Microsoft KB Archive/95265

{|
 * width="100%"|

WD: How Time, Date Formats Converted Between MacWord and WinWord

 * }

Q95265

-

The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Word for the Macintosh, version 5.1
 * Microsoft Word for Windows, version 2.0c

-

SUMMARY
The following is an overview of how time and date formats are converted between Word for Windows and Word for the Macintosh. Results obtained with different versions of either Word product may differ.

Table Key
  Y   - Supported in conversion.

N  - Not supported in conversion.

E  - Emulated in appearance with loss of actual format, or emulated with similar formatting feature.

P  - Partially retained, or only retained in one of the two possible conversion avenues (opening from Word for Windows format in Word        for the Macintosh versus saving directly to Word for the         Macintosh format from within Word for Windows).

N/A - Not applicable: The source product does not have this feature.

Date or        Mac   Win Time           to    to   Formatting      Win   Mac   Comments ---

Date            Y     Y    In Word for the Macintosh, when you insert a date in the header or footer using the Date button or anywhere in the document using the Insert Date command, the default Date glossary entry is inserted in                              your document. This glossary entry is                              converted to Word for Windows as a                               {date \@ &quot;MMMM d,yyyy&quot;} field.

Word for Windows DATE fields are converted to a combination of Word for the Macintosh Print Date glossary entries that provide the same result. For example, the DATE field {date \@ &quot;MMMM d,yyyy&quot;) is converted                              to Word for the Macintosh as three                               separate glossary entries: Print Month                               Long, Print Day of Month, and Year Long.                               Other standard mappings include the                               following:

{date \@ &quot;d MMMM, yyyy} maps to:

Day of Month Month Long, Year Long

{date \@ &quot;d-MMM-yy&quot;} maps to:

Day of Month-Month Abbrev.-Year Short

{date \@ &quot;MM/dd/yy&quot;} maps to:

Month Short/Day of Month/Year Short

{date \@ &quot;MMM-yy&quot;} maps to:

Month Abbrev.-Year Short

{date \@ &quot;MMMM, yy&quot;} maps to:

Month Long, Year Short

Macintosh Date  Y    N/A   If a Word for the Macintosh document Glossary                   contains any of the static standard Entries                    glossary entries

Date Date Abbreviated Date Long Date Short Day Abbreviated Day Long Day of Month Month Abbreviated Month Long Month Short Year Long Year Short

the latest result of the Date glossary entry is converted to Word for Windows as                              normal text by design.

Print Date      Y     P    The result of a Word for Windows PRINTDATE field is the date the document was last printed. In Word for the Macintosh, a                              Print Date glossary entry instead refers to the current time and is more similar in                              purpose to a Word for Windows DATE field.

Therefore, Word for the Macintosh Print Date glossary entries are converted to                              DATE fields with corresponding date numeric picture switch formats in Word for Windows. The fields must be updated following conversion for results to                              appear, and those results will reflect the current system date on your PC, not those of the original document.

Mappings between standard Print Date glossary entries and Print Date fields are as follows:

Macintosh glossary   Word for Windows entry      field entry -                                 Print Date  {date \@ &quot;MMMM d,yyyy&quot;}

Print Date Abbrev. {date \@ &quot;ddd, MMM d, yyyy&quot;}

Print Date Long       {date \@ &quot;dddd, MMMM d, yyyy&quot;}

Print Date Short      {date \@ &quot;M/d/yy&quot;}

Print Day Long       {date \@ &quot;dddd&quot;}

Print Day of Month   {date \@ &quot;d&quot;}

Print Month Abbrev. {date \@ &quot;MMM&quot;}

Print Month Long       {date \@ &quot;MMMM&quot;}

Print Year Long       {date \@ &quot;yyyy&quot;}

Print Year Short      {date \@ &quot;yy&quot;}

When a Word for Windows document containing a PRINTDATE field is opened from Word for Windows format into Word for the Macintosh, the field entry is converted to the corresponding Word for the Macintosh print date glossary entry just as outlined for DATE fields above.

However, if the same document is instead saved directly to Word for the Macintosh format from within Word for Windows, these same field entries are converted as normal text.

Microsoft has identified the above as a                              problem in the Word for Windows 2.0 converter supplied with Word for the Macintosh. \* \* MSINTERNAL \* ConversionBug RAID bug #6240, \* Severity: 4, Status: Active

Create Date    N/A    E    The latest result of the Word for Windows CREATE DATE field is converted to Word for the Macintosh as normal text.

The creation date of a Word for the Macintosh document is not preserved in                              Word for Windows Summary Information Statistics. Rather, the date on which the file was converted is substituted.

Save Date      N/A    E    The latest result of a Word for Windows SAVEDATE field is converted to Word for the Macintosh as normal text.

Time            Y     Y    In Word for Windows, when you choose to                               insert a Date format using the Insert Date/Time command, a TIME field is                              inserted in your document. You can also insert a TIME field using the Insert Field command.

Word for Windows TIME fields and accompanying time numeric picture switch formats are converted to Word for the Macintosh Print Time glossary combinations that provide the same result in the same manner outlined for DATE fields above. The actual time adapts to the current time on                              the Macintosh system.

Word for the Macintosh Time glossary entries, including Time and Time With Seconds are converted to Word for Windows as normal text.

Print Time      Y    N/A   The Word for the Macintosh Print Time glossary entries refer to the current time and therefore are converted to and from the Word for Windows DATE fields with corresponding time numeric picture switch formats. The actual dates change to the current date on your PC, and the resulting fields must be updated for a result to                              appear.

Edit Time      N/A    E    The latest result from Word for Windows is   (Minutes Spent              converted to Word for the Macintosh as    Editing                    normal text.    Document    Since    Creation) Additional query words: textconv

Keywords : kbinterop kbfield winword macword wordconvert

Issue type : kbbug kbinfo

Technology : kbWordSearch kbWordWSearch kbWordMSearch