.doc Conversion Probs, blank spaces as squares

[buckizard]

OO 2.3.1. ok I downloaded a .doc file which was a personal history for a job. It has numerous fields which could be tabbed through, filled out, etc. I originally saved these in its original .doc format. Later I got OpenOffice and have kept it updated. When I converted this to odt and opened to fill out once again, every field which was blank orignally, now is filled with squares. I searched through the forums for this specific problem but am unable to find anything. Currently I have to double-click/edit/delete these squares. I just want blank fields where orignally they were blank. Thank you in advance.

[Hagar Delest]

Well, rather difficult to say without seeing the file itself. Can you make a sample of it (less than 128 kB), replace any personal data by dummy text and upload it here?

[buckizard]

Here's the original, blank document, which for me, still opens except EVERY field has squares in it. (just tried uploading but file was too large, so hopefully this zipped file takes). 2nd edit: well, zipped file is 181kb, and max is 128kb, so here is the url to the file online:

The page is http://www.post.ca.gov/selection/default.asp with the file being the 'Personal History Statement-Public Safety Dispatcher POST 2-255 (doc)'. Direct link to the download is http://www.post.ca.gov/forms/2-255-phsDispatchers.doc (lots of weird stuff out there so I posted both so you can see it is from a 'trusted' source).

And thank you for responding.

[Hagar Delest]

I can't reproduce your issue. Can you make a screenshot showing the squares and upload it here? Crop it, no need to have the whole screen and save as .png.

[hol.sten]

I can reproduce the square issue (Windows XP and OOo 2.3.1). If you switch over to the page preview you see them there, too:

[Hagar Delest]

A .doc file that is better rendered under Linux

Under Linux.png (7.32 KiB) Viewed 10137 times

I first thought about a font issue but font is Arial, rather common under Windows.

Edit: If you see the same with the .odt, could you upload it so we check the content.xml file? I'll try to have a look at mine in the mean time.

[hol.sten]

I first thought about a font issue but font is Arial, rather common under Windows.

That was my first thought, too. But looking with a hex tool inside the .doc file only showed common fonts: Times New Roman, Symbol, Arial, Arial Narrow, Arial Black, Wingdings, and Courier New.

Edit: If you see the same with the .odt, could you upload it so we check the content.xml file? I'll try to have a look at mine in the mean time.

I've attached it. It shows the same squares.

[Hagar Delest]

Still no squares on my system.

Here is the xml code for the text fields:

Code: Select all

<text:span text:style-name="T36">
<text:text-input text:description="">     </text:text-input>
</text:span>

If I select (either in the content.xml file or directly from OOo) the string and copy it to my text editor Gedit, I get that:

String.png (482 Bytes) Viewed 10114 times

If I open the content.xml file in a more powerful text editor, I get that:

Code: Select all

<text:text-input text:description="">     </text:text-input>

I don't know what are these characters for.

[AndrewZ]

Not a font problem, so may be a bug? I checked a list of known, open import bugs in Writer with the summary keyword field, but I didn't see anything. You may want to check again, check against MS Word, and then file the bug if still necessary.

[buckizard]

Yup, those squares you show are exactly what I'm getting. Thanks for all of your efforts . I may have to reinstall Office or use my daughters computer because I'm on a time-line to get this done. But going to give it a few days and see what pops up. Thanks again.

[Hagar Delest]

Under W2k, I don't see the squares, neither with MS Word, nor with OOo!
When I export as PDF the file, keeping only the fields, the font used is ArialUnicodeMS. Do you have that one on your system?

I've made some sample files : the MS Word document has a string in Arial Unicode MS font, do you see it? But even under W2k, the title field (in the file properties) does show the squares.

[AndrewZ]

FWIW,
OOo 2.3.1 Linux: I see the squares in the font sample doc and in the original doc.

[Hagar Delest]

And do you see the line written in Arial Unicode MS font?

[AndrewZ]

And do you see the line written in Arial Unicode MS font?

Yes. The first line is the squares. Then, follows the Arial Unicode MS and Arial fonts. I can read the last few lines.

[Corfy]

FYI, I'm seeing the same thing AndrewZ is seeing...

I'm using OOo 2.3.1 on WinXP Pro.

[Hagar Delest]

OK, thanks. Absolutely no idea. I've tried to play with the not printed characters, every setting for display that I could find and no way to show these squares on both Linux and W2k

If I hadn't made screenshots, I would have thought I had to buy new glasses!

[Corfy]

This is a problem I had noticed before when opening certain Word templates in OOo in WinXP, but it really didn't bother me. I figured it was probably a font issue or something. Then, with one version of OOo, it just went away. I don't remember when that happened, though, so I can't tell you what version. Suddenly, with version 2.3, the problem came back. This time it annoyed me a little more, since I was used to not seeing it, but it still wasn't a big problem for me. And whatever it was that caused it, it stuck around for 2.3.1.