Microsoft KB Archive/71082

Word for DOS File Conversion Limitations in WinWord 1.1

PSS ID Number: Q71082 Article last modified on 11-02-1994

1.10

WINDOWS

Summary:

This article lists the limitations of file conversion between Word for Windows version 1.1 and Word for DOS via the Word for DOS file converter CONV-WRD.DLL.

More Information:

Conversion to and from Word for DOS affects the following features.

Headers and Footers

 * Headers and footers must be located at the beginning of the division in a Word for DOS document to be converted.
 * If a header is formatted in Word for DOS to appear on odd or even pages and the first page, the conversion generates two headers with the same text in the Word for Windows file. The first header is formatted as odd/even, and the second as first page only.
 * Word for Windows headers and footers are assumed to run through all sections of the document. In Word for DOS, headers and footers stop at the end of each division. A Word for DOS header or footer that appears only in a single division will appear in Word for Windows in the section corresponding to that Word for DOS division, and in all subsequent sections, until it is superseded by a new header.

Margins

 * Top and bottom margins can be set only once in Word for Windows. The first top and bottom margin settings in the Word for DOS document are used as the margin settings for the entire Word for Windows document. Subsequent margin settings in the Word for DOS document are ignored.
 * Page length and width can be set only once in Word for Windows. The first page length and width settings for the first division in the Word for DOS document are used as the page length and width settings throughout the Word for Windows document.

Paragraph Shading and Borders

 * Paragraph shading is ignored when converting from Word for DOS to Word for Windows.
 * Bold Word for DOS borders are converted into thick Word for Windows borders.
 * Thick Word for Windows borders are converted into bold Word for DOS borders.

Styles

 * From Word for DOS to Word for Windows: The conversion program looks for the style sheet that was attached to the original document. If that style sheet is found, the style sheet information is converted in the Word for Windows document. (Styles are stored with the document in Word for Windows.) If the style sheet is not found, you will be prompted for the path name and filename of the style sheet. If you do not attach a style sheet (or the style sheet does not match the style information in the Word for DOS document), styled text in the Word for DOS document becomes directly formatted text in the Word for Windows document.
 * From Word for Windows to Word for DOS: You can create a style sheet for the Word for DOS document based on the styles in the Word for Windows document or attach an existing style sheet. If you do not create a style sheet, then styled text in the Word for Windows document becomes directly formatted text in the Word for DOS document. If you attach an existing style sheet, standard styles in the Word for Windows document take on the standard styles of the style sheet. User-defined styles that don’t already exist in the style sheet are added.

Graphics

 * From Word for DOS to Word for Windows: Word for DOS includes graphics by specifying a picture “tag,” which consists of the path name of the picture file to be included in the document. These tags are converted to Word for Windows picture fields. Sizing information is not preserved.
 * From Word for Windows to Word for DOS: Word for Windows picture fields are converted to Word for DOS picture tags. Bitmaps and Windows metafiles stored in a Word for Windows document are not converted. Scaling and cropping information is not preserved.

Supported File Formats

 * Word for Windows and Word for DOS both support TIFF, HPGL, and the Lotus PIC file formats. Future releases of Word for Windows and Word for DOS will increase the number of file formats supported by both products.

Tables and Side-By-Side Paragraphs

 * Tables in Word for Windows are converted to and from side-by-side paragraphs in Word for DOS.

Absolute-Positioned Objects (APOs)

 * Absolute-positioned objects are converted in both directions.

Macros

 * Macros are not converted.

Merge Documents
  Simple merge documents (with DATA and NEXT fields) are supported in both directions. Other merge instructions (IF, SET, ASK, etc.) are not supported.   Word for DOS marks merge instructions with left and right chevron characters (< >). By default, all left and right chevron characters (ASCII 174 and 175) are assumed to be part of merge instructions when converting Word for DOS documents into Word for Windows documents. To convert chevrons as literal text, add the following two lines to your WIN.INI file: [PCWordConv] ConvertMerge=No   If you set ConvertMerge to No as shown in the preceding lines, Word for Windows converts any chevron characters into normal ASCII characters. If you set this line to Yes, Word for Windows interprets the chevrons as print merge fields and converts them accordingly. 

Tables of Contents and Indexes

 * Table of contents entries and index entries are converted. However, the generated table of contents or index is converted as text, and should generally be deleted before generating a new table of contents or index.

Page Numbering

 * Word for DOS page numbering created by choosing Format, Division, Line Numbers is converted to Word for Windows only when there is no existing header or footer.

Glossaries

 * Word for DOS glossary information can be converted to Word for Windows by running a macro located in the Word for DOS glossary CONVERT.GLY. For more information, see the Word for Windows README.DOC file.

Outlines

 * Paragraphs that have Heading Level styles attached are converted to their corresponding Heading style in Word for Windows; however, paragraphs manually formatted to be outline headings are not converted.

Reference(s):

Word for Windows 1.1 CONVINFO.DOC file

KBCategory: kbinterop KBSubCategory: Additional reference words: 1.10 textconv wrksdos winword2 ============================================================================= Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1994.