New Word Import in 2019 r2 - first impressions

[ChoccieMuffin]

Hi all

I quite like the new Word import, but for my current projects it's going to need a fair bit of testing. Hopefully it also means I'll be able to get away without jumping through as many hoops as currently, but that remains to be seen!

Anyway, I've raised the following feature request, and would welcome your views on the suggestions, and any other suggestions you have. (Please do raise a feature request for your suggestions too, of course, not just post them here.)

GENERAL TAB
* Import to folder section, for compatibility with previous versions include a checkbox to create a folder to import into that uses the Word document's name for the folder name. (I'd use this LOADS, as if I import several Word docs, each with their own import file, I could easily end up with several documents called "Introduction" being dumped in the \Content folder, and I don't want to have to _manually_ create the folder, a check box would be so much less troublesome.)

STYLES TAB
* With a stylesheet associated, in the Paragraph section in the Map to column allow the user to select a generic style. For example I have a generic .KeepWithPrevious style that I use A LOT, with different headings, so when I have a Word style that I've called H2_KeepWithPrevious and H3_KeepWithPrevious I want to be able to map to h2.KeepWithPrevious and h3.KeepWithPrevious, but that's not possible without editing the import file in a text editor.

* With a stylesheet associated, in the Character section in the Map to column allow the user to select a span from the Flare stylesheet or a generic style. (In my source Word doc I have span_UI as a character style that I want to map to span.UI in my Flare stylesheet, but I don't have that option, the closest is span.span_UI and I have to edit the import file in a text editor. We also have a generic style that we apply to paragraphs, headings or spans called .QUESTION, the source Word document has a character style span_QUESTION, but I can't map to span.QUESTION.)

ADVANCED OPTIONS TAB
I'm still working through the options on this tab, and if I have any other suggestions I'll raise a further feature request.

[wclass]

I have also raised a request along similar lines.

First up, though, I really like the drag and drop feature of creating a Word import - saves lots of time.
And imported list items have improved (but still not perfect - I need to test more).

But I have problems with the defaults.

• The default for "Import to content" should be a new folder as per the way it worked in the previous version - dumping new files at the top level of Content is a real problem for me.
• You need an option to create sub-folders for each document being imported into the list.
• I would also like to have an option to create sub-folders for each Heading 1 from a big file.
• I would like the generated images to go into an image folder WITHIN the import sub-folder - NOT under Resources.
• Import still adds styles for list items and table rows that I want an option to say Stop that.

Good start - still testing.

[ChoccieMuffin]

When looking at the import file in a text editor, the style mapping bit looks like this:

<Map From="H5" To="h5" Style="Flare" />
<Map From="H6" To="h6" Style="Flare" />
<Map From="ListBullet" To="p.ListBullet" Style="Word" />
<Map From="ListBullet2" To="p.ListBullet2" Style="Word" />

Does anyone know what the "Style" bit is all about?

[Colum]

I've just filed a bug - case S005409 - to do with the import of multiple Word files in the 2019 r2 release. In summary if you've got Word files in a higher directory than the selected sub-folder, these files are included in the wizard. They do seem to be indented though - possibly because of the sub-directory structure.

import1.png

import2.png

This was a problem for us as we needed to do some Word tidy up before importing. So we created copies of them in a Word sub-directory. When we select the Word directory in the import wizard, the files in that sub-directory as well as the directory one level up are listed.

explorer.png

We got around this by using the drag and drop technique directly into the Content Explorer. Just posting this in case others come across this

[ChoccieMuffin]

Does anyone know how essential the extra bit in the import file is that states "Flare" or "Word" in the ParagraphStyles and CharacterStyles sections?

For example, here's an extract from my import file:

Code: Select all

    <ParagraphStyles>
        <Map From="BodyImage" To="p.graphic" Style="Flare" />
        <Map From="BodyIntro" To="p.intro" Style="Flare" />
        <Map From="BodyNote" To="p.note" Style="Flare" />
        <Map From="BodyText" To="p" Style="Flare" />
        <Map From="Footnote Text" To="p.FootnoteText" Style="Word" />
        <Map From="H1" To="h1" Style="Flare" />
        <Map From="H2" To="h2" Style="Flare" />
        <Map From="H3" To="h3" Style="Flare" />
        <Map From="H3_PageBreakBefore" To="p.H3_PageBreakBefore" Style="Word" />
        <Map From="H4" To="h4" Style="Flare" />
        <Map From="TableBody" To="p" Style="Flare" />
        <Map From="TableHeader" To="p.TableHeader" Style="Word" />
        <Map From="TopicList" To="p.TopicList" Style="Word" />
    </ParagraphStyles>
    <CharacterStyles>
        <Map From="span_UI" To="span.UI" Style="Flare" />
        <Map From="span_x-ref" To="span.x-ref" Style="Flare" />
        <Map From="sup" To="sup" Style="Flare" />
    </CharacterStyles>

If I don't have Style="Flare" or Style="Word" in there (I have loads of existing import files without that), what is the impact? I haven't found anything in the help.

[Colum]

This is more of a guess, as I'd need to test this, but could it be something to do with the way the styles are mapped in the import wizard?

[ChoccieMuffin]

This is more of a guess, as I'd need to test this, but could it be something to do with the way the styles are mapped in the import wizard?

I'm pretty sure you're right, but I was wondering if anyone knows whether there's a problem if you DON'T have a "style" flag in the import file. The reason I ask is that the style mapping is still not quite there (see my earlier post) so I need to edit some styles in a text editor.

After that I still need to test my current process of working with Word imports. What we currently do, using a series of automated scripts, is:
1. Run a dummy target, which has the Disable auto-sync of all import files check box selected, just to ensure that the imports run. This imports the Word files, and the output from that target is discarded.
2. Run a series of search-and-replace operations outside of Flare (using FAR) to tidy up the imported HTML files.
3. Build the final targets, which have the Disable auto-sync of all import files check box cleared, using the cleaned HTML files.

Because of the changes to the way Flare now imports lists and tables, I probably need to edit all my import files (several hundred of them!) to take into account the new options, and do a fair bit of fettling in step 2 of my process to make sure my tidying up bits don't break my Flare project.

Wish me luck...

[HyperMom]

Just wanted to add to the conversation on Word Imports (v. 2019r2)!

The drag & drop import didn't work the first time around. I received this error after selecting about 14 files:
Microsoft Word is not installed. To import/export Word documents without Microsoft Word installed, open the Options dialog and on the General tab click "Import/Export Word Files Without MS Office."

Then I tried it using the Import drop-down in the Project ribbon - same error message.

So, I went to lunch, shut down Flare and started up again. Then it worked with the Import via Project ribbon. I was confused at the Paragraph section that maps your headings AND will start them on new topics. I made a bunch of new topics because I selected Headings 1, 2 and 3. But I'm thinking that some of these I can now use as snippets or pop-ups, maybe?

I'm re-importing all my topics now with just Heading 1 - I wonder what happens if H1 isn't checked?

Thanks for letting me share,

Mary

[DoritSapir]

Hi
I also need to manually map some styles that did not appear in the import Word Documents dialog.
What's the process? I can't open the import file until I complete the import process. Do I re-do the import process afterwards?

Help!

[ChoccieMuffin]

Hi
I also need to manually map some styles that did not appear in the import Word Documents dialog.
What's the process? I can't open the import file until I complete the import process. Do I re-do the import process afterwards?

Help!

You can open the import file any time you like, outside of Flare, in a text editor (I use Notepad++). I do it all the time, and very rarely edit an import file using Flare's editor! This is what you might see if you open an import file from 2019 (not r2):

Code: Select all

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<MsWordImport
  PreserveSourceStyles="False"
  KeepSourceLinks="True"
  ConvertInlineFormatting="False"
  AddContinuedLinks="False"
  AddContinuedFromLinks="False"
  ContinuedLinkFormat="(continued in {title})"
  ContinuedFromLinkFormat="(continued from {title})"
  UseMaxCharLimit="False"
  UseMinCharLimit="True"
  MaxCharLimit="10000"
  MinCharLimit="50"
  FilenameLength="24"
  GeneratePageLayouts="false"
  Stylesheet="../../Content/Resources/Stylesheets/MyStylesheet.css"
  AutoSync="true">
  <Files>
    <Url      Source="../../Word_Source/MyWordDoc.docx" />
  </Files>
  <ParagraphStyles>
    <Map
      From="H1"
      To="h1" />
    <Map
      From="H2"
      To="h2" />
    <Map
      From="H2_KeepWithPrevious"
     To="h2.KeepWithPrevious" />
    <Map
      From="H3"
      To="h3" />
    <Map
      From="H3_PageBreakBefore"
     To="h3.PageBreakBefore" />
    <Map
      From="H4"
      To="h4" />
    <Map
      From="H4_PageBreakBefore"
      To="h4.PageBreakBefore" />
    <Map
      From="BodyImage"
      To="p.graphic" />
    <Map
      From="BodyIntro"
      To="p.intro" />
    <Map
      From="BodyKeepWithNext"
     To="p.KeepWithNext" />
    <Map
      From="BodyNote"
      To="p.note" />
    <Map
      From="BodyText"
      To="p" />
    <Map
      From="ListBullet"
      To="li.ListBullet" />
    <Map
      From="ListBullet2"
      To="li.ListBullet2" />
   <Map
      From="ListNumber"
      To="li.ListNumber" />
      From="TableBody"
      To="p" />
    <Map
      From="TableHeader"
      To="p.TableHeader" />
  </ParagraphStyles>
  <CharacterStyles>
    <Map
      From="Emphasis"
      To="i" />
    <Map
      From="Hyperlink"
      To="a.(MS Word Style)" />
    <Map
      From="span_input"
      To="span.input" />
    <Map
      From="span_UI"
      To="span.UI" />
    <Map
      From="span_x-ref"
      To="span.x-ref" />
    <Map
      From="Strong"
      To="b.(MS Word Style)" />
  </CharacterStyles>
  <NewTopicStyles>
    <StyleName
	  Name="H2" />
	<StyleName
	  Name="H3" />
  </NewTopicStyles>
  <UsedParagraphStyles />
  <UsedCharacterStyles />
</MsWordImport>

The top section of the new import file has different options in it (here's an example):

Code: Select all

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<MsWordImport
  PreserveMappedStyles="True"
  CreateNewStylesheet="false"
  InlineFormatting="Remove"
  UseFirstHeadingAsTopicTitle="True"
  UseMaxCharLimit="False"
  MaxCharLimit="10000"
  UseMinCharLimit="True"
  MinCharLimit="50"
  FilenameLength="30"
  AutoFitTables="False"
  UseHeaderRows="False"
  TableStyles="NewTableStyleSheets"
  UseListBullets="True"
  ConvertEquations="false"
  GeneratePageLayouts="False"
  PageBreaks="Ignore"
  KeepSourceLinks="true"
  AutoSync="True"
  ImportFolder="Word_template"
  Stylesheet="../../Content/Resources/Stylesheets/MyStylesheet.css"
  TableStyleSheet="../../Content/Resources/TableStyles/1medium-2to5auto.css">

and the styles bit looks a bit different too, because they've got that "Style="Flare" " bit:

Code: Select all

    <ParagraphStyles>
        <Map From="BodyImage" To="p.graphic" Style="Flare" />
        <Map From="BodyImportant" To="p.important" Style="Flare" />
        <Map From="BodyIntro" To="p.intro" Style="Flare" />
        <Map From="BodyKeepWithNext" To="p" Style="Flare" />
        <Map From="BodyNote" To="p.note" Style="Flare" />
        <Map From="BodyText" To="p" Style="Flare" />
        <Map From="BodyTip" To="p.tip" Style="Flare" />
        <Map From="BodyWarning" To="p.warning" Style="Flare" />
        <Map From="H1" To="h1" Style="Flare" />
       <Map From="H2" To="h2" Style="Flare" />
        <Map From="H3" To="p.H3" Style="Word" />
        <Map From="TableBody" To="p.TableBody" Style="Word" />
        <Map From="TableHeader" To="p.TableHeader" Style="Word" />
    </ParagraphStyles>

I've been playing around editing styles to map to generic styles, so taking the line:
<Map From="H3" To="p.H3" Style="Word" />
I've changed it to
<Map From="H3" To="h3" Style="Flare" />