Microsoft KB Archive/193417

= WD97: How Text with Layout Converter Determines Line Length =

Article ID: 193417

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 Q193417





SUMMARY
When you save a document in "Text With Layout (*.ans)" or "MS-DOS Text With Layout (*.asc)" format, the Microsoft Word converter (Txtlyt32.cnv) uses a character size of 10 pitch to determine the maximum number of characters that can appear on a single line in the output file. This is independent of the font sizes in the original Word document.

To determine the number of characters per line, the Txtlyt32.cnv converter multiplies the number of characters per inch (CPI) by the amount of horizontal printable space.

For example, if a document has an 8.5-inch page width, and left and right margins of 1.25-inch (the default setting in Word), the amount of horizontal printable space is 6 inches. When the Word document is converted to a text file with the "Text With Layout (*.ans)" converter, 10 CPI multiplied by 6 inches of printable space determines that the output text file will contain a maximum of 60 characters per line. If one or more lines in the original Word document contain more than 60 characters, the lines of text are wrapped, and the remaining text appears on the following line.



MORE INFORMATION
The purpose of saving a Word document in "Text With Layout (*.asc)" format (as opposed to saving as Text Only or Text Only with Linebreaks format) is to retain as much vertical and horizontal placement of text as possible (that is, a mirror image of the original).

When saving, Word generates an ANSI (American National Standards Institute) text file if you choose "Text with Layout (*.ans)", and generates an ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) file if you choose "MS- DOS Text with Layout (*.asc)". The only difference between the two options is how extended characters are converted in the output file.

When you read a "Text with Layout (*.ans)" document back into Word, the Text with Layout converter interprets the incoming data and transforms recognizable patterns of spaces into formatting commands. For example, if the converter identifies five spaces at the beginning of a line of text, it inserts an indent (tab) when opening the document in Word.

If you want to open a file that has been previously saved from Word in Text with Layout format, or if you want to open any other plain text file without formatting manipulation, open the file as Text Only. When opening a document as Text Only, no data manipulation occurs, and what you see on screen is exactly the same as what you would see viewing the original text file by using the MS-DOS TYPE command at the command prompt, or by viewing it with a simple editor such as Notepad.

NOTE: If you open a document as Text Only and text appears to be horizontally misaligned, choose Select All from the Edit menu in Word, and choose a fixed font, like Courier 12 point.

When you convert complex document formatting to an ANSI or ASCII text file, the converter must make several assumptions. For example, if a document contains several pitch sizes on a single line, which size would the converter use to determine line length? (The first font size? The largest font size?) A text file does not allow for these variations. The default assumption of 10 CPI in the design of this converter is the best compromise that can be made to most consistently accommodate the generalized conversion scenario. If this assumption does not facilitate your export needs, make use of the PointSize or Width flags to change the assumptions made by the converter.

If tabs are used to create columnar structures in Word, these structures may not align correctly in the output text file. The tab stop absolute position in Word is emulated by using spaces to pad the tab stops to their original positions. This applies to left, right, centered, and decimal- aligned tab stops.

If the length of a line exceeds the absolute position of a tab stop, the tab is ignored when encountered by the converter. Also, if a single string of text passes a tab stop, that tab stop will be ignored. The latter occurrence is an inherent result of converting text for a proportional font (as in Word for Windows) to a non- proportional font (as in an ASCII file created by the text with layout converter). This may cause some files produced by the converter to appear misaligned. However, decreasing the PointSize option, which effectively increases the number of characters allowed between tab stops, will lessen the frequency of this occurrence as well as the degree of misalignment.   Converter Option         Description PointSize=n             This option can be used to customize the CPI assumption used by the converter. By default, PointSize is set to 12. A 12-point font is                           equivalent to a 10-pitch font; thus, the converter uses a default of 10-CPI. By changing the PointSize value to a smaller number, you can increase the number of characters allowed per line. For example, if you change PointSize to 10, the converter assumes 12 CPI. 12 CPI multiplied by                           6-inches of printable space determines that the converter will allow 72 characters per line.

Width=n                 This option is the ultimate determinant of line length. By default, it is set to 80-character columns, which is also the maximum number of                           characters allowed in a column. By specifying a                           smaller value, you can force lines to wrap earlier in the export text file. For example, by changing this setting to 50, Word will allow a maximum of 50 characters per line in the export file. To change how Word converts a Text with Layout document, you will need to create a Mstxtcnv.ini (if one does not already exist) in WordPad with the following information, and then save it as a text file with the name of Mstxtcnv.ini in the Windows folder:

[TextLytConv]

CharMaps=a,a

Width=80

PointSize=24

If there is a Mstxtcnv.ini file, open it in WordPad, type or change the information, and then save and close the file.

Once the Mstxtcnv.ini file exists in the Windows folder, the Text with Layout converter will use it when a Text with Layout file is saved or opened in Microsoft Word.

For more information, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

172385 WD97: Text With Layout Not Listed in EditConversionOptions Macro

192971 WD97: Definitions of Typography Terms in Word

155426 WD: Tabs in Tables Lost When Saving As Text With Layout

Keywords: kbinfo KB193417

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