Microsoft KB Archive/194498

= WD97: Error Message: File Is Not a Macintosh Word File =

Article ID: 194498

Article Last Modified on 1/23/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Word 97 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q194498





SYMPTOMS
In Microsoft Word for Windows, when you attempt to open a file in Word for the Macintosh format, you may receive the following error message:

File is not a Macintosh Word file.

Word cannot open the document.



CAUSE
Unless the Word for the Macintosh file is indeed invalid, this message is probably occurring because you uploaded the document from a Macintosh computer to a PC by means of communications software that attaches MacBinary information to the file.



WORKAROUND
To correctly transfer files from a Macintosh to a PC by means of a modem or an electronic service, make sure that the communications software on the Macintosh is set to transfer files as Binary (or Binary Only). Most communications packages on the Macintosh can prevent the MacBinary information from being uploaded. For more information, see the documentation for your communications software.



MORE INFORMATION
MacBinary information is data derived from a Macintosh file's data fork, resource fork, and file header, and includes information beyond the content of the document itself, including the Macintosh file type, creator, creation date, and modification date. If the option to attach MacBinary information is available and active in the communications software that you are using, the data fork, resource fork, and file header are all concatenated in memory and sent to the PC receiver. If the MacBinary option is not activated, only the data fork is sent.

Because the data fork alone represents the actual content of a document, it is desirable to retain only this information when a Macintosh-formatted file is transferred to a PC. Most MS-DOS-based and Windows-based programs generally do not make use of MacBinary information, and the inclusion of this information at the beginning of a file may cause Word for Windows not to recognize the file as a Word for the Macintosh document.

A similar problem can occur if the same document is instead saved from Word for the Macintosh to Word for Windows format and is then transferred to your PC by means of the same communications software. Once again, the communications software may attach an additional 128 bytes containing MacBinary information to the beginning of the Word for Windows document file. Because Word for Windows does not expect this information at the beginning of a Word for Windows file, it fails to recognize the file and returns an error message.

NOTE: This problem occurs only when binary files are transferred directly from a Macintosh to a PC by means of a null modem cable and communications software or by means of an electronic service, where the sender is uploading the file from a Macintosh system and the receiver is downloading it to a PC.

This problem does not occur with Macintosh SuperDrive PC disk read/write configuration utilities such as Apple File Exchange (AFE), DOS Mounter, AccessPC, or Apple PC Exchange. Likewise, the problem also does not occur when files are transferred from a Macintosh to a PC by means of networks that include Macintosh services, such as Microsoft LAN Manager, TOPS, Novell, or Banyan VINES.

NOTE: If you suspect the above scenario is the cause of your problem but are unsure how to configure your communications software, if both the Macintosh and PC computers are locally accessible, you can verify whether your original Word for the Macintosh document is actually valid by using a different means of transferring the file to your PC. For example, if your Macintosh computer is equipped with a SuperDrive, you can use the AFE utility supplied with your Apple System software to transfer the Macintosh file to an MS-DOS-formatted disk. AFE does not attach MacBinary information to a file.

Additionally, when transferring files from a PC to a Macintosh, because the MacBinary information is not available after the transfer has been completed, the file will likely have no icon that associates it with the Macintosh version of the program. Because the File Type and Creator Type are stored in the MacBinary portion of the file, no "association" exists between the file and its intended program. If you know what the appropriate File and Creator Type is, you can change it by using a utility such as ResEdit. Also, most file transfer utilities (such as DOS Mounter, PC Exchange and AccessPC) include a mapping feature for making these associations in order to automatically assign the correct File and Creator Types to incoming files.

Additional query words: CompuServe GEnie America Online Prodigy Mac Binary translate export import err msg errmsg

Keywords: kbprb KB194498

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