Error Converting Word file on Import

[mwmartz]

I have imported Word 2003 files into Flare V5 for several online help projects for the last month or so with no problem. However, I now need to import a very large Word file (11MB-plus) and I get the following message:

Error converting the following document:
[doc name]
The document can not be imported to Flare unless Microsoft Word can save the file in XML format.

I did some research and understand that there are issues with versions of Word prior to 2003. However, I am using 2003 and have not had this problem with my other, albeit smaller, Word imports. Any thoughts/advice out there?

Thanks,
mwm

P.S. For any MadCap folks who may be watching, "can not" should be one word (i.e., "cannot").

[KevinDAmery]

Never seen that before, so any suggestions are going to be trial and error guesses... but here goes:

- Try breaking the document up into smaller chunks. It could be a size issue, or it could be there's something embedded in the document that Flare can't handle. Saving the file to 3-5 smaller documents would give you an idea where to look, at least, and may allow you to import the whole thing with any luck.

- Try saving the file as xml from Word like it's asking - I have no idea if that will work, but ya might get lucky....

If those don't work, I'd talk to Madcap directly by way of a support ticket (assuming you have a support contract).
http://www.madcapsoftware.com/support/flarecontact.aspx

[mwmartz]

Mystery solved! It seems that for some reason, that Word file was set to "Read-Only." Not sure how that happened, because it's not usually how I receive/create my Word files so I didn't notice it until looking at it with a colleague yesterday. Anyway, I saved a copy of the file so that it was no longer Read-Only, and voila! The file imported just fine.

mwm

[KevinDAmery]

Cool!

I'd submit a bug report to Madcap, though. A) it really shouldn't care if the source file is read-only since it won't be writing anything to it, and B) if for whatever reason being read-only does matter, they should give you an error message that actually tells you something useful. How any user would have gotten to "save a copy that isn't read-only" from the message you received is beyond me.

http://www.madcapsoftware.com/bugs/submit.aspx

[mwmartz]

Done!

mwm

[nwilsonm]

HI, all, new to Flare, but experiencing the same problem, even after trying all the remedies suggested here. Any updates on this one? Importing from Word 2003, SP3...have tried copying and renaming document, saving segments with new name & importing -- still get error. Odd thing is that I've imported & output this doc before with no problem....

[nwilsonm]

FWIW...saving the document in .docx format & reimporting worked...

[Madcap Guru]

Another way That I have seen as a work around is to cut and paste into a new document.

[dmaiorana]

I saw this error today but after I saved my word file again it went away.

[Mishou6779]

Thanks for posting this. I was trying to import Word documents into Flare, from files I had copied from my SharePoint workspace. Once I re-saved them so that they weren't read-only, the problem went away! PHEW!

[ElizabethM]

I just tried to import a 55-page Word document - not so big. I am running Flare 9 (and using Word 2010, whose files are in XML format native these days, as I understand.)

I just got this very same error using Flare 9, when I tried to create a new project and import this Word file. Then Flare died on me - it was not able even to refresh its screen completely. I had to end the task using the Task Manager.

Does anyone have any insight on what causes this? It happened as soon as I clicked OK, in the middle of the step where Flare scans the Word file prior to importing it.

Thanks!
Elizabeth

[ElizabethM]

I just tried saving my Word doc with a much shorter filename. I still get the same error, still in Flare 9.

"Error converting the following document:
C:\FlareProj\mergedGA-SPR-CITR.docx

The document can not be imported to Flare unless Microsoft Word can save the file in XML format."

Any help is much appreciated. Thanks!