I've been doing some experimenting on the Win32 version of
OOo v. 2.0 beta with some of my WordPerfect legal documents,
so I could compare the display with the WordPerfect 12
(Service Pack 1-patched) display of the same documents.
Here is a summary of issues I've seen so far when working
with WPD files in OOo 1.9.104. The documents have fairly
complex formatting (legal briefs). All single-spacing is set
at 1.2 leading, double space at 2.0. I would be happy to
forward copies of example files. I hope this will assist.
1. Handling of vertical space created by paragraph breaks
(hitting enter key) is very inconsistent. Some blank lines
were deleted, in some cases converting double line spacing
to single; in other areas, vertical space was dramatically
increased. Nothing that can't be cleaned up, but troublesome
in that the amount of vertical space on the first page of a
brief between the attorney's contact information and the
line identifying the court is commonly set by local court
rules. Therefore, a shop that practices in different
jurisdictions would have difficulty in automating document
conversion. This problem may contribute to the wide
difference in page break locations.
2. Spacing between double spaced text and single-spaced
footers and footnotes is not preserved in some documents,
resulting in no space between them. In other similar legal
documents, the same problem did not occur. A possible
contributor to wide difference in page break locations.
3. "Legal" line numbering did not survive the translation.
This is the line numbering created by the Pleading.wcm macro
that ships with WordPerfect (the macro's only function
unless rewritten; it is fairly common for firms to rewrite
it to add the firm's contact information on the watermark).
The macro creates a WordPerfect watermark that contains the
line numbering and vertical rule.
4. Table issues: In case captions created in WordPerfect
with a one-row, 3-cell table, with the characteristics
described in the next sentence, the first cell's right
visible border line is arbitrarily transferred to the right
side of the second cell. The row contains left-justified
text in the first and third cells and the center cell serves
to create white space between the first and third cells,
with the first cell having visible borders on the top,
right, and bottom. The result is that the borders on the top
and bottom of the first cell are broken at the right end,
and the text in the third cell has no space between it and
the border. This is a very common way of creating case
captions in WordPerfect.
5. In paragraphs formatted at the beginning with
[LeftTab][Para Num][LeftTab], paragraph numbering
disappeared and the two tabs were changed to a single tab.
Apparently automatic paragraph numbering is not translated.
Although I have not checked yet, this also suggests that
WordPerfect Counters receive similar treatment. (Counters
are used to increment or decrement numbers, then display the
result. I believe they are used in the automatic paragraph
numbering feature.)
6. Footnotes: Footnote conversion resulted in several issues:
6a. Numbering: All footnote numbers were converted to "0" in
both the text calls and the footnote targets. In the
footnote targets, superior numbers were converted to full
size characters.
6b. Horizontal rule: The standard WordPerfect horizontal
rule inserted between text and the first footnote on a page
increased from approximately a 1-point rule to a 3-point
rule in some cases, visually much darker than accompanying
text. In some cases, both treatments occur in the same
document. Mysteriously, closing and reopening the document
often fixes this.
6c. Footnote Opening Style: Footnotes formatted in
WordPerfect with a footnote opening style containing a
[LftTab] before the footnote number, with the style followed
by a [LftTab] before the footnote text, is most often
translated as two tabs followed by the footnote number and
no space between the footnote number and the footnote text.
In other footnotes, the same formatting results in the
footnote number at the beginning of the line, followed by
two tabs. In no file has the formatting been correctly
translated.
6d. Space following footnote: Space between a footnote and a
footer is not maintained, consistently resulting in no space
between them.
6e. Space between footnotes: When more than one
single-spaced footnote occurs on a page, the space between
them is not maintained.
7. [HdLft\/RightInd] affects following linespacing: When an
inset single spaced quotation is created within
double-spaced text, an extra blank line is added at the end
of the paragraph. Quotations and return to double space take
the form, [Ln Spacing][HdLft\/RightInd]Text[HRt][HRt][Ln
Spacing 2.0]Text.
8. Page breaks not preserved: Opening WPD's in OOo resulted
in substantially longer documents. E.g., a 15-page brief in
WP 12 grew to 17 pages when opened in OOo. In most
situations, this would not be a problem and fewer problems
are presented for editing in OOo when page breaks are not
replicated. But in other situations, law firms may need to
replicate more precisely what was actually presented to the
court. Also, in the situation of different firms working
together to prepare a legal document, with the WordPerfect
firm forwarding a document to the OOo firm for finalization
and filing, a dramatic change of length can be unacceptable.
Frequently such an event occurs under extreme time
pressure. Brief lengths are subject to court rules. Although
most appellate courts are moving to word count limits, many
lower courts still express their limits in number of pages.
This situation suggests a need for an option to preserve the
number of pages. I understand that OOo has a "shrink to fit"
tool under development for Writer. It may be that it could
be incorporated to produce the result suggested. However, it
definitely should be optional. Many courts also have rules
regarding line spacing, margins, and type sizes.
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