As I have repeated over and over, but you are still not prepared to listen.
Plain text DOES NOT SUPPORT FONT FORMATTING!!!!!
You can force it to display whatever font you like eg TNR, but then the
document immediately loses its plain text status. Word adds (invisibly in
the paragraph breaks that split and add the document) the additional
formatting you apply - here TNR. It is not adding manual formatting so much
as removing the style formatting that is incompatible with the file type.
I appreciate that you find this frustrating, but it is not my (or Suzanne's)
fault that you want to force Word to do something that contradicts the file
format. You are either going to have to live with it, use one of the
suggested workarounds, or use something else.
--
Graham Mayor - Word MVP
My web site
www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site
http://word.mvps.org
Uriel wrote:
Precisely!
Dumb things like that are acutely stressful to me.
We're talking something I'd be doing thousands and thousands of times.
Manually removing font formatting that Word inexplicably attaches to
plain text.
It's just too dumb.
I already deal with enough folly without having it stuck in my craw
every time I use my computer. Actually, I can say it would definitely
drive me to abandon this 2003 trial and go back to 2000.
"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote in message
...
Okay, so what you're saying is that when you open a text document, it
is too much trouble for you to Ctrl+A, Ctrl+Spacebar to get the
appearance you want?
"Uriel" wrote in message
...
I think what's happening here is that you have TNR defined as the
default font for Plain Text, but the plain text is coming in with
Courier New as direct formatting. I would think that this would
change to TNR if you selected text and did ResetChar
(Ctrl+Spacebar) on the text irrespective of the draft font.
Yes, that's right:
- I have TNR defined as the default font for Plain Text
- the text is coming in directly formatted with Courier New
- (with "draft font" unchecked): it does change to TNR if I select
text and do Ctrl+Spacebar (i.e., the direct formatting is removed,
which is what's supposed to happen on Ctrl+Spacebar).
does the font of the document not change to TNR if you Ctrl+A,
Ctrl+Spacebar (without using the draft font option)?
It does change to TNR.
I would imagine that the font box is reflecting what font the text
would be using if you switched to Print Layout view (not using the
draft font).
Right again. OK, I understand this now that I've looked up what
checking "draft font" means. It simply displays the designated draft
font, in Normal view, regardless of what the actual font is in the
document.
Which actually is not so cool for me, since setting the option gives
me TNR 12 (in Normal view, the view I normally work with) for ALL
documents, including actual .DOC documents that do have Word
formatting, unlike TXT or HTM files.
Good grief. Is there no way to open TXT files without Word applying
unwanted formats?
What happened to the "text file" option that Word 2000 included in
the list of conversions one could choose from on opening a non-DOC
file? Can I get that, with the old behavior, back? (It provides what
I need -- namely, NO conversion.)
"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote in message
...
I think what's happening here is that you have TNR defined as the
default font for Plain Text, but the plain text is coming in with
Courier New as direct formatting. I would think that this would
change to TNR if you selected text and did ResetChar (Ctrl+Spacebar)
on the text irrespective of the draft font. I would imagine that the
font box is reflecting what font the text would be using if you
switched to Print Layout view (not using the draft font). I haven't
been following this thread carefully, but does the font of the
document not change to TNR if you Ctrl+A, Ctrl+Spacebar (without
using the draft font option)?
--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.
"Uriel" wrote in message
...
Curiouser and curiouser.
This really has to be tried to be believed.
I did what you suggested. "Draft font" had been unchecked; I
checked and selected TNR 12. Now what happens, on opening an HTM or
TXT file, is that text indeed appears as TNR 12. But the formatting
toolbar nevertheless shows "Courier New." If I ctrl-space, the
formatting toolbar changes and reports TNR. But the highlighted
text doesn't change (since it was already TNR).
Also, after opening the file and before I change any formats, Reveal
Formatting shows Direct Formatting with Courier New (in defiance of
the actual appearance of TNR).
However ....... these issues are academic, since I've got the TNR I
wanted. (Better legibility and more efficient use of screen space.)
Thanks for solving the problem, Suzanne!
"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote in message
...
I think the issue here is that the formatting for the Plain Text
style is supplied in this case not by Normal.dot but by whatever
template is attached to the file you open, and it's difficult to
say what that might be in the case of a .TXT or .HTM file.
I have thought of a workaround that might accomplish what you want:
If you are willing to edit in Normal view (which should be
satisfactory for a plain-text document), you can check the box for
"Draft font" on the View tab of Tools | Options and select TNR as
the font to use.
--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.
"Uriel" wrote in message
...
Graham, I'm afraid you're still missing my points.
OK I'll concede that 
Graham, I hate to say this, but you're STILL missing the points.
Are you actually reading my posts? It's very kind of you to spend
time posting responses to queries, but the time would be better
spent if you first figured out what the queries actually say.
If you open an HTM file as text then change the formatting to
TNR, you have indeed changed the formatting
Graham: I DID NOT DO THAT.
By overriding the default font in the plain text style (which as
you have indicated you cannot do)
I *DID* do it. As I've reported previously. The plain text style
in my Normal.dot is defined to use TNR.
As others have reported before you, Word is not the ideal tool
for editing html files
Really. I don't know what their objections might have been. Word
2000 always suited me perfectly fine for editing html files.
frankly for a plain text document I for one wouldn't want it
changed.
What can I say? We have different preferences. This is an inquiry
about buggy, inconsistent behavior in Word 2003, and whether
there's a way to avoid it.
"Graham Mayor" wrote in message
...
Uriel wrote:
Graham, I'm afraid you're still missing my points.
OK I'll concede that
Select 'plain text'. This will open the document in the manner
you have described.
I know that. I did that. But the problem that follows is
described in "Puzzle #1" in my earlier post (below).
OK
Word will let you format that document with any font you like,
but if you save it as plain text all that formatting will be
lost, because plain text doesn't support that.
I know that. No problem. I have no intention of applying
formatting to an .HTM file that I open, edit, and save as plain
text.
If you open an HTM file as text then change the formatting to TNR,
you have indeed changed the formatting to use a proportional font.
This is no problem at all if you then intend saving as a Word
document, but plain text does not support font information of any
kind. It stores only the underlying text.
If you change the plain text style to use Times Roman font then
select all the document and press CTRL+Space to apply it to the
document.
But why is this necessary? Why does Word apply direct font
formatting immediately after opening an .HTM file with conversion
option "plain text"?
You would have to ask Microsoft's programmers, but it is
presumably because plain text documents do not contain
proportional font information. By overriding the default font in
the plain text style (which as you have indicated you cannot do)
Word substitutes a monospaced font - courier new. You can apply
the changes you have made to the style by using the CTRL+A
CTRL+Space if that is what you want. There does not seem to be any
way round this - and frankly for a plain text document I for one
wouldn't want it changed.
the above proviso remains, the plain text format does not support
proportional fonts.
You said this before. And I answered: Word permits defining the
"plain text" style to use TNR. So what do you mean by "does not
support"?
Answered (I hope) above 
select the document in the file open window and from the down
arrow alongside the Open button select 'open with Word'.
Why would I do that?? It's exactly the same as simply clicking the
Open button directly.
That rather depends on what you default settings are for opening
htm files and what filters you have present. If opening directly
works for you, then that's fine.
As others have reported before you, Word is not the ideal tool for
editing html files, which I presume this is what lies behind your
query. If you find it such a big deal that you cannot edit your
plain text files in Word using a proportional font without forcing
the changes in the style as described, then the following macro
attached to a toolbar button will do it for you at a click.
Sub PlaintoTNR()
Selection.WholeStory
Selection.Font.Reset
Selection.HomeKey Unit:=wdStory
End Sub
http://www.gmayor.com/installing_macro.htm
--
Graham Mayor - Word MVP
My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org
"Graham Mayor" wrote in message
...
Plain text is a document format containing only characters in the
ASCII character set. If you open an HTML document with the plain
text filter (select the document in the file open window and from
the down arrow alongside the Open button select 'open with Word'.
You will be presented with a bunch of file open options. Select
'plain text'. This will open the document in the manner you have
described.
Word will let you format that document with any font you like,
but if you save it as plain text all that formatting will be
lost, because plain text doesn't support that. If you change the
plain text style to use Times Roman font then select all the
document and press CTRL+Space to apply it to the document.
However the above proviso remains, the plain text format does not
support proportional fonts.
Uriel wrote:
Sorry, but I don't understand your points. Maybe I should be
clearer that I *want* to open the .HTM as plaintext -- i.e. I
want to see ihtml formatting codes/i. (I want to see "i"
rather than have Word show the text formatted as italics.)
You say "Plain text cannot use proportional fonts like TNR." But
Word permits me to modify the "Plain Text" style to use TNR.
Also don't know what you mean by text filter. Is my installation
missing a component? As mentioned, "Text file" is offered as a
conversion option when I select a .TXT file in the File/Open
dialogue.
"Graham Mayor" wrote in message
...
1. Plain text cannot use proportional fonts like TNR, so you are
not going to succeed with this.
2. You should be able to use the old filter (which was removed
for security considerations). The text filter is linked from the
downloads page of my web site. Whether it will do what you want
is another matter entirely. You may also need the old htm
filter. I don't have a link for that one, but if you still have
access to the Word 2000 equipped machine .......
Uriel wrote:
Puzzle #1: With Word 2003, when I open a file using the "Plain
text" file conversion option, Word assigns the "Plain Text"
style to each paragraph, which is not surprising; but it also
applies direct font formatting (confirmed via Reveal
Formatting) so that the font is Courier New even though I've
redefined the "Plain Text" style to use Times Roman.
Puzzle #2: In Word 2000, I used to routinely open .HTM files
with the "Text file" conversion option. This option is no longer
presented as an option in Word 2003 when I select an .HTM file
to open. (It *is* presented as an option when I select a .TXT
file.)