Can't Open Word outputt

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silbertd
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Can't Open Word outputt

Unread post by silbertd »

I am using H&M ver 7.3.4 and when I generate output using a Word template and then try to open it, I get the error:

We're sorry. We can't open yourmanual.docx because we found a problem with its contents.

Details ... XML parsing error.

How do I fix this?

Thank you in advance for your help!
Deb
Dave Gehman
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Re: Can't Open Word outputt

Unread post by Dave Gehman »

Try closing all word documents before outputting. I can't find the reference here, but I dimly remember this being a solution to a similar problem.
silbertd
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Re: Can't Open Word outputt

Unread post by silbertd »

Thanks, Dave. I tried that and it didn't work.

Here are the precursors to this condition:

1) I chose to edit a Word Template.
2) H&M asked me if I wanted to copy it to my project before editing and I selected Yes.
3) I didn't really edit anything. Just added some text to the front page and deleted the H&M logos.
Dave Gehman
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Re: Can't Open Word outputt

Unread post by Dave Gehman »

In cases like this, I start over. In this case, you might try the same template without editing it. Delete the earlier output or rename it with a temporary non-docx extension. If that works then one of your changes broke something.
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Tim Green
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Re: Can't Open Word outputt

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Deb,

This occurs when the DOCX template you are using is damaged, which sometimes happens unpredictably when editing with Word. Word is unfortunately still quite quirky in many ways, even after all these years. We've analyzed these damaged templates extensively, investing weeks development work in it, and the only conclusion, unfortunately, is that it isn't repairable. The only solution is to start again with a fresh Word template. (The Word DOCX format specifications are somewhere in the region of 7,000 pages and it's unlikely that even anyone at Microsoft understands all of it... :roll: )
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Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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julio
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Re: Can't Open Word outputt

Unread post by julio »

Once I had a problem like this and it turned out to be an invisible and illegal character on a topic. What you can do is unzip the docx (using 7-Zip, for example) and open the file document.xml inside the word folder on a browser, which will identify the exact problem.
Tim Green wrote:Hi Deb,

This occurs when the DOCX template you are using is damaged, which sometimes happens unpredictably when editing with Word. Word is unfortunately still quite quirky in many ways, even after all these years. We've analyzed these damaged templates extensively, investing weeks development work in it, and the only conclusion, unfortunately, is that it isn't repairable. The only solution is to start again with a fresh Word template. (The Word DOCX format specifications are somewhere in the region of 7,000 pages and it's unlikely that even anyone at Microsoft understands all of it... :roll: )
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Tim Green
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Re: Can't Open Word outputt

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Julio,

It is extremely rare that this is caused by something in your project. In our experience it is something caused by Word itself when editing the DOCX template file, in almost every case.
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Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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julio
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Re: Can't Open Word outputt

Unread post by julio »

Yes, I agree, what puzzled me was the cryptic error message displayed by Word, because it showed an error in line XXX on document.xml. For people who do not know how Word documents are structured, that could be strange. I believe this problem was probably caused by a project created in a previous version and then opened in another version. All other outputs (PDF and CHM) were not affected, only when compiling to Word.
Tim Green wrote:Hi Julio,

It is extremely rare that this is caused by something in your project. In our experience it is something caused by Word itself when editing the DOCX template file, in almost every case.
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Tim Green
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Re: Can't Open Word outputt

Unread post by Tim Green »

julio wrote:Yes, I agree, what puzzled me was the cryptic error message displayed by Word, because it showed an error in line XXX on document.xml. For people who do not know how Word documents are structured, that could be strange. I believe this problem was probably caused by a project created in a previous version and then opened in another version. All other outputs (PDF and CHM) were not affected, only when compiling to Word.
Occasionally that is possible. Word often trips up on the strangest things. I've experienced so many worrying errors with it, even the latest versions, that I would never consider using it for serious work any more. I have an Office 365 subscription but I only ever use the programs in it for testing, never for any serious work. I use Scrivener for my own private writing projects (not documentation).
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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