On Mon, 2005-04-18 at 19:32 -0500, Peter Kupfer OOo wrote: > Bill Wilken wrote: > > The OpenOffice 2.0 beta perpetuates an annoying incompatibility between > > Writer and Microsoft Word which exists in version 1.x, namely the manner > > in which Writer treats document headings and footers. > > > > To replicate this problem, do the following with Microsoft Word. > > > > (1) Create a three page document using any body text you desire. > > > > (2) Insert a section break between the second and third pages. > > > > (3) Using the header/footer control, add the header "Page Three" to the > > third page, add the header "Page Two" to the second page, then invoke > > Word's capacity to leave the header of a document's first page as a > > blank without in any way altering the header spanning the first section > > of the document. > > > > Now, use open the Word document with the OpenOffice 2.0 Writer. While > > Writer distinguishes properly between the headers placed on page 3 and > > page 2, it refuses to place a blank header on page 1. While I realize > > that you can "fix" this problem with Writer, Writer's lack of > > compatibility with Word in this area will create needless problems for > > any team of office workers who must regularly use complex documents > > written originally in Word. > > Thanks for bringing this up. The biggest problem here is that MS doesn't > tell us what they are doing with their file format, so we are guessing, > and they change each version, their file format, so we have to guess again. > > My best advice would be to have your co workers switch to OOo full time > and then just fix the docs once and be done with it. > > That might not be possible, so the best thing you can do is file an > issue, this is how OOo bugs are fixed. > > Borrowed from G. Roderick Singleton: > The best way to have problems such as this evaluated is to file an > issue. If you haven't already registered, do the following: > > Go to <www.openoffice.org> click the Register link at the top right of > of the page. Fill in your information and reply to the confirmation > email that will be sent to the address you provided. Once you have > confirmed, go to <www.openoffice.org> again and click on the "Bugs & > Issues" link in the General links box. > > Thanks for bringing this to our attention. It is important that you file > the issue to ensure reproducibility with your examples. > > HTH, > > -- > Peter Kupfer -- Using OOo since 'OO4 -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Want to help? http://www.oooauthors.org > For OOo tips: http://openoffice.peschtra.com/tips/ooo_tips_tricks.html > To order OOo: http://openoffice.peschtra.com/distro/ooo_distro.html > > Peter,
I will forward this as you have suggested. I do believe, however, that the sponsors of OpenOffice would do well to remember how Microsoft succeeded in displacing WordPerfect as the market leader in word processing. Among other things, they made certain that users could import complex WordPerfect documents into Word with very little disruption in formatting. While OpenOffice 2.0 does a pretty good job in this respect, Word is so entrenched that I doubt that "close" is going to be good enough. I base this conclusion on many years experience as a corporate CIO (now retired) who saw repeatedly that software users were notoriously unwilling to give up the devil they knew in favor of one that was unfamiliar. Bill --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
