Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cs.utexas.edu!ut-emx!jay
From: jay@ut-emx.UUCP (Jay Boisseau)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Word Problem
Summary: Did your friend use Word 4.0?
Message-ID: <17110@ut-emx.UUCP>
Date: 15 Aug 89 15:11:15 GMT
References: <891@mtk.UUCP>
Distribution: usa
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
Lines: 21

In article <891@mtk.UUCP>, marmar@mtk.UUCP (Mark Martino) writes:
> I have a Word file that a friend of mine wrote.  We tried to open it on
> my machine with Word 3.01.  We got an error saying "Incorrect file type.
> Open as text only."  It then opened the file and displayed what appears
> to be the formatting characters along with the text.  Changing the
> hidden character switch didn't help.
> 
> I checked the file type and creator against my files and they look the 
> same.  What could be wrong?  What can I do to open this file so it looks
> normal?

It sounds to me like your friend wrote the file using Word 4.0.  I can't be
sure, but your description SOUNDS like what my friends tell me when I do
their resumes in 4.0, and they take them to Kinko's for laserprinting/copying
(and Kinko's in Austin hasn't upgraded yet :).  While 3.01 files look fine
in 4.0, 4.0 files can't be opened normally by 3.01 (or 3.02).  Have your
friend choose "Save As..." instead of "Save", and have him/her choose the
Word 3.0 file format.  Or just upgrade your own version to 4.0 :-).       

Jay Boisseau
jay@emx.utexas.edu