Microsoft KB Archive/157088

= WD97: Limitations Converting Documents from Word 97 to 6.x/7.0 =

Article ID: 157088

Article Last Modified on 1/19/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Word 97 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q157088





SUMMARY
This article provides information about what happens when you convert a Microsoft Word 97 document to Word 6.x or Word 7.0 format.



MORE INFORMATION
The following table identifies the new features that are supported, not supported, or are partially supported.                       Supported/ Word 97 feature    Not supported     Comments

Embedded fonts     Not supported     Embedded fonts are lost, and Word 7.x or Word 6.x assigns the closest font available.

Outline and        Not supported     Outline numbered lists and heading heading numbered                     numbered lists are converted to   lists                                 regular text but retain their appearance.

Multilevel bullets Not supported     Multilevel bullets are converted to regular text but retain their appearance.

Arrow Styles       Not Supported     Arrow styles for lines are lost.

Page borders       Not supported     Page borders are not converted.

Character shading  Not supported     Character shading is lost.

Character borders  Not supported     Character borders are lost.

Paragraph borders  Not supported     Paragraph borders and shading are lost.

Animated text      Not supported     Animated text formatting is lost.

Embossed and       Not supported     Embossed and engraved character engraved                             formatting are lost. characters

EMF, PNG, and      Supported         Graphics are saved in applicable JPEG graphics                        EMF, PNG, or JPEG format and are converted to WMF (Windows                                        Metafile) or PICT (Macintosh) format. To avoid getting two copies of each graphic saved in                                        the document, add the option ExportPictureWithMetafile=0 in the registry at the following location:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\                                          Microsoft\Office\8.0\Word\Options

Grouped Drawing    Partially         Grouped drawing objects become objects            supported         a single box, unable to ungroup

Floating pictures  Not supported     Floating pictures are converted in   with text wrapping                    a frame to WMF (Windows Metafile) around them                          or PICT (Macintosh) format.

Floating OLE       Not supported     Floating OLE objects are converted objects                              to text boxes.

Highlighting       Partially         Highlighting is preserved in Word supported        95 but lost in Word 6.x.

Vertically merged  Not supported     Merged table cells are exploded table cells                          into unmerged cells.

Vertically split   Partially         Vertically split cells in a row table cells        supported         are converted to separate rows keeping the table uniform.

Vertically aligned Not supported     Vertically aligned text is   text in table                         reformatted so that the text cells                                aligns at the top of the cell.

Vertical text in   Not supported     Vertical text is reformatted as   table cells                           horizontal text.

HYPERLINK field    Partially         The last value of the HYPERLINK supported        field is retained.

Tracked changes    Not supported     Tracked changes for document for document                         properties, paragraph numbers, properties,                          and display fields (i.e. EQ   paragraph numbers,                    fields) are lost, but other and display fields                   tracked changes are retained. (i.e. EQ or other  embedded objects)

Password           Not supported     All document protection is lost. protection of  documents

Document           Not supported     All document protection is lost. protection for tracked changes, comments, and forms

New document       Partially         New document properties are properties         supported         preserved in Word 95 but lost in   introduced                            Word 6.x.   in Word 97

ActiveX controls   Partially         ActiveX controls can be used but on forms           supported         not modified.

Unicode characters Not supported     Result in potential data loss. Unicode characters (2 bytes per                                        character) are mapped to                                         corresponding ANSI (Windows) or                                         Macintosh equivalents (1 byte per                                         character) or converted to                                         question marks (?). Foreign language characters are the most likely to be affected.

DOCPROPERTY field  Partially         The DOCPROPERTY field is retained supported        in Word 95, but only the most recent value of the field is                                        retained in Word 6.x.

Visual Basic       Not supported     Macros created in Word 97 Visual macros                               Basic are lost.

Cannot Edit a Word Document Embedded Object in Word 95
When you insert a Word document as an embedded object in a document in Word 97, save the document in the Word 6.x/95 format or Rich Text Format, and then open the document in Word 95, you may receive the error message "Word cannot edit the object" when you double-click the object to edit it. This occurs because when you save the document created in Word 97 in the Word 6.x/95 format or Rich Text Format, the embedded object is not saved as a Word 95 document object. To edit the object, you must have Word 97 installed on your computer.

Cannot Edit an Embedded Object Created in a Word 95 Document after Saving in Word 97
If you create an embedded object in a Word 95 document, open the document in Word 97, and then save the document in Word 6.x/95 format or Rich Text Format, the embedded object is updated to a later version of the OLE object server program on the computer running Word 97. If you reopen the document in Word 95 on a computer that does not have Word 97 or Office 97 installed, you may not be able to edit the object.

This can occur with any OLE object, including objects created in Word 97 documents. To see a list of OLE server programs installed on your computer, view the list in the Object dialog box (Insert Menu).

WordArt Text Effects
For information about converting Word 97 documents that contains WordArt text effects to Word 6.x or Word 7.0 for Windows, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

157466 WD: WordArt Object Missing, Changes After Conversion

Additional query words: converting converts converted transferred transferring transfers 6.0/95 binary imitation save down to word6 wordart art word

Keywords: kbfaq kbgraphic KB157088

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