Importing and Exporting in .docx format

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4D v20 R7

4D Write Pro can both import and export documents in the .docx format. This format is supported by word processing applications such as Microsoft Word.

Compatibility note: Support for 4D Write Pro documents imported or exported in .docx format is only certified for Microsoft Word 2010 and newer. Older versions, particularly Microsoft Word 2007, may not be able to open the documents.

How to import .docx format

Documents in .docx format can be imported into 4D Write Pro with the WP Import document command. For more information, please refer to the description of this command.

Behavioral changes

While the majority of .docx settings are preserved, some settings are known to be either unsupported or behave differently in 4D Write Pro. These are:

Alignment / Layout

Setting	Description
Anchored text areas	Anchored text areas are imported as text boxes by default (they can also be ignored or imported as inline text, see WP Import document command option). Only simple text areas can be imported. Inline text areas are imported as anchored in the front layer. Text areas anchored with text around are imported with their text wrapping properties (exception: the .docx wrapping option "tight" is imported as wrap square).
Paragraph layout	Only Western text layouts are supported. Distributed, Thai and Asian paragraph styles are not supported.
Page Size	Different page sizes per section are not supported. Only the page size from the first section is imported.

Background

Setting	Description
Watermark	Not supported

Expressions

Setting	Description
MS Word equations	Not supported. Data is not imported.
MS Word charts	Not supported. Data is not imported.

Lists

Setting	Description
Hierarchical lists	Multi-level lists are not supported. Multi-level lists are converted to a single level lists so list appearance and/or numbering may be different

Pictures / Images

Setting	Description
DrawingML shapes	Only simple DrawingML images (inline or anchored) are imported. Complex DrawingML shapes are not supported.
VML shapes or images	Not supported. VML is obsolete in MS Word and should not be used in documents created with MS Word 2010 or older.
3D models	Not supported, however the last rendered 2D image of the 3D model may be imported if present in the .docx.
SmartArt	Not supported.

References / Review

Setting	Description
Comments	Not supported. Content is not imported.
Footnotes	Not supported. Content is not imported.

Spacing

Setting	Description
"At least" line spacing	Not supported. "At least" line spacing is converted to fixed (single) line spacing.
Fit text	Not supported. The normal 4D Write Pro style is used.

Tables

Setting	Description
Tables	Contiguous tables do not merge automatically.

Text

Setting	Description
Themes	Text themes are not imported. If a color or font definition references a color or font in a theme, the last computed color or font will be used. Otherwise, the
color or font defined in the theme is used.

Import log

When importing .docx format into 4D Write Pro, a log object is created and included within the imported document object. This object can be retrieved through the "importLog" custom attribute (or wk import log constant):

 $myDoc:=WP Import document("test.docx")

 if($myDoc#Null)

    var $log : Object

    $log:=$myDoc[wk import log]

 End if

The import log object contains the following properties:

Constant

Comment

wk import log

Log object containing information about the .docx import operation. Properties are read-only and cannot be set:

Property		Type	Description
status		Text	Import status: successful - the document is imported into 4D Write Pro failed - an empty 4D Write Pro document is returned
developer		Collection	Collection of message object(s) for 4D Write Pro developers.
	[ ].type	Text	The kind of message logged: info warning error
	[ ].message	Text	Message about the import operation.
user		Collection	Collection of message object(s) for 4D Write Pro users.
	[ ].type	Text	The kind of message logged: info warning
	[ ].messageShort	Text	Brief message about the import operation.
	[ ].messageLong	Text	Extended message about the import operation.

Warning: importLog is a custom attribute, thus the wk import log constant cannot be used by WP SET ATTRIBUTES, WP GET ATTRIBUTES or WP RESET ATTRIBUTES command (for more information, see Using custom attributes).

How to export in .docx format

4D Write Pro objects offer two ways to export 4D Write Pro documents in .docx format:

as .docx file exported to disk, use the WP EXPORT DOCUMENT command.
as .docx file exported to a BLOB variable, use the WP EXPORT VARIABLE command.

For more information, please refer to the description of these commands.

Behavioral changes

While the majority of 4D Write Pro settings are preserved, some settings are known to be either unsupported or behave differently in Microsoft Word. These are:

Alignment / Layout

Setting	Paragraphs	Sections	Images
Anchoring			In Microsoft Word, anchored images are positioned relatively to the top left origin of the page and first paragraph. This could result in images being displayed in different locations than desired due to text layout differences between 4D Write Pro and Microsoft Word.
	Text boxes anchored to embedded area are not exported. Rendering can be different in Microsoft Word.
Vertical align	Not supported by Microsoft Word (all items will be top-aligned)		Not supported for inline images (all items will be baseline)

Background

Setting	Paragraphs	Sections	Images
Background clipping	Not supported by Microsoft Word (background color fills entire paragraph, not including borders and margins)		Not supported by Microsoft Word (background clipping will be equal to the padding box)
Background image	Not supported by Microsoft Word	Different background pictures/colors not supported by Microsoft Word (converted to anchored images or shapes)	Microsoft Word allows either a background color or a background image. If a background image is defined, the background color will be "transparent".
Background image repeat		Horizontal or vertical tiles are converted to full tiles in Microsoft Word	Horizontal or vertical tiles are converted to full tiles in Microsoft
Background origin	Origin box is converted to the same value as background clipping box.	Not supported by Microsoft.

Borders

Setting	Paragraphs	Sections	Images
Border color			Different border colors for each border line is not supported by Microsoft Word. The first defined 4D Write Pro image border line (in this order: top, right, bottom, left) will be used for all of an image's borders.
Border radius (rounded borders)	Not supported by Microsoft Word
Border width	Microsoft Word maximum is 12pt, borders exceeding this size will be reduced.	Microsoft Word maximum is 12pt, borders exceeding this size will be reduced.

Expressions

Setting	Paragraphs	Sections	Images
Expressions	Only simple 4D expressions such as "Current date" or "Current time", or 4D Write Pro reserved local variables ($wp_title, $wp_pageNumber, etc.) are converted to Microsoft Word fields. Other 4D expressions are computed and converted to text or images during the export process.

Lists

Setting	Paragraphs	Sections	Images
Indent	Converted to 0 for list items (list item indent is converted to hanging indent in Microsoft Word)
Ordered list type	Greek, Armenian, and Georgian are converted to decimal and Hiragana is converted to Katakana in Microsoft Word.

Pictures

Setting	Paragraphs	Sections	Images
SVG			Not supported by Microsoft Word (images in SVG format will be converted to PNG format)

Size

Setting	Paragraphs	Sections	Images
Minimum height	Not supported by Microsoft Word (height is handled automatically)
Width / Minimum width	Not supported by Microsoft Word (paragraph width is handled automatically)

Spacing

Setting	Paragraphs	Sections	Images
Padding	Microsoft Word maximum is 31pt, padding exceeding this size will be reduced.	Microsoft Word maximum is 31pt, padding exceeding this size will be reduced.

Tables

Feature	Description
Bottom carry-over row	Not exported.

Tabs

Setting	Paragraphs	Sections	Images
Default tab stop	Not supported by Microsoft Word (will be converted to absolute tab stops)
Tab leading characters	Microsoft Word supports "dot" (....), "dash" (----), and "underscore" (____) leading characters, all others will be converted to "none".

Text

Setting	Paragraphs	Sections	Images
Linethrough	Line color different from text color is not supported by Microsoft Word; only solid and double styles are supported
Style Sheets	Paragraph style sheets are converted to paragraph styles.
Text align	Microsoft Word compresses spaces, so justified text layout may be reconfigured.	Microsoft Word compresses spaces, so justified text layout may be reconfigured.
Text shadow	4D Write Pro shadow will be converted to blur and offset, using the default color in Microsoft Word.
Underline	Semi-transparent underlines will be converted to solid.