I'm not sure what you mean by comments such as mine. What I provided you is
a reading list that will help you with the _large_ task of changing from
using Word Perfect (a very good program) to using Word (another, different,
very good program). It is harder than learning to drive on a different side
of the road and not at all intuitive. I don't mean to discourage you but
rather let you know that you are not the problem.
However, if you aren't willing to spend the kind of time you spent learning
Word Perfect on learning Word you are going to be unhappy. I've gone through
changing from dedicated Word Processing machines, to using MultiMate to
using Word Perfect to using Word. I know what you are going through.
--
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.
"citizen53" wrote in message
...
Thanks. This looks like quite a chore. I am feeling discouraged as I
have
used WP since the early 80's. So how do I rate comments such as yours?
"Charles Kenyon" wrote:
No, it is not, within the SaveAs dialog. Graham has given you some ideas
on
file naming. Essentially, you'll need to manually clean up your converted
files if you do not change the extension before you first open them. But
converted files are not a good thing to be working with, anyway, long
term.
You want to be creating templates and using those, rather than existing
documents, for your new documents.
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.
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.
"citizen53" wrote in message
...
I have used Wordperfect for many years and named my files with my own
extensions (not .doc or .wpf). I am converting to Word 2003 and now
want
to
save some form letters and other files in the new format. But the
"save
as"
menu window will not show all files (*.*) so I can overwrite the
existing
files. Is it even possible to see all the files already present in a
subdirectory, no matter the extension?