Re: Interchangeability of AbiWord RTF documents with MS Word

Thanks, /one, for all the detail comparing the rendering of RTF in Abiword vs.
Word. Some of this, at least, can probably be sorted out by users of both
applications (I can't help because I haven't had Word for years).

Here's one thought though: Doesn't the latest Word offer .odt (Open Document
Format)? If so, what happens when you run an .odt document through the same
operations? That's a comparison I'd really like to know about, and it might
solve your problem instead of trying to make the different versions of RTF
play together. (Even if .odt interchangeability is *worse*, your tests would
be a big help.)

--Mark Richardson

On Tuesday 08 May 2007 9:11 am, oneoutofthecity wrote:
> I am having trouble in producing in AbiWord RTF
> documents that are compatible or interchangeable with
> Microsoft Word.
> My apology for the length of this message, but I
> thought it preferable to include all arguably relevant
> information.
> I am using AbiWord 2.4.6, which I downloaded via
> SourceForge, on Windows XP - Home Edition, Version
> 5.1, Build 2600.
>
> I have noticed various instances of incompatibility or
> lack of interchangeability between RTF documents
> produced in AbiWord on my computer versus in MS Word
> on other computers.
> But my specific problem is in electing a different
> header or footer for the first page of an RTF document
> than for its subsequent pages. When I make that
> election in an RTF document created in AbiWord, the
> election is not recognized in MS Word, with the result
> that the header or footer made in AbiWord on page 2
> and subsequent pages is also used on page 1 when the
> document is viewed in MS Word or printed from MS Word.
> It seems that when AbiWord saves the document in RTF,
> it uses a format to elect a different header of footer
> for page 1 which MS Word does not recognize.
> The converse is not true though; the election in an
> RTF document made in MS Word for a different header or
> footer on page 1 than on the subsequent pages is
> recognized in AbiWord.
>
> I have seen my problem on my computer with versions
> 2.4.6, 2.4.5, and 2.2.5 of AbiWord. All of those
> versions were downloaded via SourceForge. Each of
> those versions was installed as a new, fresh
> installation of AbiWord after the previously installed
> version had been uninstalled.
>
> I have not had this problem for the election to use
> different headers or footers for facing pages (on odd
> and even pages).
> (AbiWord's election to have a different header or
> footer for the last page of a document I cannot get to
> work in an RTF document made in AbiWord, and I have
> not seen such an election in MS Word.)
>
> The above-described problem can get worse though.
> When the RTF document made in AbiWord is opened in MS
> Word with the different header or footer election for
> page 1 not there recognized, and that election is then
> made in MS Word and the document then saved, when the
> document is then re-opened in MS Word, the font used
> in the document changes from regular to bold, as do
> the font properties for the normal style used in the
> document. This has occurred in two computers that use
> MS Word 2000. However, another MS Word user has not
> reported that font change problem.
>
> Another point that may be relevant:
> I made in AbiWord an RTF document with no headers or
> footers, but with a little text, an embedded bitmap
> image, and a text box. When opened in MS Word 2000,
> the document appeared OK (other than some spacing
> variations), but when in MS Word I added some text to
> the document, saved it, and then re-opened it, the
> font used in the document changed from regular to
> bold, as did the font properties for the normal style
> used in the document. And when I later opened in
> AbiWord that document (as changed in MS Word), some
> but not all of its text was in bold and the font
> properties for the normal style used in the document
> were bold (which was not what had been originally
> used).
> As a comparison, I made in MS WordPad an RTF document
> with the same bitmap image as I had inserted in the
> AbiWord-made document (I did not insert a text box in
> the WordPad-made document). When the WordPad-made
> document was opened, changed and saved in MS Word 2000
> on another computer, the font used in the document did
> not change from regular to bold.
> MS Word did see the bitmap image inserted in each of
> those RTF documents created in AbiWord and in MS
> WordPad, as well as the text box in the AbiWord-made
> RTF document.
> (I also have noticed on my computer that AbiWord does
> not see a bitmap image inserted in an RTF document
> made in MS WordPad, and vice-versa.)
>
> AbiWord inserts all of its built-in styles in an RTF
> document even though the user has not used all of
> those styles in the document. Is this by design?
> Could it relate to the problem described above?
>
> Is there a solution to my problem, or is it a bug in
> AbiWord?
> I checked bug reports, and help requests archived back
> through the start of 2004, but did not find anything
> directly related to my problem.
> I did see the discussion among people, including Dom,
> at this web-page:
> http://pandionknight.wordpress.com/2007/01/17/open-document-format/
> and there appears to be a difference of opinion as to
> how interchangeable RTF is.
> I had hoped that RTF would be sufficiently
> interchangeable that a user could be assured that
> headers and footers used in an RTF document would be
> the same between AbiWord and MS Word, without causing
> other problems.
>
> Thank you.
> /one
>
>
>
>
> ___________________________________________________________________________
>_________ Never miss an email again!
> Yahoo! Toolbar alerts you the instant new Mail arrives.
> http://tools.search.yahoo.com/toolbar/features/mail/
> -----------------------------------------------
> To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to
> abiword-user-request@abisource.com with the word
> unsubscribe in the message body.
-----------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to
abiword-user-request@abisource.com with the word
unsubscribe in the message body.
Received on Tue May 8 18:51:00 2007