WordPerfect 5.1 DOS to Word 2002 conversion

[Pranata]

Is there any way to convert a WordPerfect 5.1 DOS document to Word 2002
while keeping all the original formatting intact?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Jack Waananen]

Not very likely. The printer drivers used will be different, the
typographic standards enforced by the two programs will be different, and
possibly even the fonts used will be different. It is virtually
impossible to keep the exact same formatting.

(-: Jack C_Tech

[Pranata]

Would it work if I convert the document first to WordPerfect 9/10/11/12 and
then convert it to Word 2002?

Thanks,
Pranata

"Jack Waananen" <ct...@corel.ca> wrote in message
news:VA.000017e...@corel.ca...

[lemoto]

Pranata:

> Would it work if I convert the document first to WordPerfect 9/10/11/12 and
> then convert it to Word 2002?
>

No. Jack's is a list of very basic problems.
--
Good wishes!
Roy Lewis
To email: http://www.lemoto.myby.co.uk/relay.htm

[Jack Waananen]

There is really no way to have a document come across exactly the same
except by pure coincidence. Even if the document was originally in Word
rather than WordPerfect from another system, differences in printer
drivers would cause differences in document layout.

The only way for a document to be identical on different systems -- even
with the same version of a word processor -- would be for the printer
driver to be exactly the same version for exactly the same Windows version
for exactly the same printer AND for the exact same font to be used.

Once you add the variables of different printers, printer drivers, fonts,
and word processor versions, your requirement to keep "...all the original
formatting intact" becomes impossible with anything other than the
simplest of documents.

However, don't get me wrong. The resulting converted document will
possible be very close and in many, many cases, any differences will be
acceptable. But if a document is very tightly formatted, you may find
that page breaks will shift slightly and things like indexes and tables of
contents will have to be tweaked.

On the other hand, documents like three-fold brochures with graphics
within graphics may blow up completely and require extensive re-editing.
This of course can occur with any WordPerfect to Word conversion, due in
part to Word's clumsy graphic handling.

(-: Jack C_Tech

[lemoto]

Pranata:
> Would it work . . .

You see that the only scheme that satisfies your basic objective
- that is, to output you documents exactly as before - is to use
WP5.1, the same driver and the same printer.

If you are able to find the original printer, you are most
likely to find out if it is possible for Windows to drive it
here:
http://www.columbia.edu/~em36/wpdos/

But the only sure way to achieve identical output would be to
run WP5.1 (using its drivers) under DOS (not in a Windows "DOS
Box").