I've brought up these issues in various software forums, but no one
had any explanations or advice to offer.

Issue 1:
I'm using Word Mobile on a Dell Axim x51v (WM5). I often need to open
a Word document by association, i.e. by tapping on it in File Explorer
or another file manager, rather than from Word's document list. If I
then close the document, even without making any modifications, the
document reopens automatically the next time I start Word from the
Start Menu. It will keep coming up every time I start Word until I go
to the File menu and select "Revert to Saved". If the file was never
edited, why is Word trying to save it? Is there a way to correct
this?

This doesn't occur with documents opened from Word's document list,
but the list won't display folders that are more than one level below
\My Documents or \SD Card, so I seldom use it.

Issue 2:
If I open a plain-text file in Word and save it as a Word document,
the file is saved in RTF format, despite the .DOC extension. I can
tell, because when viewed in a plain-text editor, the file contains
mostly plain text with some RTF tags, and if I save the same file as
RTF, it's identical in every way. On the other hand, brand-new
documents created in Word Mobile and saved as .DOC files by default
actually turn out to be in Word format when viewed in a plain-text
editor.

Similarly, saving an existing RTF file as a .DOC merely results in an
RTF file with the .DOC extension. In other words, the requested
conversion of existing documents is not taking place as it should.

Ideas, anyone?

Gerry wrote:
> ... If the file was never
> edited, why is Word trying to save it? Is there a way to correct
> this?

I expect that Microsoft have a way of justifying this annoying feature. I
see it happening on PC versions of Word too, so perhaps it is one of those
features that was actually intended instead of just being an accidental
result of a programmer's decision. I prefer the behaviour of my ancient
Psion pocket computer. If I select action "Save" I get the flash response
"Not changed" and nothing happens!

> This doesn't occur with documents opened from Word's document list,
> but the list won't display folders that are more than one level below
> \My Documents or \SD Card, so I seldom use it.

Plainly this is designed assuming that you will have very few documents.
"You have Gb on an SD card, with room for a myriad documents? Good heavens!"
And of course it is not easy to distinguish documents using longer file
names when the tiny screen can't show many characters; that is partly why
you need a folder structure...

> Issue 2:
> If I open a plain-text file in Word and save it as a Word document,
> the file is saved in RTF format, despite the .DOC extension. I can
> tell, because when viewed in a plain-text editor, the file contains
> mostly plain text with some RTF tags, and if I save the same file as
> RTF, it's identical in every way. On the other hand, brand-new
> documents created in Word Mobile and saved as .DOC files by default
> actually turn out to be in Word format when viewed in a plain-text
> editor.
>
> Similarly, saving an existing RTF file as a .DOC merely results in an
> RTF file with the .DOC extension. In other words, the requested
> conversion of existing documents is not taking place as it should.
>
> Ideas, anyone?

When I try this the files are not exactly the same, though they both start
with an "rtf" tag. After all, PPC Word is nowhere near as complex as the PC
version and you get automatic conversion if you transfer with ActiveSync. (I
cannot be bothered to see what would happen with native formats copied by
another route!) So maybe PPC *.doc just uses a slight variation of RTF
format, at least when effectively requesting a conversion. What happens
when/if you can insert some feature not allowed for in RTF format; do you
then get full conversion? What happens if you paste content from a new .DOC
file into one that originated as .RTF? etc etc...

Mike.

Mike wrote:
"... it is not easy to distinguish documents using longer file names
when the tiny screen can't show many characters; that is partly why
you need a folder structure..."

Microsoft could at least have allowed temporary resizing of the name
column in the list. After all, why support long file names if they
can't be displayed?

The same thing applies to File Explorer, although I downloaded a 3rd-
party extension for File Explorer that adds resizable columns, plus a
few other improvements. Most of the time, however, I use Total
Commander instead. In fact, most of the software I use on this WM5
device is by 3rd-party developers.

"... you get automatic conversion if you transfer with ActiveSync."

I stopped using ActiveSync a long time ago. I have horror stories
about having used it, but that's too long a story to relate here. My
device is in use now as a standalone PC, since I've collected enough
software to use it independently. I'm submitting this post on the
device through a Wi-Fi connection. Microsoft's horrible browser
(PIE), in this case, has been vastly improved by a 3rd party plugin
(PIEPlus).

I've pretty much given up on using Word, now that most of my documents
are either in plain text or HTML. If I want to exchange files with my
partner's PC, I simply insert one of my SD cards in his machine. If I
need to add software, I either download the .CAB installer directly to
the device, or run the installer on the PC without connecting the PDA,
then transfer the .CAB file to the PDA via an SD card.

"What happens when/if you can insert some feature not allowed for in
RTF format; do you then get full conversion?"

There are no formatting features available in Word Mobile that can't
be rendered in RTF. I'm talking about documents created on the
device, of course, not those created in Word for PC.

"What happens if you paste content from a new .DOC file into one that
originated as .RTF?"

It remains an RTF. I can only get native .DOC format by creating a
new file.

Gerry