Why won't this Word file render in Neo?

al3 · Pure-blooded Human Joined: Oct 28, 2007 Posts: 34

Can someone explain why this file will not render correctly in Neo... and is there a way to "fix" it?:

http://www.answer123.com/badwordfile.doc

This is a calendar. If you scroll down it shows that April and May are overlayed.

I don't understand why.... but I did NOT create this file. It was sent to me. Is there a bug in Neo? I'm told it displays fine in Word.

Thanks,

Al

pluby · The Architect Joined: Jun 16, 2003 Posts: 11949

I opened the linked file in Microsoft Word 2004 on my Mac and April and May are overlaid just like you describe. Since Microsoft Word has the same problem as NeoOffice, the problem appears to be in the file not in NeoOffice.

Patrick

al3 · Pure-blooded Human Joined: Oct 28, 2007 Posts: 34

pluby · The Architect Joined: Jun 16, 2003 Posts: 11949

ovvldc · Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 12:04 am Post subject:

Al3, it helps if you can personally confirm things that do work, rather than rely on the memory of friends.

In this case, you are in a tricky area, because not only is NeoOffice's Word filter is not entirely complete, but the format has changed between different Word versions in the past. These different versions do not import each other's work consistently either.

I any case, this appears to be an inconsistency in the MS Word format, which makes your problem a possible shortcoming in the OOo import filter for Word. And improving that filter is outside the scope of NeoOffice project.

Best wishes,
Oscar

rays · Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 12:50 am Post subject:

Each month is a table enclosed within a frame anchored to paragraph.

It appears that the creator of this Word file has been inconsistent in the method used to move from page to page. Sometimes this has been through the use of inserting page breaks (a good thing) while other times simply by inserting additional paragraph returns until the month frame "jumps to the next page" because it can no longer fit on the current page.

This effect can perhaps be illustrated by adjusting the current top and bottom margin values in the Format>Page dialog. For example, while making no other adjustments to the document, increasing top and bottom page margins by about 50% will force the May month to overlay on June.

In other words, there is nothing inherently wrong with the file. But it contains only three page breaks amongst six months! It can be expected to layout correctly only on those computers which have identical "Default" page formatting values to the originating authors copy of Word, at best.

If the author had consistently used the more reliable technique of inserting page breaks between all month frames (as done in earliest months and indicated on-screen by NeoOffice as a thin blue line), rather than relying on simply inserting additional paragraph values (sloppy), it is likely that the document would render correctly on all versions of software under discussion.

Trust this helps.

al3 · Pure-blooded Human Joined: Oct 28, 2007 Posts: 34

My friend says she is using "Word X for Macintosh" Does that help a all?

Al

rpatrick · Councilperson Joined: Aug 29, 2007 Posts: 108

I'm sorry to hear about your problems.

Word X is quite old, since then there has been a 2004 and 2008 version. I can confirm the file renders correctly on Word 2008.

Also, I agree with what rays said. Occasionally different versions of Word (and other software such as NeoOffice) especially older versions, things won't always render exactly the same. There are many reasons for this but being as consistent as possible as rays explains can help reduce incompatibility.

For what it's worth, I've found most things to compatible with NeoOffice - at the very most there are occasionally slight formatting issues which I can fix very easily.

Richard

al3 · Pure-blooded Human Joined: Oct 28, 2007 Posts: 34

I only bring this up because in the 4 years of using OO on Linux and the past year and half using Neo on a Mac, this is only the second Word file I've ever received that did not render 99%. (I count this one at about 75%). It is NOT a big deal, I was just trying to see if that maybe by posting the file it might help the developers to further refine the translator.

Thanks for all your help on this.

Al

Samwise · Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 7:59 am Post subject:

al3 · Pure-blooded Human Joined: Oct 28, 2007 Posts: 34

pluby · The Architect Joined: Jun 16, 2003 Posts: 11949

ovvldc · Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 12:16 pm Post subject:

Though I find that Word 2004 for Mac did a reasonable job in keeping the format exchangeable with the Windows equivalent. Formatting isn't nearly as volatile these days as it used to be (under Windows as well).

@Al3: good to hear you have so few cases of badly rendering documents Smile

.

Best wishes,
Oscar