Form Fields Are Not Editable in Word Viewer 97

 Last reviewed: July 31, 1997
Article ID: Q165909
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Word Viewer 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

Form fields can not be edited in Word Viewer 97. When you try to change a text box form field, you get the error message: 

   Word Viewer cannot edit a document.
NOTE: Check box and drop-down form fields function normally. Note also that this behavior is different from Word Viewer for Windows 95 version 7.0.

CAUSE

Word Viewer is only for viewing and printing Word documents. To edit a document, you must use Microsoft Word 97.

RESOLUTION

If you have Microsoft Word 97 installed on your computer, you can edit the document in Word 97. In Word Viewer 97, on the File menu, click Open for Editing.

This will start Microsoft Word 97, load the document, and allow you to make changes.

STATUS

This functionality is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

In Microsoft Word 97, you can put check box, drop-down, and check box form fields in your documents. Once you protect a document for forms, the user can only enter information in the form fields and nowhere else in the document.

If you then open the document in Word Viewer 97, the check box and drop- down form fields will respond, however, the text box form fields will generate an error message.

In earlier versions of Word Viewer, all three form field types (text box, check box, and drop-down) responded as expected.

NOTE: If you do not protect the document for forms in Word 97 before saving the document, all three form field types (text box, check box, and drop- down) will generate an error when you try to enter information into them. Keywords : kbfield word97 kbusage

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Last reviewed: July 31, 1997
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