[Jeffrey L. Hook]

I'd like to convert 20K existing Works 7.0's "word processing" files to
Word 2007 simultaneously or at least automatically and consecutively. I've
not been able to find any guidance about how to do this either in Word
2007's Web-based Help directory or by searching in Google Web. (The Word
2007 Help directory does offer a Web-based view of the "community" which
seems to include all relevant news groups/forums.) Word 2007's Help texts
provide excellent assistance but they only seem to discuss conversion of
single files, "one at a time," or "one by one." The Help texts don't seem
to discuss automatic conversion of *ALL* files of particular types.

I suspect Word 2007 itself may not be able to make "mass conversions" of
files from other applications. I suspect this may require an "add-in" or
other types of separate software. I've seen some discussion of Aspose.Word,
for example, but that seems to be a large-scale application which is
intended for enterprise use.

I'm surprised that I've not yet found any instructions about how to convert
*ALL* files of particular types. I have seen some advice that Word 2007's
built-in converters obviate actual conversions of files from other
applications, but, as I explain in the optional text below my signature,
I've "had it" with Works' "so-called" word processor, I've not been able to
rely on it, and I don't want to use it any more, so I'd prefer to convert
all of my files from that application to Word 2007.

Thanks in advance for any assistance!

Additional details are provided below my signature.

Jeff Hook, NJ, USA

I'm working at home on a non-networked system which is running the Home
Edition of Windows XP. I made the mistake of relying on Works' "so-called
word processor" when I wasn't able to operate Word years ago as a novice
computer user and I compounded my error by continuing to use Works almost
exclusively for ten years. I began with version 4.0 and I've used 7.0 since
2003 when I acquired it as an OEM installation. It was bundled with the
Home Edition of Windows XP on a new Gateway system unit. Works 7.0 was an
upgrade from Works 6.0 which I'd used with Windows 98se on a prior system
unit. I'd been losing the contents of Works 6.0's Custom Dictionary
regularly but 6.0 itself never crashed. (I was able to replace the
dictionary's contents from a back-up TXT file.)

Works 7.0 crashed when it was in its pristine state within an hour or two of
my first using it on the new Gateway system unit. I may later have
"tainted" Works 7.0 by using TweakUI incorrectly, in an attempt to bypass
the Works "Task Launcher." (I installed my own standard-formatted "sample"
Works "document" in the Windows Explorer File\New menu. This allowed me to
create and to save new files at the ends of long file paths while I worked
in the Windows Classic View in Windows Explorer. The Task Launcher saved
all of its new files to the root of the My Documents folder, and it would
have been necessary to "re-navigate" from there to the desired destination
folder for each new file.)

I abandoned the File\New menu when I created a large directory of
differently-formatted "template" files. From that point forward I created
each of my new Works 7.0 documents as a copy of one of my many templates and
I gradually included entire small sub-directories of folders and files in my
templates directory. I now often fill in new file paths by pasting copies
of sub-directory templates to them. I subsequently reformatted my hard
drive and I made no further use of TweakUI or of the File\New menu for the
creation of new Works 7.0 documents, but the application continued to crash,
although much less often.

I've finally made the switch to a "real" word processor and, as a result of
my bad experience with Works "word processor," I now want to convert *ALL*
of the files which I've accumulated in that application to Word 2007. I
don't work collaboratively with anyone else and, if I ever need to share a
document with someone who's not running Word 2007, I can save a copy in RTF,
so I'm hoping to be rid of Works' "word processor" once and for all.

I've created a macro which automates the use of the Convert command in the
Word 2007 Office menu. (Word 2007 Help doesn't even mention the
"Office\Convert" option in its guidance about how to convert Works
documents. It only discusses the "Office\Save As\Works Document" approach,
which seems to be inferior. The "Convert" option seems to operate well and
it also deletes the original Works file, which is a convenience because it
eliminates confusion about whether files have been converted or not.)

I'm using Steve Vest's FileLocator Pro for desktop searching. By running
.\.wps as a "regular expression" in any folder of my data directory I can
obtain a list of all of the Works "word processing" files in that path, and
I can then work my way down the engine's list of files, opening each in Word
2007 by using its context menu in the search engine's GUI, and then hitting
my macro on the Word 2007 Quick Access Toolbar when the Works file opens in
Word 2007. The "Convert-Save-Close" macro seems to do all that I require,
and each conversion only requires a few seconds but conversion of all files
individually seems nuts when it must be possible to do this automatically,
for all 20K+ files!

JLH

[Jeffrey L. Hook]

I referred to "Steve Vest" in my previous message. The developer of the
FileLocator Pro desktop search engine is *DAVE* Vest. (Sorry, Dave!)

http://www.mythicsoft.com/Page.aspx?...rpro&page=home

Jeff Hook

....I'm using Steve Vest's FileLocator Pro for desktop searching. By running
.\.wps as a "regular expression" in any folder of my data directory I can
obtain a list of all of the Works "word processing" files in that path, and
I can then work my way down the engine's list of files, opening each in Word
2007 by using its context menu in the search engine's GUI, and then hitting
my macro on the Word 2007 Quick Access Toolbar when the Works file opens in
Word 2007. The "Convert-Save-Close" macro seems to do all that I require,
and each conversion only requires a few seconds but conversion of all files
individually seems nuts when it must be possible to do this automatically,
for all 20K+ files!

JLH

[Graham Mayor]

If you have the appropriate filter installed, Word will open Works documents
without problem. You can download the older Works filters from my web site.
The latest filter is supplied with Office 2007.

A sensible option would be open the Works files as you require them and save
them as Word 2007 documents, but it would be possible to convert them as a
batch process. The following macro will save all Works documents as Word
docx format from a given folder. The original Works documents are
unaffected, so you can return to the original if necessary.

Sub SaveWorksWPSAsDOCX()
Dim strFileName As String
Dim strDocName As String
Dim strPath As String
Dim sPrompt As Boolean
Dim oDoc As Document
Dim fDialog As FileDialog
Set fDialog = Application.FileDialog(msoFileDialogFolderPicker)

With fDialog
.Title = "Select folder and click OK"
.AllowMultiSelect = False
.InitialView = msoFileDialogViewList
If .Show -1 Then
MsgBox "Cancelled By User", , "List Folder Contents"
Exit Sub
End If
strPath = fDialog.SelectedItems.Item(1)
If Right(strPath, 1) "\" Then strPath = strPath + "\"
End With

If Documents.Count 0 Then
Documents.Close SaveChanges:=wdPromptToSaveChanges
End If
sPrompt = Options.ConfirmConversions
Options.ConfirmConversions = False
If Left(strPath, 1) = Chr(34) Then
strPath = Mid(strPath, 2, Len(strPath) - 2)
End If
strFileName = Dir$(strPath & "*.wps")

While Len(strFileName) 0
Set oDoc = Documents.Open(strPath & strFileName)

strDocName = ActiveDocument.FullName
intPos = InStrRev(strDocName, ".")
strDocName = Left(strDocName, intPos - 1)
strDocName = strDocName & ".docx"
oDoc.SaveAs FileName:=strDocName, _
FileFormat:=wdFormatDocumentDefault
oDoc.Close SaveChanges:=wdDoNotSaveChanges
strFileName = Dir$()
Wend
Options.ConfirmConversions = sPrompt
End Sub
http://www.gmayor.com/installing_macro.htm



Jeffrey L. Hook wrote:
I'd like to convert 20K existing Works 7.0's "word processing"
files to Word 2007 simultaneously or at least automatically and
consecutively. I've not been able to find any guidance about how to
do this either in Word 2007's Web-based Help directory or by
searching in Google Web. (The Word 2007 Help directory does offer a
Web-based view of the "community" which seems to include all relevant
news groups/forums.) Word 2007's Help texts provide excellent
assistance but they only seem to discuss conversion of single files,
"one at a time," or "one by one." The Help texts don't seem to
discuss automatic conversion of *ALL* files of particular types.

I suspect Word 2007 itself may not be able to make "mass conversions"
of files from other applications. I suspect this may require an
"add-in" or other types of separate software. I've seen some
discussion of Aspose.Word, for example, but that seems to be a
large-scale application which is intended for enterprise use.

I'm surprised that I've not yet found any instructions about how to
convert *ALL* files of particular types. I have seen some advice
that Word 2007's built-in converters obviate actual conversions of
files from other applications, but, as I explain in the optional text
below my signature, I've "had it" with Works' "so-called" word
processor, I've not been able to rely on it, and I don't want to use
it any more, so I'd prefer to convert all of my files from that
application to Word 2007.

Thanks in advance for any assistance!

Additional details are provided below my signature.

Jeff Hook, NJ, USA

I'm working at home on a non-networked system which is running the
Home Edition of Windows XP. I made the mistake of relying on Works'
"so-called word processor" when I wasn't able to operate Word years
ago as a novice computer user and I compounded my error by continuing
to use Works almost exclusively for ten years. I began with version
4.0 and I've used 7.0 since 2003 when I acquired it as an OEM
installation. It was bundled with the Home Edition of Windows XP on
a new Gateway system unit. Works 7.0 was an upgrade from Works 6.0
which I'd used with Windows 98se on a prior system unit. I'd been
losing the contents of Works 6.0's Custom Dictionary regularly but
6.0 itself never crashed. (I was able to replace the dictionary's
contents from a back-up TXT file.)

Works 7.0 crashed when it was in its pristine state within an hour or
two of my first using it on the new Gateway system unit. I may later
have "tainted" Works 7.0 by using TweakUI incorrectly, in an attempt
to bypass the Works "Task Launcher." (I installed my own
standard-formatted "sample" Works "document" in the Windows Explorer
File\New menu. This allowed me to create and to save new files at
the ends of long file paths while I worked in the Windows Classic
View in Windows Explorer. The Task Launcher saved all of its new
files to the root of the My Documents folder, and it would have been
necessary to "re-navigate" from there to the desired destination
folder for each new file.)

I abandoned the File\New menu when I created a large directory of
differently-formatted "template" files. From that point forward I
created each of my new Works 7.0 documents as a copy of one of my
many templates and I gradually included entire small sub-directories
of folders and files in my templates directory. I now often fill in
new file paths by pasting copies of sub-directory templates to them.
I subsequently reformatted my hard drive and I made no further use of
TweakUI or of the File\New menu for the creation of new Works 7.0
documents, but the application continued to crash, although much less
often.

I've finally made the switch to a "real" word processor and, as a
result of my bad experience with Works "word processor," I now want
to convert *ALL* of the files which I've accumulated in that
application to Word 2007. I don't work collaboratively with anyone
else and, if I ever need to share a document with someone who's not
running Word 2007, I can save a copy in RTF, so I'm hoping to be rid
of Works' "word processor" once and for all.

I've created a macro which automates the use of the Convert command
in the Word 2007 Office menu. (Word 2007 Help doesn't even mention
the "Office\Convert" option in its guidance about how to convert Works
documents. It only discusses the "Office\Save As\Works Document"
approach, which seems to be inferior. The "Convert" option seems to
operate well and it also deletes the original Works file, which is a
convenience because it eliminates confusion about whether files have
been converted or not.)

I'm using Steve Vest's FileLocator Pro for desktop searching. By
running .\.wps as a "regular expression" in any folder of my data
directory I can obtain a list of all of the Works "word processing"
files in that path, and I can then work my way down the engine's list
of files, opening each in Word 2007 by using its context menu in the
search engine's GUI, and then hitting my macro on the Word 2007 Quick
Access Toolbar when the Works file opens in Word 2007. The
"Convert-Save-Close" macro seems to do all that I require, and each
conversion only requires a few seconds but conversion of all files
individually seems nuts when it must be possible to do this
automatically, for all 20K+ files!

JLH

[Jeffrey L. Hook]

**EXCELLENT**, Graham! THANKS!

1. If you have the appropriate filter installed, Word will open Works
documents without problem.

Yes, I can do that easily. I can open every one of the 20K Works 7.0
documents in Word 2007 instantly. That's never been a problem.

2. A sensible option would be open the Works files as you require them
and save them as Word 2007 documents...

I can also do that, but, as I explained, I've had such difficulty with Works
7.0's "word processor" that I want to be rid of the application and I'd
rather convert all of its existing files to Word 2007 now, so I can avoid
future use of the Works application. (I do appreciate Works' flat-file
database.)

Some users who find this thread in the future may wish to know how they can
find and then convert all files of a type. I'll explain several methods
below my signature.

3. The following macro will save all Works documents as Word docx format
from a given folder. The original Works documents are unaffected, so you can
return to the original if necessary...

Thanks very much for the code. Please understand that my knowledge of
macros in Word 2007 and of Visual Basic is just about nil. The simple
"Convert-Save-Close" macro which I mentioned in my first message was my
first macro. (This functionality isn't "supported" by Works' "word
processor" so I had no prior experience of macros.)

Here's the entirety of my first macro, from the Visual Basic GUI:

***
Sub Macro3()
'
' Macro3
' Automates the steps of the Conversion process within a Works 7.0 "word
processing" file which has already been opened in Word 2007.
'
ActiveDocument.Convert
ActiveDocument.Save
ActiveWindow.Close
End Sub

***

That's all there is, but it seems to work.

I was able to install your macro. I could see from the code that the macro
seemed to be focused on folders, and that seemed appropriate, because I
hoped it would start at the "highest" folder in a given file path (closest
to the root) and would "work its way to the end of the path." I assigned a
Quick Access Toolbar button to the macro and I then ran it, on a
"low-stakes" folder of content which I rarely use. (I should have copied a
folder and run the macro on the copy, in case I bungled the installation and
problems resulted, but I guess I could restore content from a back-up of my
data directory if that were necessary.)

I see that your macro displays a typical Windows browse-type dialog which is
titled "Select folder and click OK." I assumed I should use the dialog's
browse capability to navigate to a folder in which I wish to convert Works
documents and I assumed I should then left-click the dialog's "OK" button.
The dialog doesn't offer any display of content (i.e. of files in folders)
unlike the Word 2007 "Open" dialog, which can be set to show "All Files
(*.*)" in its "Files of type" field. Also, if I select a folder and then
click "OK" the folder name doesn't appear in the macro's "Folder name"
field, which remains empty, although I see that the field's drop-down list
shows all folders in which I've used this macro, in reverse chronological
order. These folders are only shown *after* the macro's been run in them.

I'm "operating blind" with this macro because I can't see if any folder
contains any files which I wish to convert. I could navigate simultaneously
in Windows Explorer in order to locate Works 7.0 documents which I wish to
convert while I also perform the same navigation in your macro, but I don't
want to *double* my navigation! It's easier simply to open any Word 2007
file and then to navigate in that file's Open dialog via the file's Office
menu, with the Open dialogue set to Files of all types, so I can see the
contents of all folders but it's even easier than *that* for me to use my
desktop search engine (Dave Vest's FileLocator Pro) in order to obtain a
list of *ALL* Works 7.0 documents in any directory. That completely
eliminates all navigation! As I explained in my first message I can reduce
the amount of time which is required for each conversion to a few seconds by
combining my desktop search engine with my own "quick and dirty" macro, but
I still feel like it's a waste of time to convert files "one at a time" like
this, even if each conversion only requires seconds. I'm looking for a way
to automate the conversion of more than 20,000 files and to perform those
conversions in as little time as possible.

Your macro seems to operate only in one folder (at one "level" of a
hierarchy) at a time. It doesn't seem to "drill down" along file paths and
to work in all sub-folders. When I could see in its code that it was
focused on folders I decided to operate it close to the end of a rarely-used
file path in order to reduce the chance that it might do damage if I'd
installed it incorrectly and if I'd "corrupted" it. I operated it a few
levels above the end of the test path in the hope that it would convert all
files in all sub-folders, but it never left the folder in which it was first
operated. It therefore doesn't operate in the way which I desired. It also
retains the original Works 7.0 files although I'd prefer to use Word 2007's
"Convert" option, which deletes the original files, and which leaves only
the newly-converted Word 2007 files.

Are you at all inclined to modifiy the code in order to assure that the
macro will:

1. move along complete file paths, working in all sub-folders and will

2. convert all Works documents in all folders, deleting the original files,
and leaving only the newly-converted Word 2007 files, as results from the
use of Word 2007's "Office\Convert" menu?

Would you be willing to explain how your code limits this macro's function
in these respects, so I could try to modify the code myself? I tried to
change "False" to "True" in this context:

....With fDialog
.Title = "Select folder and click OK"
.AllowMultiSelect = True...

but that didn't produce the sub-folder effect which I'd hoped to produce.


Jeff Hook, NJ, USA (Additional comments below may be of interest to users
who wonder how to locate and convert files of any type.)

I've used these different methods to locate Works 7.0 files and to convert
them to Word 2007. I've written an extremely simple macro in Word 2007
which merely automates the four-click process of opening each file's Office
menu when the Works file is opened in Word 2007, left-clicking the "Convert"
command in the Office menu, left-clicking the "Save" button on the Quick
Access Toolbar, and then left-clicking the Windows "Close" button at the
upper-right corner of each file's GUI. I installed my macro as a button on
the Quick Access Toolbar so it appears in each file when each file is opened
in Word 2007. Conversion is therefore a simple matter of opening each file
in Word 2007 and then making a single left-click on the macro's button. The
macro does the rest:

A. I can open each Works 7.0 file individually in Word 2007 by
right-clicking the file in the Contents Pane of Windows Explorer in the
Windows Classic View in Windows XP, then left-clicking "Open With\Microsoft
Office Word" in the context/"pop-up" menu.

B. From within any Word 2007 file, I can use the Word 2007 Open command in
the Office menu. This produces the Open dialog, in which I can navigate to
the desired Works 7.0 files, which I'll be able to see in the dialog's
Browse display if I've set the dialog's "Files of type" field to "All Files
(*.*)" in the field's drop-down list.

If I leave any Word 2007 file open after I've navigated to my first Works
7.0 file and have converted that file to Word 2007 the Open dialog will
remain "set" to the last folder in which I worked. This helps me to
navigate through directories in order to convert multiple files one-by-one.
If I close all Word 2007 files, it'll be necessary to "re-set" the "Open"
dialog from the system root, by navigating once again to the desired
folders.

C. A convenient way of converting all files systematically (but still only
one-by-one) is to use a desktop search engine to obtain a list of all files
of a given type in a given directory, as I explained in my first message. I
can then convert each file in the search engine's "search results" list, by
using each file's context menu, as I explained here in method "A" above.
This method's helpful because it obviates navigating through the directory
in search of the files which are to be converted; the engine lists them all
and it's not necessary to look for them.

JLH

"Graham Mayor" wrote in message
...
If you have the appropriate filter installed, Word will open Works documents
without problem. You can download the older Works filters from my web site.
The latest filter is supplied with Office 2007. (snipped)

[Graham Mayor]

The macro is simply a generic batch processing function that works at an
individual folder level, using built-in dialogs to enable the user to select
the folder. It opens each file in the folder that matches the search string
(here *.wps) and saves those documents as Word docx format.
It has no ability to search across a range of folders.

Because only you know what files you have on your hard drive and the lack of
error trapping in the macro, it is not a good idea to include code to delete
the wps files. It would be a simple job to search for them later with
Windows Explorer and delete them, when you are sure that they have all been
converted. However if you really want to take that approach change the
section from While ... to ... Wend with

While Len(strFileName) 0
Set oDoc = Documents.Open(strPath & strFileName)
oDoc.Convert
oDoc.Close SaveChanges:=wdSaveChanges
strFileName = Dir$()
Wend

This will convert the documents and delete the originals in the process.

I don't have the code to hand to iterate through all the possible sub
folders, but if you wish to pursue this, then ask in the Word vba
programming forum.


--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org





Jeffrey L. Hook wrote:
**EXCELLENT**, Graham! THANKS!

1. If you have the appropriate filter installed, Word will open
Works documents without problem.

Yes, I can do that easily. I can open every one of the 20K Works
7.0 documents in Word 2007 instantly. That's never been a problem.

2. A sensible option would be open the Works files as you require
them and save them as Word 2007 documents...

I can also do that, but, as I explained, I've had such difficulty
with Works
7.0's "word processor" that I want to be rid of the application and
I'd rather convert all of its existing files to Word 2007 now, so I
can avoid future use of the Works application. (I do appreciate
Works' flat-file database.)

Some users who find this thread in the future may wish to know how
they can find and then convert all files of a type. I'll explain
several methods below my signature.

3. The following macro will save all Works documents as Word docx
format from a given folder. The original Works documents are
unaffected, so you can return to the original if necessary...

Thanks very much for the code. Please understand that my knowledge of
macros in Word 2007 and of Visual Basic is just about nil. The simple
"Convert-Save-Close" macro which I mentioned in my first message was
my first macro. (This functionality isn't "supported" by Works' "word
processor" so I had no prior experience of macros.)

Here's the entirety of my first macro, from the Visual Basic GUI:

***
Sub Macro3()
'
' Macro3
' Automates the steps of the Conversion process within a Works 7.0
"word processing" file which has already been opened in Word 2007.
'
ActiveDocument.Convert
ActiveDocument.Save
ActiveWindow.Close
End Sub

***

That's all there is, but it seems to work.

I was able to install your macro. I could see from the code that the
macro seemed to be focused on folders, and that seemed appropriate,
because I hoped it would start at the "highest" folder in a given
file path (closest to the root) and would "work its way to the end of
the path." I assigned a Quick Access Toolbar button to the macro and
I then ran it, on a "low-stakes" folder of content which I rarely
use. (I should have copied a folder and run the macro on the copy,
in case I bungled the installation and problems resulted, but I guess
I could restore content from a back-up of my data directory if that
were necessary.)

I see that your macro displays a typical Windows browse-type dialog
which is titled "Select folder and click OK." I assumed I should use
the dialog's browse capability to navigate to a folder in which I
wish to convert Works documents and I assumed I should then
left-click the dialog's "OK" button. The dialog doesn't offer any
display of content (i.e. of files in folders) unlike the Word 2007
"Open" dialog, which can be set to show "All Files (*.*)" in its
"Files of type" field. Also, if I select a folder and then click
"OK" the folder name doesn't appear in the macro's "Folder name"
field, which remains empty, although I see that the field's drop-down
list shows all folders in which I've used this macro, in reverse
chronological order. These folders are only shown *after* the
macro's been run in them.

I'm "operating blind" with this macro because I can't see if any
folder contains any files which I wish to convert. I could navigate
simultaneously in Windows Explorer in order to locate Works 7.0
documents which I wish to convert while I also perform the same
navigation in your macro, but I don't want to *double* my navigation!
It's easier simply to open any Word 2007 file and then to navigate in
that file's Open dialog via the file's Office menu, with the Open
dialogue set to Files of all types, so I can see the contents of all
folders but it's even easier than *that* for me to use my desktop
search engine (Dave Vest's FileLocator Pro) in order to obtain a list
of *ALL* Works 7.0 documents in any directory. That completely
eliminates all navigation! As I explained in my first message I can
reduce the amount of time which is required for each conversion to a
few seconds by combining my desktop search engine with my own "quick
and dirty" macro, but I still feel like it's a waste of time to
convert files "one at a time" like this, even if each conversion only
requires seconds. I'm looking for a way to automate the conversion
of more than 20,000 files and to perform those conversions in as
little time as possible.

Your macro seems to operate only in one folder (at one "level" of a
hierarchy) at a time. It doesn't seem to "drill down" along file
paths and to work in all sub-folders. When I could see in its code
that it was focused on folders I decided to operate it close to the
end of a rarely-used file path in order to reduce the chance that it
might do damage if I'd installed it incorrectly and if I'd
"corrupted" it. I operated it a few levels above the end of the test
path in the hope that it would convert all files in all sub-folders,
but it never left the folder in which it was first operated. It
therefore doesn't operate in the way which I desired. It also
retains the original Works 7.0 files although I'd prefer to use Word
2007's "Convert" option, which deletes the original files, and which
leaves only the newly-converted Word 2007 files.

Are you at all inclined to modifiy the code in order to assure that
the macro will:

1. move along complete file paths, working in all sub-folders and
will

2. convert all Works documents in all folders, deleting the original
files, and leaving only the newly-converted Word 2007 files, as
results from the use of Word 2007's "Office\Convert" menu?

Would you be willing to explain how your code limits this macro's
function in these respects, so I could try to modify the code myself?
I tried to change "False" to "True" in this context:

...With fDialog
.Title = "Select folder and click OK"
.AllowMultiSelect = True...

but that didn't produce the sub-folder effect which I'd hoped to
produce.


Jeff Hook, NJ, USA (Additional comments below may be of interest to
users who wonder how to locate and convert files of any type.)

I've used these different methods to locate Works 7.0 files and to
convert them to Word 2007. I've written an extremely simple macro in
Word 2007 which merely automates the four-click process of opening
each file's Office menu when the Works file is opened in Word 2007,
left-clicking the "Convert" command in the Office menu, left-clicking
the "Save" button on the Quick Access Toolbar, and then left-clicking
the Windows "Close" button at the upper-right corner of each file's
GUI. I installed my macro as a button on the Quick Access Toolbar so
it appears in each file when each file is opened in Word 2007.
Conversion is therefore a simple matter of opening each file in Word
2007 and then making a single left-click on the macro's button. The
macro does the rest:

A. I can open each Works 7.0 file individually in Word 2007 by
right-clicking the file in the Contents Pane of Windows Explorer in
the Windows Classic View in Windows XP, then left-clicking "Open
With\Microsoft Office Word" in the context/"pop-up" menu.

B. From within any Word 2007 file, I can use the Word 2007 Open
command in the Office menu. This produces the Open dialog, in which
I can navigate to the desired Works 7.0 files, which I'll be able to
see in the dialog's Browse display if I've set the dialog's "Files of
type" field to "All Files (*.*)" in the field's drop-down list.

If I leave any Word 2007 file open after I've navigated to my first
Works
7.0 file and have converted that file to Word 2007 the Open dialog
will remain "set" to the last folder in which I worked. This helps
me to navigate through directories in order to convert multiple files
one-by-one. If I close all Word 2007 files, it'll be necessary to
"re-set" the "Open" dialog from the system root, by navigating once
again to the desired folders.

C. A convenient way of converting all files systematically (but
still only one-by-one) is to use a desktop search engine to obtain a
list of all files of a given type in a given directory, as I
explained in my first message. I can then convert each file in the
search engine's "search results" list, by using each file's context
menu, as I explained here in method "A" above. This method's helpful
because it obviates navigating through the directory in search of the
files which are to be converted; the engine lists them all and it's
not necessary to look for them.

JLH

"Graham Mayor" wrote in message
...
If you have the appropriate filter installed, Word will open Works
documents without problem. You can download the older Works filters
from my web site. The latest filter is supplied with Office 2007.
(snipped)

[Jeffrey L. Hook]

Thanks for your reply, Graham.

I was never a fan of Kurt Vonnegut. His writing seemed to me to be a type
of literary slapstick which was too clownish for my taste. I read his novel
"Cat's Cradle" many years ago and I remembered the concept of "Ice Nine."
This was a modified form of water which melted at 114 degrees Fahrenheit.
"Ice Nine" had a "contagious" effect so that the exposure of any amount of
it to any water in the natural environment anywhere would begin an
irreversible "chain reaction" which would quickly freeze all water around
the entire world. The idea was ridiculous but it did impress itself on me
as an example of an automatic process which produced undesirable results:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&n...22&btnG=Search

I was looking for an automatic conversion process which could have been
started at the root of my data directory and which would have then worked
down, or out, or up, or whatever the direction would be. I wondered if I'd
"trip" a type of "Ice Nine" "chain reaction" if I began to run such a
process.

You also seem to be leery of unintended results but I'm only talking about
conversion of data files from one application to another. I don't think an
automatic conversion process could create a disaster. I routinely back up
all of my files and I could create a back up immediately before I began an
automated conversion of all Works documents in my data directory. If the
process went awry I could replace the data directory with the back up copy.

So far, my best method seems to be to use my desktop search engine (Dave
Vest's "FileLocator Pro") to obtain a list of all Works 7.0 documents in my
entire data directory or in any sub-directory. FileLocator Pro will list
all such files from any folder in which I run it along all paths, in all
sub-folders. I'll then be able to open each file in each of the the search
engine's "search results list," one-by-one, by using each file's own context
menu. I can then use my own simple macro in each file to convert, save, and
close each file with a single mouse click. My macro uses the
"Office\Convert" method, rather than the "Office\Save As\Word Document"
method. The "Convert" method deletes the original Works file and only
leaves the converted Word 2007 file.

I can chip away at my backlog of Works 7.0 documents by using my method but
I continue to think that, "Ice Nine" scenarios notwithstanding, the
automatic conversion of many files of the same type from one application to
another must be routine at the enterprise level. I assume this is done in
large international organizations, for example, with hundreds of thousands
or even millions of files. I'm a single home user who doesn't even have a
home network. I'm only using a single system unit with two internal hard
drives and four partitions, one of which is my "boot" partition and another
of which is my "active data" partition but Word 2007 does seem to be
designed for enterprise use, and I remain surprised that I haven't yet been
able to find instructions about how to convert all of my Works 7.0 documents
to Word 2007 "at the flip of a switch." Maybe Microsoft was also worried
about unintended consequences of powerful automatic processes.

I assume that "batch conversion" may be the jargon which IT professionals
use to refer to the type of process which I'm seeking.

Thanks again, Graham.

Jeff Hook, NJ, USA

"Graham Mayor" wrote in message
...
The macro is simply a generic batch processing function that works at an
individual folder level, using built-in dialogs to enable the user to select
the folder. It opens each file in the folder that matches the search string
(here *.wps) and saves those documents as Word docx format.
It has no ability to search across a range of folders. (snipped)

[Graham Mayor]

If you use the search function to find all the wps files Explorer will
display the foldernames that contain them. The revised version of the macro
can then be used to process each named folder in turn and will indeed
*convert* all the files in that folder. What it won't do is iterate through
all the folders on your hard drive.

A batch process is a process that runs on a group or batch of files. The
macros I posted will run on a batch comprising all the files in a single
folder. I regret I do not have a function to hand that works on the complete
folder structure (though I will look into it).

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org



Jeffrey L. Hook wrote:
Thanks for your reply, Graham.

I was never a fan of Kurt Vonnegut. His writing seemed to me to be a
type of literary slapstick which was too clownish for my taste. I
read his novel "Cat's Cradle" many years ago and I remembered the
concept of "Ice Nine." This was a modified form of water which melted
at 114 degrees Fahrenheit. "Ice Nine" had a "contagious" effect so
that the exposure of any amount of it to any water in the natural
environment anywhere would begin an irreversible "chain reaction"
which would quickly freeze all water around the entire world. The
idea was ridiculous but it did impress itself on me as an example of
an automatic process which produced undesirable results:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&n...22&btnG=Search

I was looking for an automatic conversion process which could have
been started at the root of my data directory and which would have
then worked down, or out, or up, or whatever the direction would be.
I wondered if I'd "trip" a type of "Ice Nine" "chain reaction" if I
began to run such a process.

You also seem to be leery of unintended results but I'm only talking
about conversion of data files from one application to another. I
don't think an automatic conversion process could create a disaster.
I routinely back up all of my files and I could create a back up
immediately before I began an automated conversion of all Works
documents in my data directory. If the process went awry I could
replace the data directory with the back up copy.

So far, my best method seems to be to use my desktop search engine
(Dave Vest's "FileLocator Pro") to obtain a list of all Works 7.0
documents in my entire data directory or in any sub-directory.
FileLocator Pro will list all such files from any folder in which I
run it along all paths, in all sub-folders. I'll then be able to
open each file in each of the the search engine's "search results
list," one-by-one, by using each file's own context menu. I can then
use my own simple macro in each file to convert, save, and close each
file with a single mouse click. My macro uses the "Office\Convert"
method, rather than the "Office\Save As\Word Document" method. The
"Convert" method deletes the original Works file and only leaves the
converted Word 2007 file.

I can chip away at my backlog of Works 7.0 documents by using my
method but I continue to think that, "Ice Nine" scenarios
notwithstanding, the automatic conversion of many files of the same
type from one application to another must be routine at the
enterprise level. I assume this is done in large international
organizations, for example, with hundreds of thousands or even
millions of files. I'm a single home user who doesn't even have a
home network. I'm only using a single system unit with two internal
hard drives and four partitions, one of which is my "boot" partition
and another of which is my "active data" partition but Word 2007 does
seem to be designed for enterprise use, and I remain surprised that I
haven't yet been able to find instructions about how to convert all
of my Works 7.0 documents to Word 2007 "at the flip of a switch."
Maybe Microsoft was also worried about unintended consequences of
powerful automatic processes.

I assume that "batch conversion" may be the jargon which IT
professionals use to refer to the type of process which I'm seeking.

Thanks again, Graham.

Jeff Hook, NJ, USA

"Graham Mayor" wrote in message
...
The macro is simply a generic batch processing function that works at
an individual folder level, using built-in dialogs to enable the user
to select the folder. It opens each file in the folder that matches
the search string (here *.wps) and saves those documents as Word docx
format.
It has no ability to search across a range of folders. (snipped)