Marbux, please, do report the issues one by one at
http://www.openoffice.org/issues/enter_bug.cgi Some of the issues, like
the empty paragraph height and paragraph numbering were fixed in recent
commits to libwpd. We need to have these modifications to correspond to
reported issues if we want them to have any chance to make it into OOo
2.0 release. If there is not enough noise about these problems, it is
very likely that the closest release incorporating these improvements
may be 2.0.1 if not later.
Cheers
Fridrich
marbux wrote:
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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