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If you've decided to switch from Microsoft Office to
OpenOffice, you might find yourself having to piece of work with both Office and
OpenOffice files. Fortunately, OpenOffice does a relatively practiced job of working
with Microsoft Office documents. Here are several document-conversion tricks
yous tin can use when working in environments in which Office and OpenOffice are
both used.

Opening an Office document in OpenOffice

Let's start with the nuts. If you've recently adopted
OpenOffice only have a bunch of documents that are even so in Microsoft Office
format, yous'll probably want to be able to open the documents in OpenOffice.
The good news is that OpenOffice tin can open up Microsoft Role documents
automatically. Just double-click on an Part file and OpenOffice volition import
it.

Although OpenOffice volition open
Microsoft Office files, not all Microsoft Office features are supported within
OpenOffice. The odds of OpenOffice doing a perfect job of importing a Microsoft
Part document depend on the complexity of the document.

If you import a fairly simple Microsoft Role document, you
shouldn't experience any problems. At the very nigh, you might have to practise some
minor reformatting. If you import a highly complex document, though, expect to
have problems. OpenOffice will open any Microsoft Office document, but non all
features volition work as they did in Part.

One good example of this is Visual Bones scripts, which
OpenOffice won't run. If you open a document containing VB script, you'll be
able to view and edit the script, simply you lot won't exist able to execute the script
from within OpenOffice.

If you're inexperienced with more advanced types of
Microsoft Role documents, y'all might assume that Visual Basic script would be
integrated into a document. Notwithstanding, Visual Basic script is the code through
which Microsoft Role codes macros. Therefore, if y'all accept macros incorporated
into a Microsoft Function document, the macros won't piece of work if the document is
opened in OpenOffice.

At first, the fact that OpenOffice doesn't support macros
probably sounds like a really big deal. All the same, the lack of back up for macros
doesn't take to exist problematic. For example, users often will open a certificate
and make a small change that doesn't even involve the macro. In such cases,
OpenOffice will work perfectly for editing the certificate, and users who depend
on macros will still be able to use them the next time the certificate is opened
in Microsoft Office.

There are two ways OpenOffice can deal with Microsoft Function
documents that contain macros. One option is to place the macros into a comment
department of the document. This allows users to view or edit the macros, but not
to execute them from within OpenOffice. The next fourth dimension the certificate is opened in
Microsoft Role, the macros volition exist active. The other option is to configure
OpenOffice to delete macros when opening any Microsoft Office document
containing them.

You tin can command the way OpenOffice handles macros within a
Microsoft Function document by selecting the Options control from OpenOffice's
Tools menu. Yous'll then meet the Options—Load / Save—VBA Properties dialog box.
Expand the Load / Salve container and select the VBA Properties container. This
container offers options for loading basic code along with a Microsoft Office
certificate, and saving the lawmaking back out to a document. The options can also be
configured independently for Discussion, Excel, and PowerPoint documents.

Other features that are not supported by OpenOffice vary
amidst document types. For example, a Word document may not be converted to an
OpenOffice certificate correctly if it includes autoshapes, revision marks, OLE objects,
indexes, tables, frames, multicolumn formatting, hyperlinks, bookmarks,
WordArt-based graphics, animated characters, blithe text, or sure other
elements.

At that place are also some features in Excel documents that may not
convert correctly, such as autoshapes, OLE objects, pin tables, new nautical chart types,
conditional formatting, and certain functions and formulas. Restrictions too
be for PowerPoint documents, although not as many as for Word and Excel
documents. OpenOffice has trouble converting PowerPoint documents that include autoshapes;
tab, line, or paragraph spacing; primary background graphics; grouped objects;
and certain multimedia effects.

Exporting OpenOffice documents

If you're working in an surroundings where OpenOffice and
Microsoft Office are both used, it's only a matter of fourth dimension earlier someone will
want to open an OpenOffice certificate in Function. However, OpenOffice uses its ain
file format, which is incompatible with Microsoft Office. For instance, if yous
create a discussion processing document in OpenOffice, the default file blazon is OpenOffice.org
1.0 Text Document (.sxw). Word doesn't offer an option to open a certificate
that'southward in .sxw format.

Fortunately, OpenOffice's Save As feature allows you lot to salvage
your document in a diversity of formats, including several Microsoft Office
formats. For case, the word processor that comes with OpenOffice can save a
certificate in Discussion 97/2000/XP/95/6.0 formats. RTF and text file formats are too
supported, as are a variety of StarWriter formats.

Okay, so you probably didn't need me to tell you lot that you
could use the Salve Every bit characteristic to consign an OpenOffice document into Give-and-take
format. The simple fact that y'all tin can export OpenOffice documents in Microsoft
Office format raises some interesting questions, though. For example, if
OpenOffice is then picky nigh importing certain types of Microsoft Office
documents, is it just every bit picky about exporting them?

What you take to think is that OpenOffice does not offer
all of the features that Microsoft Part does. At the aforementioned time, it doesn't really
offering anything that Microsoft Office doesn't. Considering all of OpenOffice's
features are supported by Microsoft Office, documents tend to consign into
Microsoft Office format with no problems (bated from possibly minor formatting
issues).

Before I move on, in that location'southward i more export-related feature I
want to show you. Unlike Microsoft Function, OpenOffice contains an selection on the
File menu that allows you lot to export a document in PDF. This is really handy if
y'all always need to post a document to the Web or distribute a certificate in a
format that can't be easily edited.

Maintaining compatibility with Microsoft Role

If you find yourself having to back up an environment in which
only a couple of people are running OpenOffice and everyone else is running
Microsoft Office, you'll probably desire to try to keep as many documents as
possible in Microsoft Office format. One way of doing this is to configure
OpenOffice and then that it automatically saves all new documents in Microsoft Office
format.

OpenOffice actually allows y'all to salvage files in Microsoft
Function format by default. Just select the Options control from the OpenOffice
Tools menu. In the Options—Load / Save—General dialog box, expand the Load Relieve
portion of the Options tree and select the General container (Effigy A). An option near
the lower-right portion of the dialog box will ask what default format you lot want
to save files in. The default configuration saves files in OpenOffice format,
but you can salvage files in Microsoft Function format.

Figure A

You lot can configure OpenOffice to automatically salve all documents in
Microsoft Part format.

Mass document conversion

If everyone in your office is making the switch to
OpenOffice, there'southward a good take chances that you lot take dozens of documents yous'll want
to convert to OpenOffice format. I'one thousand happy to say that you don't take to
catechumen each document individually. OpenOffice has a batch conversion pick
that you can utilise to convert all of the documents at the same time.

The ability to import big numbers of documents is
integrated into OpenOffice's Autopilot feature. Autopilot allows you to import
Microsoft Office documents and convert them to OpenOffice format. During the
conversion process, the original documents are never modified. OpenOffice
creates a completely new file for the converted documents. That way, if
OpenOffice has trouble converting a certificate, the document volition not be
corrupted. You all the same have your original version to fall back on.

To convert a batch of documents, select
the Autopilot | Document Converter options from OpenOffice's File carte du jour. Yous'll
meet a screen request y'all what types of documents you want to catechumen. As you tin
see in Figure B, you're given a
pick between converting Microsoft Office documents or StarOffice documents.
After selecting the Microsoft Function option, you must select what types of documents
you want to convert. Yous can convert Word, Excel, or PowerPoint documents, or
any combination of these document types.

Effigy B

You can convert Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents.

Make your selections, verify that the Create Log File choice
is selected, and click Next. You'll now see the screen shown in Figure C. This screen is divided into
ii sections: Templates and Documents. Both sections take identical options,
except that one set up of options pertains to Microsoft Word template files
(typically .dot files), and the other applies to Microsoft Role documents.

Figure C

The processes of converting documents and converting templates are
controlled independently.

The offset options in these sections are the Word Templates and Discussion
Documents check boxes. These cheque boxes simply enable or disable the
conversion of sure document types. For example, if y'all wanted to convert
Word documents, but you didn't want to convert Word templates, you'd select the
Word Documents check box, just deselect the Word Templates check box.

The next pick you'll find in both sections is the
Including Subdirectories bank check box. If this box is selected, documents or
templates will be imported from the specified directory and all of its subdirectories.
Otherwise, documents or templates are imported simply from the specified
directory. Ane thing to go along in mind is that in that location's a dissever Including
Subdirectories bank check box for both sections. Therefore, it's possible to import
documents from a designated directory and all of its subdirectories, but to not
import templates plant in those subdirectories (or vice versa).

Finally, both the Templates and the Documents sections have
an Import From and Save To selection. Every bit I explained earlier, when you perform a
document conversion, the original documents are never touched. By default, the
converted documents are placed in the same folder as the original documents.
Nevertheless, you tin can salve the converted documents in a different folder if you want.
Over again, document conversion and template conversion are independent
processes, and you can designate separate directory paths for each, if
necessary.

Click Next, and you'll be asked to create any destination
directories that don't already be. You'll now encounter a screen that's almost
identical to the one shown in Effigy C. The simply real difference between the
screens is that while the one shown in Figure C is defended to Microsoft Give-and-take
documents, this screen is dedicated to Excel documents and templates. Aside
from that, all of the options on this screen work the aforementioned as those you've
already seen. Select your conversion options and click Next. You'll encounter one
more than screen like the one in Figure C. This time, even so, the screen is
dedicated to PowerPoint certificate conversions.

Click Side by side to open up a screen detailing the conversion options
you've specified. If everything displayed in the summary is acceptable, click
the Convert button to launch the conversion process. Otherwise, y'all can
backtrack by clicking the Back button.

When you lot start the conversion process, it will expect
something like the screen shown in Figure
D. On my test car, information technology took about a minute to convert 7 two-page
Word documents. When the conversion procedure completes, you tin can click Close to end
the procedure. Earlier you lot practice, try clicking the Show Log File button. As you can
see in Figure Due east, the log displays
the old and new names of each converted certificate. The log file too contains
hyperlinks to both the onetime and new versions of each document. And, if you can't
remember the path y'all saved the converted documents to, you can hover the mouse
pointer over a document name, and the document's path will exist displayed.

Figure D

This is what the certificate conversion process looks like.

Figure Due east

The conversion log file provides links to the old and new versions of each
document.

Convert on the fly with file associations

If you desire to catechumen files on the wing, yous don't even need
to bother converting the Microsoft Office files into OpenOffice format. Aside
from the issues that I mentioned earlier, OpenOffice has no trouble with
opening Microsoft Office documents. In fact, if your users aren't estimator
savvy enough to effigy out how to open a Microsoft Office document in
OpenOffice, y'all can assist them out by associating the .doc, .xls, and .ppt file
extensions with OpenOffice.

When you run the OpenOffice Setup program, you'll be asked
if you want to associate these file extensions with Microsoft Function. Proceed in
mind that you'll see this prompt when yous run the actual OpenOffice Setup
program, non when you install from the MSI file. If you want to use an MSI
file, but too want to associate these file extensions with OpenOffice, yous'll
need to do the extension association on the PC that you'll employ to create the
MSI file.

While leaving Microsoft Office documents in their native
format is definitely the method that involves the least corporeality of piece of work, it
might not be satisfactory for your organization. Remember what I said earlier
about OpenOffice not supporting Microsoft Office macros?

If a document contains a macro that you depend on, the only
way you tin can use the macro inside OpenOffice is to convert the certificate to
OpenOffice format and and so re-tape the macro. Since you lot can't include an
OpenOffice-style macro in a Microsoft Office document, you lot may find that you
don't take any selection but to starting time converting documents to OpenOffice format.