How do I use Word 2000 templates in OO?

[karljahr]

I have five .dot templates that were created years ago and work in Word 2000. However, when I try to open them with OO 2.0 or 2.3 I get only goobledigook. I am just trying to open them like normal files hoping that OO is smart enough to deal with them, but it is not or I am doing something wrong.

[Hagar Delest]

Remember that MS Office format are closed ones, no specification available. So OOo filters have been made by reverse engineering. Hence some possible issues like that. If there is no confidential data, can you upload it here so that we check if we can open it ?

[wurzel]

I have five .dot templates that were created years ago and work in Word 2000. However, when I try to open them with OO 2.0 or 2.3 I get only goobledigook. I am just trying to open them like normal files hoping that OO is smart enough to deal with them, but it is not or I am doing something wrong.

The question is : which version of Word were the original DOT files created ? OOo only has backwards compatibility for Word files up to Office 95 (Word 6). If the original versions that were used to create these files predate that period in time, i.e. if they were produced with say Word 2.0, then OOo will not be able to read them. Even though documents might appear as Word 2000 templates, once opened and resaved in a later version, if they were created with earlier versions, the act of saving them in the newer format didn't rewrite the whole file, it merely put a compatibility wrapper around them, but kept all of the earlier version formatting information. If this is the case, then it might be the reason why OOo baulks on the file.

Alex

[floris v]

Why bother? It's easier to make new templates in OOo from scratch.

[Terrae]

Why bother? It's easier to make new templates in OOo from scratch.

Oh no it is NOT easier to make a new template in OOo! Especially if you have THOUSANDS of entries in your AutoText and AutoCorrect as do I have in my MS Word 2003. I can figure out how to import my AutoText, but because it is so large, it causes OOo to hang while importing. I cannot figure out how to import my AutoCorrect yet, and from what I hear, if I have a table created from a macro that I downloaded from the MVP site to backup my AutoCorrect file, OOo will only import the first 100 entries... which I still have not figured out how to import anyway. So, if anyone has any ideas on how I can accomplish my goals and is willing to share their knowledge and expertise with me, I would be very grateful. The reason I wanna convert is because my MS Word template keeps crashing because it is so full... it will not allow me to add anymore entries, and when I try, it causes the template to crash and I loose ALL my entries, then I have to reload them, losing any new AutoCorrect entries I may have added in the interim between backups of my AutoCorrect (which is all the time!). I'm spending more time replacing things than getting my work done!

Thanks in advance to all who reply to my pleas for help!

[TheGurkha]

If you're getting Word 2003 to crash then perhaps the strategy you're using is wrong. Why have *so* many autotext & auto-correct? What makes you suppose OOo will handle a huge number of autotext or auto-corrects any easier than Word?

[Terrae]

I don't "suppose" or "presume" anything, and certainly not that OOo will handle anything any better than Word. I am "trying" to learn, and was under the notion this was where that could happen. Maybe I was wrong.

[Terrae]

Why have *so* many autotext & auto-correct?

Because I am a medical transcriptionist and most of the autotext and autocorrect entries have to do with medical terms... or addresses for doctors, insurance companies, etc. - does that help to understand why *so* many autotext & auto-correct?

[acknak]

You might want to try a search; I know there was another thread where someone was doing medical transcription and trying to import huge lists for autoreplace. There is a limit, but it's somewhere north of 60,000 entries. I don't know how that relates to autotext.

BTW, OOo does not store any of that in a document--template or otherwise. All of those lists are stored outside of any document. We had a discussion about that recently also, where someone wanted document-specific autotext and OOo doesn't really provide it.

It may well be that, for situations like this that go far beyond what most people need these features for, a specialized extension is really needed to do the job well.

[Terrae]

Thank you for your kind reply. Actually, I have done a search, but not using the string for medical transcription - so I will try that, thank you! As for it being a document specific need - it's not. I just need to be able to have access to the entries... I does not matter to me if It is a template, or just as you described it, separate and outside of OOo... )

In addition, if you think that a separate extension would make the process more "user friendly"?… *hint* *hint* *grin*

hehe

Seriously though, I know this is free software - and no one appreciates that more than I do, but it would be nice to see some extensions geared toward the health industry... that would be FANTASTIC!

Again, thank you so much for your kind reply... I guess I can always wish and dream, yes?

[floris v]

Well, we're not the developers. As there seem to be quite a few medicals in this and the old forum with similar problems, why don't you guys talk it over with each other? Maybe one of you even knows a nerd who's dying to code this for you.

[patb]

I cannot figure out how to import my AutoCorrect yet, and from what I hear, if I have a table created from a macro that I downloaded from the MVP site to backup my AutoCorrect file, OOo will only import the first 100 entries... which I still have not figured out how to import anyway.

Terrae,

The limitation to the first 100 entries is possibly related to the fact that certain characters need to be encoded for inclusion in the DocumentList.xml file inside acor_*.dat which contains OOo's autocorrect entries. For a longish discussion of how to import the autocorrect list from Word please see http://www.oooforum.org/forum/viewtopic.phtml?t=10248. That discussion should explain how to import them manually. The macro has been tweaked a lot but I see from your post at viewtopic.php?f=21&t=7368&p=41526 that it is not working for you as expected.

I can understand your use of a long autocorrect list. I'm surprised there are not more people who make heavy use of autocorrect. I hope this feature of OOo will be further developed.

Cheers, Pat.

[Terrae]

Hi Pat,

Thank you so much for your reply! I did get someone who was willing to take a look at my templates and database files for Word and OOo. Unfortunately I have been so busy with working 2 jobs that I haven't had a chance to take a look at what he sent me yet... maybe some time this weekend (I hope!)

Anyway... it would be really sweet to see some health industry geared add-ons for OOo (like maybe geared toward medical transcriptionists??)... text expanders, which could replace the autocorrect, medical dictionaries, maybe an address book, which could replace a lot of entries that I have in autotext - and the only reason I use it that way is because it offers an automatic entry if it matches the text I am entering...

So, maybe a chance to play with OOo this weekend so I can get a little more familiar with it. I can see a great future for this program... let's hope our hopes are not deflated like with MSO!

Once again, thanks for replying to my plea for help... I truly appreciate your time.

Terrae

[aquapearl]

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