View Single Post
  #9   Report Post  
Posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
Suzanne S. Barnhill Suzanne S. Barnhill is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 33,624
Default The WordPerfect "Reveal Codes" method is so much easier to use

Word creates multiple sections from WP docs because that's the only way it
knows to deal with WP's cavalier attitude toward headers/footers, which can
be turned on or off at will. See
http://sbarnhill.mvps.org/WordFAQs/HeaderFooter.htm for more.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

"jhtaxlaw" wrote in message
news
In the meantime, I have a 400-page document that I have to move from
WordPerfect to Word 2007. I got everything to work, except the headers.
Word
seems to make every page a separate section. Anyway, I need the same
header
starting on page 2. Header must contain page numbers flushed right and
other
information flushed left. If I save file as text file, I will lose all
other
formatting. Might as well type the whole thing over. Any other
suggestions?

"Charles Kenyon" wrote:

Suggestions for Microsoft should be sent to Microsoft. Despite
appearances,
posting them on this newsgroup does not get them to Microsoft. This
newsgroup is monitored by a bunch of volunteer Word users who do not work
for Microsoft.

Here is some general info on moving from Word Perfect to Word:

Word and Word Perfect work very differently from one another. Each
program's
methods have strengths and weaknesses; but, if you try to use one of
these
programs as if it were the other, it is like pushing on a string! You can
easily make a lot of extra work for yourself. If you are unwilling to
take
the time to learn to use Word's methods, you should stick to using Word
Pad.
You'll have a lot less grief, although you'll miss out on a lot of raw
power. In the (short) long term spending the time to learn Word will save
you time if you are spending any time at all (more than an hour a day)
using
Word.

See http://www.addbalance.com/word/wordperfect.htm
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Genera...ordPerfect.htm
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Genera...AndGotchas.htm
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/General/RevealCodes.htm
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Genera...Converters.htm
http://businesssoft.about.com/comput.../blconvert.htm
for information on Word for Word Perfect users.

For mo
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Custom...platePart2.htm
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Custom...platePart1.htm
http://www.addbalance.com/usersguide/templates.htm
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Number...gExplained.htm
http://www.addbalance.com/usersguide/styles.htm
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Custom...latesStore.htm


Function Keys

In Word 2000 (or later) You can get the function keys to display in a
special toolbar at the bottom of the screen if you want (something like
pressing F3 twice in WP). The following macro will do this.
Sub ShowMeFunctionKeys()
Commandbars("Function Key Display").Visible = True
End Sub

Word's Extend key (F8) gives something similar to block processing.


Formatting and Styles

Learn about Styles - really learn!
http://www.addbalance.com/usersguide/styles.htm I resisted for years and
now
regret every day of those years because although that string was still
very
hard to push, it kept getting longer and longer, and had some very
important
projects tied to it! Once you understand styles and the Word concept of
organizing things into Chinese boxes everything falls into place and
instead
of pushing a string, you can push a button that turns on the very
powerful
text processing machine known as Microsoft Word and it will start doing
your
work for you instead of running around behind you trying to undo what you
just thought you did.


Converting documents Word / Word Perfect

Some special characters in Word Perfect documents don't convert well to
Word. There is a macro to assist with this described at
http://www.columbia.edu/~em36/wpdos/...html#macroword and can be
found
at http://www.columbia.edu/~em36/wpdos/WPSymbolConv.bas.
This was prepared by Edward Mendelson.
Otherwise, look at the macro from
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=212396
Use these on _copies_!

As for converting documents from Word Perfect to _use_ in Word... In a
word,
don't plan on it. I would not recommend using converted documents
long-term.
They will be filled with formatting anomolies that will get you at the
worst
time. This is especially true of any documents containing automatic
numbering or bullets. Try recreating form documents in Word using the
following process:
In Word Perfect (if you still have it, in Word if not) save your files as
text files.
Use your converted files as references to show you how you want your
formatting to look.
Create a new document in Word and insert the text from the text file.
Save
this new document as a Word template. Format it the way you want using
styles, not direct formatting. Save it again.
To use a template within Word, use File = New and pick your template.
This
will create a new document for you.

Merge documents have special problems and should be recreated from text
files or retyped in Word. To convert data files, consider generating
labels
in WP as a document, converting that to Word, and then using
http://www.gmayor.com/convert_labels...mail_merge.htm to get a new
Word
data file.

Note that conversions usually do create documents that look passable and
print OK; the problems I'm referring to have to do with editing / making
changes, that is, using the documents long-term. (See below on reusing
documents vs. using templates.)

Conversion back to Word Perfect: There is a problem (in addition to the
ones
mentioned for conversion _to_ Word) with Version 2002 (XP) and later of
Word. The conversion file only works for conversion _to_ Word, not from
Word
to Word Perfect! Earlier versions went both ways. To fix this, you need
to
find the old conversion file WPFT532.CNV from a Word 97 or Word 2000
installation and copy it to your new installation, replacing the file of
the
same name. Note, the change making the file one-way was done as a
security
measure. While I don't know of any problems the old file causes, keep the
new installation's file somewhere as a backup just in case.


Boilerplate and Forms

In WP a lot of people use macros to hold chunks of text - boilerplate. In
Word this function is filled by Templates, AutoText and AutoCorrect, not
macros. Follow the links at
http://addbalance.com/word/wordwebre...s.htm#AutoText for more
information on these tools.

You can use FILLIN and ASK fields or UserForms to query the user. For
some
form documents, Word's "online forms" work very well. For more about
online
forms, follow the links at
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customizat...nTheBlanks.htm especially
Dian
Chapman's series of articles.


Reusing Documents vs. Using templates

General practice in WP is to have a document and copy and edit it to
create
a new document. This is not good practice in Word. In Word, construct a
good, tight, template for your documents and use that template when
constructing new documents. Among other things, this can avoid
embarrassing
"metadata" (http://www.addbalance.com/usersguide/metadata.htm) and things
like surprise headers and footers from creeping into new documents.

It's a lot of reading, I know. It's OK to chunk it down and do a bit each
day, but I would recommend that you make it a top priority to do that bit
each day. In the (short) long run, it will save you both time and grief.
--

Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide

See also the MVP FAQ: http://www.mvps.org/word which is awesome!
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.
"Torden" wrote in message
...
Word's method of showing what the format is for a section leaves much
to
be
desired and actually makes correcting problems difficult in some
circumstances. Word Perfect's method of showing the formatting in the
actual
document, upon request, makes finding and correcting the problems very
easy.
I am using Word 2003 and have found unprompted format changes to be a
problem. Trying to fix the changes is cumbersome and sometimes almost
impossible with Word's system. In WordPerfect, the problems are
visible
(in
the location where they arise and at a glance) with just the click of
one
button.

----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the
"I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow
this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and
then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.

http://www.microsoft.com/office/comm...ocmanagemen t