Errors between Mac and Windows Word Users

[Krell]

Version: 2008 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) Processor: Intel I am trying to exchange the same Word document with a Windows user that has the newest version of Word.

I use Word 2008 for the Mac. When my Windows Word colleague sends me a document, and I open it with Mac Word, it has @ symbols, A's and = signs that should not be there.

I suspect that these might be some formatting tricks the writer is using (but not sure). My Windows colleague is willing to not use the offending functions, but I don't know what to ask him to not to do.

 

[John McGhie]

Check on your system that you have the Calibri font installed and enabled.

Then ask him to send you a document expressed ONLY in Calibri.

I suspect you are looking at a "Non-Unicode font error" but I am not sure.
If the problem goes away in Calibri, that was it.

Hope this helps

Version: 2008 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) Processor: Intel
I am trying to exchange the same Word document with a Windows user that has
the newest version of Word.

I use Word 2008 for the Mac. When my Windows Word colleague sends me a
document, and I open it with Mac Word, it has @ symbols, A's and = signs that
should not be there.

I suspect that these might be some formatting tricks the writer is using (but
not sure). My Windows colleague is willing to not use the offending
functions, but I don't know what to ask him to not to do.

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]

 

[Krell]

Thanks,

I changed the font to Calibri, the doc went to the Calibri font but that did not fix the problem. I know how to change a font, but what is 'expressed'?

 

[John McGhie]

Hmmm... "Expressed" meant "No other font is used in the document." I
wanted to disable the font substitution mechanism that goes on in a Word
document if the requested font is not installed on the machine.

You said "I changed the font to Calibri"? That implies that you did that,
on the Mac. I need HIM to do it, on the PC, then save the document and send
you that version.

I need to change the code being written to disk by the PC, in order to get
the result of the test.

Sorry...

Thanks,

I changed the font to Calibri, the doc went to the Calibri font but that did
not fix the problem. I know how to change a font, but what is 'expressed'?

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]

 

[Krell]

He sent me the doc again with the Calibri font. It still has @ symbols, A's and = signs that should not be there.

Further suggestions are appreciated.

 

[John McGhie]

HOW is he sending you that document?

What you are seeing is "Quote Printable" symbols appearing because the
document is in the wrong character set.

But this should never happen in a .docx file, where the character set is
always Unicode. It IS a .docx file you are getting, is it? He's not simply
pasting into an email?

How is he sending you this, how is he creating it (blank document or copying
a document?) what locality is he in, what language is he using, what
operating system (exactly...) is he using, which version of Word is he using
(exactly...) and what service packs has he applied to it?

If I create a Word document here, from a blank document, in Calibri, and
send it to you in .docx format, you will not see equals signs. Trust me on
this... Something is happening in the path between Word 2003 and you that
is translating the document from the code it is in.

Tell him to try zipping the file before he sends it. It may be that his
email program is getting into the act and stuffing things up...

Cheers

He sent me the doc again with the Calibri font. It still has @ symbols, A's
and = signs that should not be there.

Further suggestions are appreciated.

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]

 

[Krell]

HOW is he sending you that document?

As a word file xxx.docx

What you are seeing is "Quote Printable" symbols appearing because the
> document is in the wrong character set.
>
> But this should never happen in a .docx file, where the character set is
> always Unicode. It IS a .docx file you are getting, is it?

YES

He's not simply
> pasting into an email?

NO

How is he sending you this, how is he creating it (blank document or copying
> a document?)

Blank document.

what locality is he in,

USA

what language is he using,

English

what

> operating system (exactly...) is he using, which version of Word is he using
> (exactly...) and what service packs has he applied to it?

I will find out.

 

[Rob Schneider]

does the problem remain if you send yourself via a document created in
the same way?


--rms

www.rmschneider.com

 

[Krell]

First I want to say thank you for sticking with me and helping me with this problem. You are all I've got.

The original author tells me he is using Windows XP Professional and Office Word 2003 with all of the latest updates.

As a test, he sent the file to himself and it comes out perfectly. When I send a file to myself it comes out perfectly.

Zipping the file did not help.

I have noticed that the extra symbols, A, @ symbol,= sign, tend to occur more frequently in parentheses. Also underlining appears to increase the likelihood of problems. For example, 'Exhibit E' shows up on my Mac as 'Exhibit AE@' however the capital A in front of the E looks a bit different from the capital A's elsewhere in the document.

I have also noticed that an equals sign will often appears before the letter s. For example, 'Contractors' shows up on my Mac as 'Contractor=s'.

 

[CyberTaz]

Just a thought ‹ check the Language formatting by selecting some of the
faulty text & looking in Tools> Language. If the content is formatted as
something other than what it should be (or if no Language is indicated) that
could be the problem. Try selecting all & use Tools> Language to select the
appropriate language.

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

 

[Krell]

It looked like it was already set to English (US).

I then tried selecting All, and set to English (US), the unwanted characters are still there.

 

[John McGhie]

I need to see what's going on here. This is a "character set" issue, I
believe.

Please forward to me (mailto:[email protected]) the email he sent you.
Please don't "re-create" the email, just forward it: I need to see exactly
what's leaving his system.

Cheers

It looked like it was already set to English (US).

I then tried selecting All, and set to English (US), the unwanted characters
are still there.

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]