Compatibility

Specifies compatibility settings for text documents. These options help in fine-tuning Office when importing Microsoft Word documents.

To access this command...

Open a text document, choose Tools - Options - Office Writer - Compatibility.

Some of the settings defined here are only valid for the current document and must be defined separately for each document.

Use printer metrics for document formatting

Specifies that printer metrics are applied for printing and also for formatting the display on the screen. If this box is not checked, a printer independent layout will be used for screen display and printing.

If you set this option for the current document and then save the document, for example, in an older binary format, this option will not be saved. If you later open the file from the older format, this option will be set by default.

Add spacing between paragraphs and tables

In Office Writer, paragraph spacing is defined differently than in Microsoft Word documents. If you have defined spacing between two paragraphs or tables, spacing is also added in the corresponding Word documents.

Specifies whether to add Microsoft Word-compatible spacing between paragraphs and tables in Office Writer text documents.

Add paragraph and table spacing at tops of pages

Specifies whether paragraph spacing at the top of a page will also be effective at the beginning of a page or column if the paragraph is positioned on the first page of the document. The same applies for a page break.

If you import a Word document, the spaces are automatically added during the conversion.

Use OpenOffice.org 1.1 tab stop formatting

Specifies how to align text at tab stops beyond the right margin, how to handle decimal tab stops, and how to handle tab stops close to a line break. If this check box is not selected, tab stops are handled in the same way as in other Office applications.

In text documents created by your current version of Writer, the new tab stop handling is used by default. In text documents created by Writer versions prior to StarOffice 8 or OpenOffice.org 2.0, the old tab stop handling is applied.

Do not add leading (extra space) between lines of text

Specifies that additional leading (extra space) between lines of text is not added, even if the font in use contains the additional leading attribute.

In text documents created by your current version of Writer, the additional leading is used by default. In text documents created by Writer versions prior to StarOffice 8 or OpenOffice.org 2.0, the additional leading is not used.

Use OpenOffice.org 1.1 line spacing

If the option is off, a new process for formatting text lines with proportional line spacing will be applied. If the option is on, the previous method of formatting of text lines with proportional line spacing will be applied.

In text documents created by your current version of Writer and in Microsoft Word documents of recent versions, the new process is used. In text documents created by Writer versions prior to StarOffice 8 or OpenOffice.org 2.0, the previous process is used.

Add paragraph and table spacing at bottom of table cells

Specifies that the bottom spacing is added to a paragraph, even when it is the last paragraph in a table cell.

If the option is off, table cells will be formatted as in Writer versions prior to StarOffice 8 or OpenOffice.org 2.0. If the option is on, an alternative method of formatting table cells will be applied. The option is on by default for new documents created with Office and for documents imported from Microsoft Word format.

Use OpenOffice.org 1.1 object positioning

Specifies how to calculate the position of floating objects anchored to a character or paragraph with respect to the top and bottom paragraph spacing.

If the option is on, the floating objects are positioned as in Writer versions prior to StarOffice 8 or OpenOffice.org 2.0. If the option is off, the floating objects are positioned using an alternative method that is similar to the method used by Microsoft Word.

The option will be set to off for new documents. For Writer documents created by a version prior to OpenOffice.org 2.0 the option is on.

Use OpenOffice.org 1.1 text wrapping around objects

Microsoft Word and Writer have different approaches on wrapping text around floating screen objects. Floating screen object are Writer frames and drawing objects, and the objects 'text box', 'graphic', 'frame', 'picture' etc. in Microsoft Word.

In Microsoft Word and in current versions of Writer, page header/footer content and footnote/endnote content does not wrap around floating screen objects. Text body content wraps around floating screen objects which are anchored in the page header.

In Writer versions prior to StarOffice 8 or OpenOffice.org 2.0, the opposite was true.

If the option is off, which is the default setting, the new text wrapping will be applied. If the option is on, the former text wrapping will be applied.

Consider wrapping style when positioning objects

Specifies how the complex process of positioning floating objects that are anchored to a character or paragraph should work. In Writer versions prior to StarOffice 8 or OpenOffice.org 2.0, an iterative process was used, while in current versions a straightforward process is used, which is similar to the same process in Microsoft Word.

If the option is off, the old Office iterative process of object positioning is used. If the option is on, the new straightforward process is used to ensure compatibility with Microsoft Word documents.

Expand word space on lines with manual line breaks in justified paragraphs

If enabled, Writer adds spacing between words, in lines that end with Shift+Enter in justified paragraphs. If disabled, spacing between words will not be expanded to justify the lines.

This setting is on by default for .odt text documents. It will be saved and loaded with the document in the .odt text document format. This setting cannot be saved in old .sxw text documents, so this setting is off for .sxw text documents.

Tolerate white lines of PDF page backgrounds for compatibility with old documents

Use Office 4.3 anchoring paint order and tolerate white lines that may appear in PDF page backgrounds created from legacy documents.

Use as Default

Click to use the current settings on this tab page as the default for further sessions with Office.

The factory defaults are set as follows. Enabled are the following options, while all other options are disabled:

1. Add spacing between paragraphs and tables

2. Add paragraph and table spacing at tops of pages

3. Add paragraph and table spacing at bottom of table cells

4. Expand word space on lines with manual line breaks in justified paragraphs