Hi Tim:
You are quite correct on all counts.
Mactopia is currently broken: the helpers are not seeing any of the
questions being posted. Microsoft is working on the problem. In the
meantime:
To successfully post in here, either use Google:
http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.mac.office.word?lnk=
Or Microsoft Communities:
http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx?dg=micros
oft.public.mac.office.word&cat=en_US_3cf8ecf1-ca81-4391-b07d-8933029ee8a9&la
ng=en&cr=US
Or in Entourage, use the pre-configured Microsoft News server:
See "setting up Entourage for Newsreading" here:
http://word.mvps.org/Mac/AccessNewsgroups.html
The equations problem "should" have been fixed, but currently it hasn't
been. In Word 2004 and Word 2008, we must assume that it is unlikely ever
to be fixed.
The issue appears to be that the Object Linking and Embedding mechanism in
Mac Word is unreliable. Since it is a very complex mechanism, I guess that
fixing it would be a high-cost item that keeps falling off the development
schedule.
In any document where any combination of Keep Track of Formatting, Track
Changes, and Footnotes or Endnotes are in use, Equations will continue to
blow up.
All I can offer you is a work-around. While it is laborious, it gives you
an opportunity of having to do it only ONCE for each equation...
1) Create a new folder for your document (if each document is in its own
folder, this work-around does not mean 'much' extra work).
2) Make sure the document is SAVED into the folder (or copied, doesn't
matter which, but if the document does not already exist as a disk file, you
can expect problems because you will get them).
3) Create the equation as usual.
4) When complete, exit the Equation Editor and right-click the equation.
5) Choose Save as Picture.
6) Assign a name you will recognise, so if the equation gets lost, you can
easily find it to put it back in.
7) Choose a FORMAT of "PDF" (prevents "fuzzy equations) and ensure that the
file extension .pdf appears, and that "Save each equation as a separate
file" is checked.
8) Make sure the PDF saves into the same folder as the document (this
overcomes a hassle with explicit path names later). If you wish to move the
document, move the entire folder: all your links will stay linked.
Now you have a backup. You won't need to do anything more unless the
equation blows up. When it does:
1) Delete the equation from the document,
2) Replace it with its picture using Insert>Picture>From File.
3) Make sure you CHECK "Link to file" and UNCHECK "Save picture with
document".
The first checkbox stores the path to the picture file in the document. The
second prevents Word also storing the picture information in the document.
The effect of the first setting is that, no matter how unreliable the OLE
mechanism and file format is, the equation is stored as an encapsulated
picture that will not be damaged. The effect of the second checkbox is that
the undamaged picture will always be retrieved and displayed, because it is
never stored in the document.
Alternative:
In the second procedure, you can leave the checkboxes set as their defaults:
turn "Link to File" off and check "Save Picture in Document". The benefit
of doing this is that the document then becomes self-contained. You can
simply compress it and email it anywhere.
The downside is that the document is now full of embedded "objects". Which
means it is subject to the same unreliability of embedded objects. While it
will be more reliable than embedding equations, you will still get the
dreaded red Xs appearing.
And the file size of the document will expand significantly, because Word
will store bitmap copies of the equation pictures in the document. And the
fuzzies will come back, because every now and then, Word will "lose" the
nice clean PDF version of the picture and fall back to its cheap and nasty
bitmap version.
Hope this helps
I have not seen any recent activity on this topic, and I tried to post
at Mactopia. Apparently that is not the best way to join the
discussion.
What is the status of the problem with equations from Equation Editor
or MathType? My dissertation is full of equations, and every time I
open up to edit, some random fraction of the equations have turned to
pictures, become fuzzy, and can't be edited. This would only be
irritating if that were the only issue, but if I save with equations
that have been turned into pictures, then inevitable the next time I
open the document some of them are white boxes with a red X in them.
This is totally unacceptable because it means that every time I open
my document, I need to search through 140 pages to find all the
"stoned" equations and reenter them. Pasting from an older version is
unreliable. This is not an enhancement to productivity, and I never
had this problem in previous versions of Word; it hardly constitutes
an upgrade.
Surely this should have been fixed by now? I have seen posts on this
issue dating from a year ago, and there have been multiple updates to
Word 2008, at least two since Mac OS 10.6 rolled out. What's going on
with this? I am not at all interested in using Word for Windows as I
would lose too much in terms of cut-and-paste ability, and I would
have to put up with the @#$ ribbon.
--
This email is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless you intend to pay!
John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. | Ph: +61 (0)4 1209 1410
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:
[email protected]
