rtf import and track changes

Question

Level 1

51 points

rtf import and track changes

Pages does a great job of importing .doc files with track changes embedded in the document. But not if the document is a .rtf document. And I ask myself "why not"?

I have a colleague who insists on using WordPerfect (WP) on a PC and he sends documents with track changes turned on. Sometimes as .doc files and sometimes as .rtf files. Pages works okay with his .doc files generated in WP, but not with .rtf files. Why the heck not? Open Office, NeoOffice and AbiWord can all open his .rtf files and show the tracked changes, so why does Pages fall on its face? For the uninitiated, Pages imports the .rtf file, but shows all the text and changes together -- the underlining disappears and the strikeout marks also disappear. So if someone replaced "procedure" with "rule" you get "procedurerule" in the imported document.Very disconcerting. And this happens without a warning that the file has been mangled.

Yes, there is a work around (use another word processor to make a doc file before using Pages), but I shouldn't have to do that. Pages is too nice of a word processor to make a mess of this file import.

Has anyone has any luck corresponding with Apple to fix this bug? Yes, I have sent a bug report, but this can hardly be news to Apple.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.7)

Posted on Jun 7, 2011 6:45 PM

Reply

Answer 1

fruhulda

Level 6

15,167 points

Jun 7, 2011 9:44 PM in response to MacPat

MacPat we are al end-users here. How would we know more about it than you. Pages isn't coded that way as you have experienced. It isn't a bug when it isn't intended to be a feature from the beginning. Easiest way to correct it is to ask the sender to use the .doc format or use another application that will do what you want.

Reply

Answer 2

MacPat Author

Level 1

51 points

Jun 7, 2011 10:40 PM in response to fruhulda

"It isn't a bug when it isn't intended to be a feature from the beginning."

Interesting position, but how do any of we non-Apple employees know what was intended by Apple from the beginning?

Usually, if there are import problems, Pages warns the user that something might be wrong with the imported document. In this case, Pages scrambles the text without warning. Seems that this is a bug rather than a feature.

I have written software where my users found "bugs" by using my software in ways I never dreamed of them doing. It happens. You either fix it and move on (as opposed to telling them not to use the software in the way they have chosen) or you take away the capability that they were trying to take advantage of. Fixing it is almost aways the right answer.

Reply

Answer 3

fruhulda

Level 6

15,167 points

Jun 8, 2011 4:24 AM in response to MacPat

Does Apple anywhere say that you should be able to import a RTF document with comments and being able to open it without problems? Just because you try and don't get the result you want it doesn't mean it is a bug. It is just not working.

Reply

Answer 4

MacPat Author

Level 1

51 points

Jun 8, 2011 9:17 AM in response to fruhulda

With respect to importing documents, Pages Helps says ...

Opening a Document from Another Application

You can create a new Pages document by importing a document created in another application, such as Microsoft Office 2007 or AppleWorks. Pages can import the following file formats: plain text (.txt), Rich Text Format (.rtf and .rtfd), AppleWorks 6 word processing (.cwk), and Microsoft Word (.doc).

As much as possible, Pages preserves the original document’s text, colors, layout, and other formatting options.

From Microsoft Word, you can import styles, tables, inline and floating objects, charts, footnotes and endnotes, bookmarks, hyperlinks, lists, sections, change tracking, and more.

From AppleWorks, you can import word processing documents only.

...

So for MSWord it says track changes works. For rtf it says "as much as possible" of the text etc. is preserved. It is possible to preserve track changes from a rtf document, since other word processors do it.

Also, I have noted other issues from time to time with footnotes in rtf imports. If those aren't being preserved, then the text of the document isn't being preserved "as much as possible". And if the track changes gets messed up then the text isn't being preserved "as much as possible" either.

Anyway, I really enjoy using Pages and I dislike using MSWord, and I just wish Pages worked as well as MSWord in importing documents. I would just as soon not have to purchase updates for MSWord just to supply this missing functionality in Pages. And doing a WordPerfect --> MSWord --> Pages routine just means that you have two imports and more options for formatting to get screwed up.

In other instances when Pages does not import a feature of another word processor properly, you get a dialog box saying that something isn't going to be right after the import. In this case, there is no warning message. I think Apple just overlooked the problem and people like me haven't been complaining enough to get them to address it.

Anyway, I think the functionality is missing and Apple isn't living up to the "as much as possible" promise.

Reply

Answer 5

KOENIG Yvan

Level 8

41,819 points

Jun 8, 2011 1:28 PM in response to MacPat

As much as possible means that not everything is passed.

Apple products are designed according to :

++-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-++

Apple Human Interface Guidelines:

Apply the 80 Percent Solution

During the design process, if you discover problems with your product design, you might consider applying the 80 percent solution‚ that is, designing your software to meet the needs of at least 80 percent of your users. This type of design typically favors simpler, more elegant approaches to problems.

If you try to design for the 20 percent of your target audience who are power users, your design may not be usable by the other 80 percent of users. Even though that smaller group of power users is likely to have good ideas for features, the majority of your user base may not think in the same way. Involving a broad range of users in your design process can help you find the 80 percent solution.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-++

My guess is that your wanted features aren't in the 80% ones. Is it difficult to understand that.

The dropped 20% are the target customers of inDesign or Xpress !

Don't dream, you will not get the power of inDesign for the price of Pages!

Yvan KOENIG (VALLAURIS, France) mercredi 8 juin 2011 22:27:53

iMac 21”5, i7, 2.8 GHz, 4 Gbytes, 1 Tbytes, mac OS X 10.6.7

Please : Search for questions similar to your own before submitting them to the community

To be the AW6 successor, iWork MUST integrate a TRUE DB, not a list organizer !

Reply