Office: mac 2008 Not a valid selection

[rgower]

I am working in Mac OSX 10.5.1 and Office Mac 2008. I am trying to type into a Word template created by Office (PC version) but I am told this is not a valid selection. The same template works perfectly well with my Office 2004. Does anybody know why?

 

[rgower]

By the way, the document is not locked and I have permission to read and write.

 

[CyberTaz]

My *guess* is that the "template" includes some degree of functionality that
relies on VBA\Macros. Office 2008 has no VBA support. However, you really
don't give enough specifics to be sure, so it could be something else.

Are you trying to edit the *template* itself or are you working in a file
that's based on the template? What type of content does the document have -
IOW, *where* are you attempting to type? Is there Protection involved? If
so, to what extent? Are you working in Compatibility Mode? What other
details can you provide?

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[rgower]

Thanks for taking an interest.

Some answers:

I am trying to work in a file based on the template, not modify the template itself. The template, which can't be modified, was created by my employers in a PC version of Office 2004.
I am trying to add comments to an open 'comment' section. As I say it works fine in MacOffice 2004.
There seems to be no protection that I can find in the 'Get Info' section.
Yes, I am working in Compatability Mode.
I'm afraid I don't understand what to do about VBA Macros.
Does this help?

Best wishes
Roger Gower

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Roger:

I would need to see it to be quite sure, but the problem is that Word 2008,
in compatibility mode, cannot edit that field.

I suspect this is not a "VBA" issue. The issue is that in Word 2008, some
operations are disabled in a file that is in the old .doc format.

In this case, the field in question may be an ActiveX control that is
available only in PC Word. Word 2008 will attempt to upgrade it to a
Content Control, but it will not be able to work with the content control
while the document is in .doc format.

Convert the file to .docx format so that it is in XML and does not open in
compatibility mode, then try again.

To give you more information, I need to know what kind of field it is you re
attempting to use. Select the field and right-click it. If the Toggle
Field Codes option appears, choose that, then tell me the name of the field
that appears and I may be able to be of more help to you.

But the bottom line is that you will find there are quite a few things in PC
Word that Word 2008 can't handle.

Sorry...

Thanks for taking an interest.

Some answers:

I am trying to work in a file based on the template, not modify the template
itself. The template, which can't be modified, was created by my employers in
a PC version of Office 2004.
I am trying to add comments to an open 'comment' section. As I say it works
fine in MacOffice 2004.
There seems to be no protection that I can find in the 'Get Info' section.
Yes, I am working in Compatability Mode.
I'm afraid I don't understand what to do about VBA Macros.
Does this help?

Best wishes
Roger Gower

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Nhulunbuy, Northern Territory, Australia
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[rgower]

Bad news, I'm afraid.

I converted it out of Compatibility Mode as you suggested but it made no difference.

Also, I right-clicked the field and the Field Codes option did not appear in the menu.

Interestingly, I emailed the file to a friend and it was received as a video file which was said to be corrupt.

In the meantime, I have been working on the file quite happily in 2004. Does this mean I have to scrap 2008 - a pity it's got some nice features and wasn't that cheap!

Thanks for taking the time.

 

[John McGhie]

Well, I really cannot say

The fact that it was received as a video file that was said to be corrupt
simply means that your friend has his email program wrongly set up

As to the rest of it, I cannot tell you unless you want to email it to ME
There is a wide variety of artefacts that Word 2007 can create. If I
know which one you are dealing with, I may be able to help more

Cheers

Bad news, I'm afraid.

I converted it out of Compatibility Mode as you suggested but it made no
difference.

Also, I right-clicked the field and the Field Codes option did not appear in
the menu.

Interestingly, I emailed the file to a friend and it was received as a video
file which was said to be corrupt.

In the meantime, I have been working on the file quite happily in 2004. Does
this mean I have to scrap 2008 - a pity it's got some nice features and wasn't
that cheap!

Thanks for taking the time.

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Nhulunbuy, Northern Territory, Australia
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]