Custom style is missing in Word 2003

[Guest]

I have several documents created in Word 2000 that contain user-defined
styles. When the documents are opened in 2003, the styles are missing & the
formatting of the document is changed. If the document is re-opened in 2000,
it is back to being fine. Is this a setting or a glitch? Need to know soon
before we upgrade any more computers with the latest version.

 

[Charles Kenyon]

This does not have to do with Word 2000/2003 but probably with two different
normal.dot templates and with a setting in your documents to update styles
from the template. Open your documents in Word 2000. Under Tools > Templates
and Add-Ins, uncheck this option for each of the documents. Then see if the
problem persists.
--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide


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[Cindy M -WordMVP-]

Hi =?Utf-8?B?SVNNR1I=?=,

I have several documents created in Word 2000 that contain user-defined
styles. When the documents are opened in 2003, the styles are missing & the
formatting of the document is changed. If the document is re-opened in 2000,
it is back to being fine. Is this a setting or a glitch? Need to know soon
before we upgrade any more computers with the latest version.

Mmmm. first thing that comes to my mind is that the option to "update styles
automatically" is activated in Tools/Templates and Addins? If that's the case,
deactivate this in Word 2000 and the document should open "normally" in Word
2003.

If that's not what's causing the behavior, could you describe the style(s) that
are "getting lost" when you open in Word 2003?

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or reply
in the newsgroup and not by e-mail

 

[Guest]

The option to "Automatically update styles" was not checked, so that's not
the problem.

There are about 24 user-defined styles in the one document that are used to
control headings, indents, etc. The documents in question are used for
Architectural specifications & need to be formatted a certain way. The styles
actually came within the documents & were not created in-house. When I open
the document in 2003, the styles are gone from the document. Several other
similar documents can be opened in 2003 & have all of the user-defined styles
appear. It is a very odd situation.

 

[Charles Kenyon]

Make sure that you are looking at the Templates and Add-Ins dialog for the
particular problem document. There are a couple of places in Word with the
option to automatically update styles. It is only the one in the Templates
and Add-Ins dialog that causes this problem.

Otherwise, it might be a corrupt document. Doesn't seem likely, though.

You could try, in Word 2003, saving one of the documents that does work
under a new name and then copying the contents from one of the broken
documents into it. What happens?
--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide


--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.

 

[Guest]

I confirmed that I was in the Templates and Add-Ins dialog & it was unchecked.

I did try your suggestion to save a good document in 2003 under a new name
then copy in the info from the bad doc. The formatting re-appeared (outline
info) for the copied paragraphs in the new doc. Does this mean a corrupt doc?

 

[Cindy M -WordMVP-]

Hi =?Utf-8?B?SVNNR1I=?=,

I did try your suggestion to save a good document in 2003 under a new name
then copy in the info from the bad doc. The formatting re-appeared (outline
info) for the copied paragraphs in the new doc. Does this mean a corrupt doc?

Sounds like it, yes. Although it's the first time I've encountered one that
exhibited this behavior .-)

You might try saving these files in RTF or HTML format in Word 2000 and see if
they open correctly in Word 2003 from that format (might save some time and
frustration, if it works).

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or reply
in the newsgroup and not by e-mail