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Troubleshooting Document Damage
DocumentID: 668384
Revision Date: 29-Feb-96 8:50:08 PM

The information in this document applies to:
WordPerfect® 5.1 for DOS

Problem

PROBLEM: There are many signals which can indicate that a document may be damaged: Error messages or the computer locking when opening, editing, saving, or printing a document; "garbage" printing when the document looks correct on the screen, or a formerly correct file suddenly showing errors. Once formatting and other WordPerfect settings have been verified as being error-free, the possibility of document damage exists.

Example 1: A customer using WPWin 6.1 noticed that certain sections of a document appeared (and printed) in bold type, when the text should have been in normal text. There were no bold codes affecting that section of text; the font was Arial 11 pt. regular; and the print driver was correctly selected. No other problems appeared with the document. The user tried deleting and retyping the text, but it remained bold.

Example 2: Another user had a long document containing footnotes, a Table of Contents, and a Table of Authorities. Each time the document was generated, a General Protection Fault occurred and locked the computer. Technical Support was unable to reproduce the problem, and the usual troubleshooting steps indicated no configuration problems on the system.

ANSWER: In both of the examples, the document was damaged. In some area of the document's internal coding was an error. There are several steps used in repairing a damaged document.

1) X-Retrieve. This procedure rewrites portions of the document's prefix coding and may repair damage there. It is usually the first troubleshooting step once document damage has been detected. The X-Retrieve option keeps the file formatting intact.

In WP 5.x for DOS: at a blank screen type "x." (Any character will do, even spaces.) Then press F5 and go to the directory where the damaged file is. Highlight the file and choose 1, Retrieve. You will then be asked if you wish to retrieve the file into the current document. Choose "yes." You will see your document with "x" at the top. Delete the x and save the file *with a new name*. This may have corrected the problem.

In WP 6.x for DOS: At a blank screen type "x." Press F5 and go the the directory where the damaged file is and choose 2, Retrieve; or select "Retrieve" from the File menu, and type in the filename. WP will open the file after the "x." Delete the "x" and save the file with a new name.

In WP 5.x for Windows: At a blank screen type "x." Select "Retrieve" from the File menu, and select the damaged file. You will asked if you want to insert the file into the current document. Choose Yes. Delete the "x" and save the file with a new name.

In WP 6.x for Windows: At a blank screen type "x." Click on File from the Insert menu. Select the damaged file, and click on Insert. Choose yes when prompted to insert the file into the current document. Delete the "x" and save the file with a new name.

If X-Retrieving the file does not correct the damage, then there are more options available.
WARNING: Each of these options may cause the document to lose graphics, tables, formatting, and sections of text.

2) Block-Delete-Restore: Select or block the entire file (or a portion of it) and then press the "Delete" key. (This transfers the information to the deletion buffer). Open new blank document. WARNING: DO NOT exit out of WordPerfect! Once at the blank document screen, undelete the information. In 5.1 for DOS, press the "Escape" key. In 5.x and 6.x for Windows, choose Edit, then Undelete|Restore. If you are using 6.x for DOS, either hit "Escape" or choose Edit, Undelete|Restore.

3) If a file cannot open, but will view from the Open File|View or Select File screen, then the file can be blocked in the Viewer, and copy and paste into WordPerfect. This works in Windows versions with the use of the Windows Clipboard. It will only work in DOS versions if a compatible shell program with a clipboard is also running. To copy the text after it is selected, press Ctl+C or click the right mouse button once and choose Copy to Clipboard. Remember that when selecting text inside of the Viewer, the selection must be done manually.

4) If the file will open but has trouble further on, it may be necessary to save it to a simpler format. In some cases it may be sufficient to save a 6.x file into WP 5.1/5.2 format, close it, and then reopen it. If this does not correct the damage, the next best option is RTF (Rich Text Format). If that does not work, or if you are using WP 5.x, your only choice may be to save the file in DOS text format. You should consult your manual or online help for instructions.

If none of these options works, then there may be no option left but to recreate the document. Remember, the best way to prevent fatal document damage is to make frequent backups.

Causes: Many things can cause document damage. Among the most common are power surges, interruptions to the computer while it is writing to the hard drive (for example, by turning off the computer before closing all applications), and portions of data being written to bad sectors of the hard drive.

If document damage is a frequent occurrence, check for a FaxBack Document for general troubleshooting steps for WordPerfect for Windows. Many of the steps in the document are also applicable to trouble win DOS versions of WordPerfect.

Answer:

Details:


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