, one for each level of
the List Style that you intend to use.

That will copy reliably back and forth: but "Outline Numbering" applied as
direct formatting may not. Of course, if you send the document to a version
of Word pre-2004 that doesn't support List Styles either, then it breaks.

Hope this helps

An office worker received a document that was .docx. She used the
Open XML Conversion application since we are running Word 2004,
version 11.5.1. The document included track changes and outlining.
Some of the outlining did transfer over but some did not. Since the
only copy was from the email attachment she received, she didn't
realize it didn't contain some of the outlining until she made changes
and returned it to the sender, who in turn replied that outlining was
missing. Has anyone else had this problem? Is there any workaround
on this (besides upgrading to Office 2008)? Thanks.

--

Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP, Word and Word:Mac
Nhulunbuy, NT, Australia. mailto:[email protected]

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi John - How's the jet lag recovery going?

Tracked changes will normally survive, but not if they track a change to an
object (such as a graphical element) that Word 2004 can't display.

.... Or unless the tracked changes have been pushed to such an extent that
they're starting to pollute the original - especially if the outline
numbering has been manually hacked & repeatedly rehashed

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Cheryl]

Hi Cheryl;

I can't give you a definitive answer to your questions, but I can tell you
that Numbering is one of the more complex and least understood constructs in
a Word document. In general the converters do a pretty good job, but if
there is going to be a problem Outline Numbering would be one of the more
likely issues to cause it.

However, that can be the case for a single user whose document never
ventures away from home. If the appropriate procedures are not followed to
the letter when the numbering is constructed it can definitely lead to
complications & errors.

Track Changes can also contribute to the destruction of a document, so it
isn't unlikely that the combination of the two may have caused some amount
of corruption. There may also be a number of other factors involved as well.

It's most likely, therefore, that the causes of the problem are in the
original document - even though it may not be apparent as yet - and that the
converters simply are having a problem accurately reading the file content.
IOW, my guess would be that it isn't the conversion that's at fault so much
as it is the source file that's being converted.

You might have a look at this web article & try some of the procedures
described there for un-corrupting a document. Comparable techniques can be
employed on the PC side;

http://word.mvps.org/Mac/DocumentCorruption.html

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

Thanks - I'll pass it on. It was a outline numbered list. There were
other parts of the document (it was a 41 page document) where the
outlining was fine. Maybe between the track changes and the
outlining, stuff got lost. I just was wondering if it was a .docx
conversion issue. Thanks again. Cheryl

 

[Cheryl]

Hi Cheryl;

I can't give you a definitive answer to your questions, but I can tell you
that Numbering is one of the more complex and least understood constructs in
a Word document. In general the converters do a pretty good job, but if
there is going to be a problem Outline Numbering would be one of the more
likely issues to cause it.

However, that can be the case for a single user whose document never
ventures away from home. If the appropriate procedures are not followed to
the letter when the numbering is constructed it can definitely lead to
complications & errors.

Track Changes can also contribute to the destruction of a document, so it
isn't unlikely that the combination of the two may have caused some amount
of corruption. There may also be a number of other factors involved as well.

It's most likely, therefore, that the causes of the problem are in the
original document - even though it may not be apparent as yet - and that the
converters simply are having a problem accurately reading the file content.
IOW, my guess would be that it isn't the conversion that's at fault so much
as it is the source file that's being converted.

You might have a look at this web article & try some of the procedures
described there for un-corrupting a document. Comparable techniques can be
employed on the PC side;

http://word.mvps.org/Mac/DocumentCorruption.html

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

Thanks - I'll pass it on. It was a outline numbered list. There were
other parts of the document (it was a 41 page document) where the
outlining was fine. Maybe between the track changes and the
outlining, stuff got lost. I just was wondering if it was a .docx
conversion issue. Thanks again. Cheryl

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Cheryl:

Yes, that would do it. Generally, I recommend avoiding Tracked Changes
entirely in .doc format. The binary format simply is not stable enough for
them to be reliable.

Instead, complete your editing, and then use Compare Documents to mark up
the changes after you have finished. That will be a lot more reliable.

In .docx, Tracked Changes will be more reliable, but it will still break
documents. And Outline Lists that are applied without a defined List Style
are a very flakey mechanism that breaks a lot.

See if you can persuade the other user to use List Styles: things will
transport a lot more reliably.

This has nothing to do with the size of the document. An "Outline List" is
one line in a table of formatting at the end of the document. And a "big"
document is one that is more than a thousand pages.

Really, your difficulty is with the editing. You have to edit very
carefully to ensure that you do not mangle paragraphs when operating with
tracked changes. Turn on your non-printing characters so you can see what
you are doing

Cheers

Thanks - I'll pass it on. It was a outline numbered list. There were
other parts of the document (it was a 41 page document) where the
outlining was fine. Maybe between the track changes and the
outlining, stuff got lost. I just was wondering if it was a .docx
conversion issue. Thanks again. Cheryl

--

Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP, Word and Word:Mac
Nhulunbuy, NT, Australia. mailto:[email protected]