Word 2003 / 2007 Compatibility Issue

[Gordon Bentley-Mix]

This might be a question better suited for the General forum (which I've
cross-posted to - I think), but the issue is related to documents created
from templates that I've coded so I'm posting in the Word Programming forum
as well.

Here's the situation: I've created a series of templates using Word 2003.
These templates have protected and unprotected sections in them (forms
protection). The client has standardised on Word 2003 across the
organisation, but there are a couple of "high-ranking interested parties"
(members of the Board) who are running Word 2007. I've been told - but have
yet to see proof - that when documents created from my templates are opened
in Word 2007 only the content in the protected area/s of the document is
displayed; the unprotected sections are blank. ~cue spooky music~

Unfortunately I don't have a copy of Word 2007 to test with, and the persons
reporting the problem are not exactly local, so I'm unable to reproduce the
problem myself. However, before I go too much further with chasing this issue
(which I'm tempted to resolve by saying it's out of scope since the contract
was to develop templates for use in the _standard_ environment), I'd like to
know if anybody else has encountered this problem.

--
Cheers!
Gordon
The Kiwi Koder

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[Stefan Blom]

As far as I know, there is no general problem in Word 2007 that involves
protected documents and invisible text, if that's what you are asking.

The first thing to check when text is invisible is if it has been
inadvertently formatted as hidden (but you've probably already considered
this).

If you believe that the document(s) and template(s) could be corrupt, see
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/AppErrors/CorruptDoc.htm.

 

[Gordon Bentley-Mix]

Stefan,

Thanks for the input. There are some parts of the documents that do have
hidden text in them but it's all in the protected sections, which apparently
display OK. However, I'm pretty sure the text in the unprotected sections
isn't hidden or it wouldn't show up when the docs are opened in Word 2003. I
also don't think the template/s or document/s are corrupt for the same
reason: they work find in 2003.

I've searched both Google and Microsoft for any info that might be even
remotely related, and all I've found (in addition to my own post) is a lot of
spin from MS saying that it'll all be fine and instructions on how to open
2007 docs in 2003, which is not my issue. However, there are a few references
to the 2003 features that are lost or changed when opening 2003 docs in 2007,
so I suspect that there really is a problem but it just isn't explained very
well. For example, one KBA says that heading and body fonts are converted to
static text - whatever that means...

The only thing I can think of is that I've set up a special style for the
paragraphs for the continuous section breaks that uses hidden font. Maybe in
the 'conversion to static text', the hidden attribute of this font is being
applied to all of the text between the section breaks - and then turned off
again at the next section break (which would explain why the protected
sections display OK). Curiouser and curiouser.

In any case, I've decided to tell the client that this whole thing is
waaaaay out of scope and if they want it resolved they'll have to put
together a new project around it. I don't believe the problem is with my
templates; I believe it's a problem in Word 2007 - and I haven't been
contracted (yet) to resolve problems like that. And if I do eventually figure
it out, I'll make sure to post the answer so everyone can benefit.
--
Cheers!
Gordon

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follow-ups to the newsgroup.

 

[mxk]

This might be a question better suited for the General forum (which I've
cross-posted to - I think), but the issue is related to documents created
from templates that I've coded so I'm posting in theWordProgramming forum
as well.

Here's the situation: I've created a series of templates usingWord2003.
These templates have protected and unprotected sections in them (forms
protection). The client has standardised onWord2003 across the
organisation, but there are a couple of "high-ranking interested parties"
(members of the Board) who are runningWord2007. I've been told - but have
yet to see proof - that when documents created from my templates are opened
inWord2007 only the content in the protected area/s of the document is
displayed; the unprotected sections are blank. ~cue spooky music~

Unfortunately I don't have a copy ofWord2007 to test with, and the persons
reporting the problem are not exactly local, so I'm unable to reproduce the
problem myself. However, before I go too much further with chasing this issue
(which I'm tempted to resolve by saying it's out of scope since the contract
was to develop templates for use in the _standard_ environment), I'd like to
know if anybody else has encountered this problem.

--
Cheers!
Gordon
The Kiwi Koder

Uninvited email contact will be marked as SPAM and ignored. Please post all
follow-ups to the newsgroup.

Hi,

Why not try Advanced Word Repair at http://www.datanumen.com/awr/ ?
It recovers several important Word documents for me and is really
helpful!

Alan

 

[Gordon Bentley-Mix]

Thanks, but as I said before, I don't think the document is actually corrupt
as the problem occurs with _every_ document produced from _every_ template
I've created. I cannot believe that all of the templates produce a corrupt
document every time, and if they do then I need to make some serious changes
to my templates.

Besides, even if it does work I can't really recommend to my client that
they use a utility to repeatedly recover / repair documents; it doesn't say
much about the quality of my work (and pretty much guarantees that I won't
get any more work from them), and the users in question aren't expecially
technically proficient in the first place.

(Why do I get the feeling that Alan has some vested interest in the company
that makes Advanced Word Repair? ;-P)
--
Cheers!
Gordon

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[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

If you want to send such a document to me, I will see if the reported
behaviour is replicated.

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

 

[Gordon Bentley-Mix]

Thanks Doug. I'll do that later today when I get a break.
--
Cheers!
Gordon

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