10.3 and 3.1 Invalid Character Issues when Pasting Text from MS Word into RecTrac fields
Problem
When copying text out of MSWord into a RecTrac waiver or letter or email field, why do the results not always look good and why do we sometimes get errors? Sometimes the emails never get sent.
Solution
MS Word has lots of extra (hidden) formatting, usually HTML, that needs to be removed before being pasted into RecTrac. The hidden formatting eats up characters in RecTrac, sometimes causing you to exceed a field limit. There are also issues with special characters that look correct in Word, for instance an apostrophe, but when pasted into RecTrac are not valid characters.
This is most often manifested when copying/cutting/pasting text from a MS Word doc into an Email field in RecTrac, such as RecConnect report. However, it is generally true when pasting into ANY RecTrac text field, and this practice should be avoided.
VSI Recommended Best Practice
1 Enter your letter text (as plain text) in the appropriate field. The Text Field will accept to 30,000 alpha-numeric characters. There is a character counter on the lower right-hand corner of the screen.
2 Use the Formatting Icons across the top of the Text Field to manipulate your text as desired. Mouse-hover over the icons for definitions of their purpose. The Text Field is WYSISYG (What You See Is What You Get) formatted.
3 The Text Field always displays plain text when entering this screen. The Source icon can be used to toggle the Text Field between plain text and HTML code, if desired.
If you decide to copy/cut/paste from MS Word or .PDF or other external doc
1. Open your document in MS Word.
2. Save the document as a plain text (.txt) file using Unicode UTF-8 as the file type.
- Use Save As
- From the Save as type Drop-down down list, select 'Plain Text (.txt)'
- From the File Conversion dialog, select 'Other encoding' and choose 'Unicode (UTF-8).'
- Save the file.
3. Open the newly saved .txt file.
4. Copy the text to your computer's clipboard and paste it into the RecTrac field.
5 Proof-read again for accuracy and ensure all special characters copied correctly.
6 Format text as needed using the Formatting icons at the top of the text box field.
If you decide to copy/cut/paste from MS Word or .PDF or other external doc - Alternate Solution
If you wish to copy/cut/paste text from a MS Word doc into RecTrac, VSI advises the following to convert text from a pre-generated MS Word document:
1. Copy the original document to a .text file editor, such as Notepad. Copying the original into Notepad strips any hidden HTML formatting inherent in MS Word docs.
2. Proof-read for accuracy and ensure all special characters copied correctly from MS Word to Notepad.
Pay special attention to Smart Quotes (aka: curly quotes), if you use them. Smart Quotes cannot be read and show up as random characters or blocks. IF you have Smart Quotes enabled in MS Word, then VSI recommends doing a Search and Replace in Notepad. Highlight the Smart Quote in Notepad, copy it, and then press <Ctrl> + H to launch the Replace dialog. Paste the Smart Quote into the Find field and manually enter a quotation mark in the Replace field. Click Replace All.
3. Re-copy the text from Notepad and paste into the RecTrac field.
4. Proof-read again for accuracy and ensure all special characters copied correctly.
5. Format text as needed using the Formatting icons at the top of the text box field.