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Hour 5../style/dot.gifExporting StarOffice Documents

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Exporting StarWriter Documents

Exporting Spreadsheets for Use in Other Programs

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Importing Other Word Processor Documents


Other than Microsoft Word documents, you can have documents in dozens of other formats. The sections that follow describe how to open other documents in StarOffice.

Using WordPerfect Files

WordPerfect is arguably the second most used word processor in the world. StarOffice, however, has never heard of it. You won't find WordPerfect listed in any of the format selection dialog boxes of StarOffice.

If you have a WordPerfect file that you want to edit in StarOffice, you need to open the file in WordPerfect. Then use the Save As command in WordPerfect to save the file in one of the following formats:

Depending on the version of WordPerfect that you're using, all these options might not be available in the WordPerfect Save As dialog box.

When you open the newly saved document in StarOffice, the format is determined for you as the file is opened. If the format can't be recognized, an error message tells you so. (See Figure 5.5.)

Figure 5.5
When you open a file in an unrecognized format, StarOffice displays an error message to indicate that the file can't be read.

Using Other Word Processor Files

StarOffice doesn't support any other word processing formats. The best option for using documents created by other word processors is to use the Save As dialog box to save the document in one of the formats listed in the WordPerfect section: Word 6.0/95, Word 97, or RTF.

This is the preferred order for using the filters for any other word processor. However, you might need to try several of the filters to see which one retains the most information during the conversion.

Obviously, this situation is less than ideal, especially if you have to regularly exchange documents between StarOffice and another word processor such as Ami Pro. For each document, you have two conversions: from Ami Pro to an intermediate format such as RTF, and from RTF to StarOffice.

Rich Text Format (RTF) is a widely supported format that is intended to be cross- platform. Because it includes many formatting features, such as character formats, footnotes, and tables, it is often a good choice for convstar139.htmween word processing formats. In addition, RTF is included as a conversion option, both reading and writing, with every major word processor.

Using Text Files

When you're using Linux, text files seem to crop up fairly often. Text files can be read directly into StarOffice without specifying a format.

Text files use a .TXT extension and have a specific icon in StarOffice to help you recognize them. (See Figure 5.6.)

Figure 5.6
A text file, shown here on the StarOffice Desktop, has its own icon style.

StarOffice reads in text files created in both UNIX/Linux and in DOS/Windows. StarOffice manages the different methods of marking the end of each line as the files are imported.

U../style/blstrbkg.gifrchange Format

You'll hear more about this in Hour 22, "Creating Internet Document../style/blstrbkg.gifot; but StarOffice is designed to wor../style/dot.gifInternet. In fact, HTML is one of the prime formats th../style/blstrbkg.gifd and write.

HTML is not listed index.htmevious sections as a word processor interchange format becaus../style/dot.gifly limited compared to word procebkindex.htms. At the least, it's designed for different goals, so using HTML to convert between Word 97 and StarOffice, for example, does not preserve all the formatting and document data from the original file.

Nevertheless, if you're working with colleagu../style/dot.gifavvy, or who are more interested in reading your document that in editing or altering your document, HTML can be an effective formastar023.htmdocuments. ../style/prev-on.gifT size=2>You can choose HTML as the format in the Save As dialog box (d../style/dot.gifviously). StarOffice can read in star040.htm) any HTML Web page, includ../style/next-on.gif've saved from StarOffice.

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Sams Teach Yourself StarOffice™ in 24 Hours

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Hour 5: Importing and Exporting StarOffice Documents

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