WD97: How Word Converts WordPerfect 5.x/6.x Hard and Soft Returns

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WordPerfect 5.x and 6.x hard and soft returns are supported in conversion to Word. WordPerfect's dormant hard returns are converted to normal paragraph marks.

Differences in character spacing between the two products may cause soft returns to be located in different locations than they appear in the original WordPerfect document.

Leading for hard returns (secondary leading) is converted to spacing after import from WordPerfect only. Leading for soft returns (Primary leading) is not supported for conversion.

Soft returns are automatically inserted by WordPerfect when text reaches the end of a line; a hard return is inserted by pressing ENTER.

A WordPerfect dormant hard return dictates that if a hard return appears alone on a line at the top of a page that starts with a soft page break, it will be changed from a hard return code into a dormant hard return code. This is done so that the text at the top of the document is not needlessly shifted downward.

The most common instance in which a dormant hard return is inserted in WordPerfect occurs if a user manually presses ENTER twice between the last paragraph of one page and the first paragraph on the next page. In this case, the formatting appears in Reveal Codes similar to: Given printer driver differences, the WordPerfect converter supplied with Word has no way to determine if a dormant hard return code will actually remain located at the top of a page following conversion, and therefore it converts the code to a normal paragraph mark. The result is that an unwanted blank line may appear in a converted document.

The solution is to delete the extra paragraph mark following conversion. If the unwanted paragraph mark appears at the top of a page in the converted document, set Paragraph Spacing After to 12 pts in the last paragraph of the preceding pagefirst page to restore original layout. This process can be automated using the Autoformat feature in Word, which converts manual double-spacing between paragraphs into paragraph spacing after.