WD98: Saving File As Text With Line Breaks Excludes Line Feed

• Microsoft Word 98 Macintosh Edition

SYMPTOMS

When you save a document in Word 98 Macintosh Edition as Text Only with Line Breaks or MS-DOS Text With Line Breaks, then open it on a VAX system or Bulletin Board Service, the paragraph marks that signify returns will appear, but there will be no line feed character. The text will appear as one long continuous string and will be unusable by the VAX or BBS.

CAUSE

The line feed character is not automatically inserted following a paragraph mark.

WORKAROUND

In Word 98 Macintosh Edition, save the document as Text Only With Line Breaks, Text With Layout, or MS-DOS Text With Line Breaks. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Save as Text Only with Line Breaks

   a. On the File menu, click Save As.

   b. In the Save File as Type box, scroll and select Text Only with Line

         Breaks.
   

   c. Type a file name under "Save Current Document as," and then click

         Save.
   

2. Use the Replace command to find the paragraph marks (^13) and change them to a paragraph mark, line feed character, (^13^10) by doing the following:

   a. On the Edit menu, click Replace.

   b. In Find What, type ^13, and in Replace With, type ^13^10.

   c. Click Replace All.

3. Then save the document as Text Only and transfer the file to the VAX or BBS by doing the following:

   a. On the File menu, click Save As.

   b. In the Save File As Type box, scroll and select Text Only, click

         Save.
   

   c. See your administrator for instructions on uploading files to BBS.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

Most word processors on the Macintosh and Windows platform recognize a paragraph mark as an end of line mark and a line feed character. Text editors on the VAX or BBS do not automatically insert a line feed character when they see a paragraph mark. Most Unix mail systems require that there be no more than 256 characters before a carriage return. In order to keep files Word saved from exceeding that limitation, files should be saved in Text Only With Line Breaks format.

Line Feeds are ASCII value ^10 and are required by printers to trigger the mechanism to advance the paper. Paragraph marks, line breaks, and carriage returns are ASCII value ^13, the value that triggers the print head to RETURN to the left side of the CARRIAGE (thus the phrase "Carriage Return").