Q132217 - Using the BatchConversion Macro with WordPerfect 6.0 Files

Using the BatchConversion Macro with WordPerfect 6.0 Files

Q132217

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0c

SYMPTOMS

When you attempt to convert WordPerfect 6.0 files using the BatchConversion macro supplied with the Convert.dot template, you may receive the following error message

File is not a WordPerfect document

followed by:

Word cannot open the document.

CAUSE

The BatchConversion macro supplied with the Convert.dot template in Microsoft Word 6.0 for Windows is not designed to work with the WordPerfect 6.0 converter. Word recognizes a WordPerfect 6.x file as WordPerfect 5.x format instead of WordPerfect 6.x format. This occurs because the WordPerfect 5.x and the 6.x file formats both have the same internal header information in the first 4 bytes of the file. Word looks at these first 4 bytes to determine the format and uses this information to determine which converter to use. Because the header information is the same, Word cannot differentiate between the two formats and cannot determine which converter to use without user input.

MORE INFORMATION

The WordPerfect 6.x converter was released after the release of Word 6.0c for Windows. Currently, there are no plans to update Word 6.0 to recognize the difference between the WordPerfect 5.x and 6.x formats internally. However, you can use the workaround listed below.

NOTE: This behavior does not occur in Word 7.0 for Windows 95. Word 7.0 can recognize the difference between WordPerfect 5.x and WordPerfect 6.x file types.

WORKAROUND

Modify the [MSWord Text Converters] section of the WINWORD6.INI file to add an additional option for WordPerfect 6.0. To do this, open your Winword6.ini file in Windows Notepad:

In Windows Program Manager, on the File menu, click Run.

Type Winword6.ini.

Click OK.

Locate the [MSWord Text Converters] section.

On a new line, directly below the [MSWord Text Converters] line, type
```
      WrdPrfctDos=WordPerfect 6.0 Batch,
      c:\windows\msapps\textconv\wpft6.cnv, doc 
```
NOTE: This entry should be typed as a single line of text.

This entry will disable Word's ability to convert WordPerfect 5.x files. If you need to convert WordPerfect 5.x files, close Word, reopen the Winword6.ini and remove or disable the line above. Word will revert to using the WordPerfect 5.x converter (Wpft5.cnv).

In some cases, the WINWORD6.INI file will already contain a similar entry for WordPerfect 6.x files, however, the class name will be different than WrdPrfctDos. You can modify it to look like the above entry but it must be the first entry on the list with this class name.

The WINWORD6.INI [MSWord Text Converters] section takes precedence over the WIN.INI [MS Text Converters] section. When Word attempts to convert either a WordPerfect 5.x or 6.x file, it will find the first WrdPrfctDos entry in the WINWORD6.INI file and use that converter. If none are found, Word will look in the [MS Text Converters] section of the WIN.INI file and find the first WrdPrfctDos entry and use the converter related to that entry.

Additional query words: converting converts Word perfect 6.x 6.1 wp wp6 wp5 wp6x word6 batch conversion macro wordperfect how to howto kbhowto

Keywords : kbconversion
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