OpenOffice users (Help?)

[mazz72]

For those of you who use Open Office...

Is there some kind of trick to opening up .wps files in Open Office?

I have a few files in the .wps format that I'm trying to get to, but I don't have MS Word/Works on my new pc. I'm trying out this Open Office because I've heard good things about it, and so far I'm liking it...except for this little .wps problem.

Any solutions to this, or do I have a crap-load of re-typing to do?

[alhalsey]

If you wish to use one of your Open Office documents in another program just reopen your document in Open Office then use the file save as and use the pull down options for file type. There are many listed there and I'm sure one of them will do the trick.
Also you could open a document in Open Office and simply copy and paste what you need into your desired program. There are very few programs that do not support cut and paste. Once you start using cut and paste you will wonder how you ever got along with out it.

[scomac]

If you have a .wps file that you want to have OpenOffice open, just right click on the file, click on the 'open with' and then find where it says 'choose program'. Scroll down until you see OpenOffice and it should open. The other thing you can do is start OpenOffice, and then use the open file to find the file you want to open. You will want to make sure that when you search, under the files of type, make sure it's under *.*, that way you are sure to find your file.


Scomac

[alhalsey]

Scomac
Great reply to the question! I obviously jumped to wrong conclusion.
Just started using Open Office and do recommend it.
After all the price is right ( FREE )

[mazz72]

Ok. I don't want to open an Open Office doc in another program...I want to open an older document (created with MS Office and saved in the .wps format) with Open Office.

And the simple "open with" -> "choose program" doesn't work. Nor does opening the file through Open Office.

Any other suggestions?

[alhalsey]

Do you still have the old pc with MS Office? If so you could resave your files in another file format easily. If not? Do you see garbage when you try to open the files? Often you will find your text burried many screens down and can copy the text out of that. I've done that many times.

[scomac]

I went and checked on the OpenOffice.org website and there is a problem when importing .wps and .wks files into OpenOffice. According to the FAQ, the only way to import into OpenOffice is to save the file in another format, such as an RTF. If it is saved as RTF or just a basic .txt file, then it will import. Sorry about the confusion.

Scomac

[Prew]

.wps is WordPerfect correct? One option would be to go to Corel.com and download the 30 day free trial version of the Wordperfect 12- and then you can resave the files.

Also, no need to retype if you a scanner available.

[mazz72]

No, it's Microsoft Works. And I checked the site to see if there was a free demo for that, but there's not.

Oh well. I'm just going to put the files in an e-mail, and send them to someone I know who uses Works, re-save them, and send the new ones back to myself in .doc or .rtf format.

Thanks for the help everyone.

[alhalsey]

You could load you .wps files into notepad and then copy and paste your text out of the garbage. I have tried that and it will at least get you the text but not the formatting.