Safari appends .dot to all .doc files after Word 2008

After reading up on Uniform Type Identifiers, I think I have a solution - or at least some sort of workaround. This requires editing the Microsoft Word package. <br><br>1. Open the Microsoft Word package (Action -> Show Package Contents) <br>
2. Go to Contents and open Info.plist in a plist editor (I used Panic Coda) <br>
3. Remove lines 703-704 where it reads <key>public.mime-type</key><string>application/msword</string> <br>
4. Remove any caches/whatever (I used Onyx) and reboot. <br><br>Further details on Step #3: <br><br>There are two instances where Microsoft Word defines application/msword. On my copy of Word, it defines it at line 684-685 and line 703. Line 685 refers to the document type .doc while line 703-704 refers to .dot. <br><br>Obviously, I want the MIME type application/msword to refer to .doc (and don't really care too much about .dot files). <br><br>Before (lines 688-706): <br><br> <dict> <br>
<key>UTTypeConformsTo</key> <br>
<string>public.data</string> <br>
<key>UTTypeDescription</key> <br>
<string>Microsoft Word 97 - 2004 template</string> <br>
<key>UTTypeIconFile</key> <br>
<string>W8TN.icns</string> <br>
<key>UTTypeIdentifier</key> <br>
<string>com.microsoft.word.dot</string> <br>
<key>UTTypeTagSpecification</key> <br>
<dict> <br>
<key>com.apple.ostype</key> <br>
<string>W8TN</string> <br>
<key>public.filename-extension</key> <br>
<string>dot</string> <br>
<key>public.mime-type</key> <br>
<string>application/msword</string> <br>
</dict> <br>
</dict> <br><br>After: <br><br> <dict> <br>
<key>UTTypeConformsTo</key> <br>
<string>public.data</string> <br>
<key>UTTypeDescription</key> <br>
<string>Microsoft Word 97 - 2004 template</string> <br>
<key>UTTypeIconFile</key> <br>
<string>W8TN.icns</string> <br>
<key>UTTypeIdentifier</key> <br>
<string>com.microsoft.word.dot</string> <br>
<key>UTTypeTagSpecification</key> <br>
<dict> <br>
<key>com.apple.ostype</key> <br>
<string>W8TN</string> <br>
<key>public.filename-extension</key> <br>
<string>dot</string> <br>
</dict> <br>
</dict> <br><br>Don't know if this will work anywhere else, but it solved my problem and Safari no longer mysteriously adds .dot to my .doc downloads.
 >> Stay informed about: Safari appends .dot to all .doc files after Word 2008 

Aaaarrrrghhhhhh..... DON'T do that!!

You will irretrievably destroy Word

Now, if you have the knowledge to do this, you also have the knowledge to
unpick the damage it causes. And you know damn well why hacking Word to fix
a bug in Safari is not "great" computer administration

But for other users who may be tempted to try this: If you do this, Word
will never work right again. You have been warned!!

Cheers

On 22/01/08 11:22 AM, in article ee89c6c.2.DeleteThis@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw,
"mcic@officeformac.com" wrote:

> After reading up on Uniform Type Identifiers, I think I have a solution - or
> at least some sort of workaround. This requires editing the Microsoft Word
> package.
>
> 1. Open the Microsoft Word package (Action -> Show Package Contents)
> 2. Go to Contents and open Info.plist in a plist editor (I used Panic Coda)
> 3. Remove lines 703-704 where it reads
> <key>public.mime-type</key><string>application/msword</string>
> 4. Remove any caches/whatever (I used Onyx) and reboot.
>
> Further details on Step #3:
>
> There are two instances where Microsoft Word defines application/msword. On
> my copy of Word, it defines it at line 684-685 and line 703. Line 685 refers
> to the document type .doc while line 703-704 refers to .dot.
>
> Obviously, I want the MIME type application/msword to refer to .doc (and don't
> really care too much about .dot files).
>
> Before (lines 688-706):
>
> <dict>
> <key>UTTypeConformsTo</key>
> <string>public.data</string>
> <key>UTTypeDescription</key>
> <string>Microsoft Word 97 - 2004 template</string>
> <key>UTTypeIconFile</key>
> <string>W8TN.icns</string>
> <key>UTTypeIdentifier</key>
> <string>com.microsoft.word.dot</string>
> <key>UTTypeTagSpecification</key>
> <dict>
> <key>com.apple.ostype</key>
> <string>W8TN</string>
> <key>public.filename-extension</key>
> <string>dot</string>
> <key>public.mime-type</key>
> <string>application/msword</string>
> </dict>
> </dict>
>
> After:
>
> <dict>
> <key>UTTypeConformsTo</key>
> <string>public.data</string>
> <key>UTTypeDescription</key>
> <string>Microsoft Word 97 - 2004 template</string>
> <key>UTTypeIconFile</key>
> <string>W8TN.icns</string>
> <key>UTTypeIdentifier</key>
> <string>com.microsoft.word.dot</string>
> <key>UTTypeTagSpecification</key>
> <dict>
> <key>com.apple.ostype</key>
> <string>W8TN</string>
> <key>public.filename-extension</key>
> <string>dot</string>
> </dict>
> </dict>
>
> Don't know if this will work anywhere else, but it solved my problem and
> Safari no longer mysteriously adds .dot to my .doc downloads.

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Sydney, Australia. S33°53'34.20 E151°14'54.50
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:john@mcghie.name
 >> Stay informed about: Safari appends .dot to all .doc files after Word 2008 

Well, it doesn't happen to ME in Safari 3.0.4 in OS 10.4


On 22/01/08 10:53 AM, in article ee89c6c.1.RemoveThis@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw,
"mcic@officeformac.com" wrote:

> John - Thank you for your reply. Does this happen with Safari on 10.4?
>
> It is a bit of an odd behaviour of Safari to append extensions for a start,
> but I think it's because Safari respects some internal Mac OS X mime type or
> maybe the Apple uniform type identifier setting somewhere, whereas Firefox
> doesn't bother, and so the problem doesn't happen there!
>
> I'm sure it didn't happen with Office 2004 though, nor did it happen with my
> fresh install of OS X, so not sure what's with Office 2008 and Safari 3.0.4
> hmm...

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Sydney, Australia. S33°53'34.20 E151°14'54.50
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:john@mcghie.name
 >> Stay informed about: Safari appends .dot to all .doc files after Word 2008 

Yeah, I understood where you are coming from

I just recoil in horror at the prospect of having 300,000 broken copies of
Microsoft Word out there, all displaying a wide range of different and
confusing symptoms, and no clear way to diagnose the problem.

There is no way we could talk an "end user" who can barely find the keyboard
how to open the Word package and check the internal .plists to see if they
are 'complete', let alone switch in a clean version.

This modification will completely break Word's ability to use templates,
document parts, style sheets and to protect itself from nasties... For
users wanting to use the full range of functions in Word, she'll be pretty
broken

The rules for "templates" are now a lot more complex: there are now THREE
file types in use ‹ .doc (Word 6), .doc (Word 8+) and .docx (Word 12 +)

There are now four types of template: .dot (Word 6), .dot (Word 8+), .dotx
(Word 12+ Template) and .dotm (Word 12+ macro-enabled template).

The processing rules for all of the above are different in Word. The
modification you are proposing removes Word's ability to recognise the
difference.

Good luck!


On 23/01/08 3:40 AM, in article ee89c6c.6.RemoveThis@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw,
"mcic@officeformac.com" wrote:

> I agree it isn't the best way to solve it, but it seems to work.
>
> Maybe Step 0 should be: "BACKUP MICROSOFT WORD FIRST" using Time Machine or
> whatever!!! (I only backed up Info.plist, though others might want to back up
> the whole application just in case.)
>
> On my equivalent post on Apple Discussions, a similar problem exists with .xls
> files ending up as .xls.xla. This leads me to suspect it is a problem with
> Leopard – not so much Safari itself.
>
> The Apple page describes Uniform Type Identifiers here:
>
> http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Carbon/Conceptual/understanding_utis/
> understand_utis_conc/chapter_2_section_4.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40001319-C
> H202-BCGFBBIA
>
> What's interesting is that filename extensions in the example are defined as
> an array - i.e. the file type JPEG can include extensions .jpg and .jpeg and
> they can both be of the MIME type image/jpeg
>
> Meanwhile, Office defines .doc as a Microsoft Word 97 - 2004 document and
> gives it the MIME type application/msword, and .dot is separately defined as a
> Microsoft Word 97 - 2004 template, but also with the MIME type
> application/msword - which is where Leopard seems be confused.

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Sydney, Australia. S33°53'34.20 E151°14'54.50
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:john@mcghie.name
 >> Stay informed about: Safari appends .dot to all .doc files after Word 2008 

In article , Brian <> wrote:

> And how dare people blame Apple. It's Office 2008 that messes things up, not
> anything Apple did.

Any you base that statement on...??

Not saying you're wrong, but Firefox and Opera don't exhibit that
behavior, which at least raises questions about Safari.

And it's not like Apple hasn't screwed up its own implementations before.
 >> Stay informed about: Safari appends .dot to all .doc files after Word 2008 

Hello,

and why is Office 2008 the very single app affected by that 'Safari bug' ?
is there a slight chance that Microsoft has done a less than perfect job on O2008 ?

You should try it on any Mac, it's just painful to use. Slow. Crashy. They didn't even get Exposé right for word... and that is after today's update...

Cheers,

Sam
 >> Stay informed about: Safari appends .dot to all .doc files after Word 2008 

Hi Sam:

Today's update was not intended to fix "all" the problems. Just the ones
they have repaired so far.

If you want to make a new post for each problem you have, we can try to help
you work around them.

Cheers


On 12/3/08 4:27 AM, in article ee89c6c.10.TakeThisOut@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw, "Sam"
wrote:

> Hello,
>
> and why is Office 2008 the very single app affected by that 'Safari bug' ?
> is there a slight chance that Microsoft has done a less than perfect job on
> O2008 ?
>
> You should try it on any Mac, it's just painful to use. Slow. Crashy. They
> didn't even get Exposé right for word... and that is after today's update...
>
> Cheers,
>
> Sam

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Sydney, Australia. S33°53'34.20 E151°14'54.50
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:john@mcghie.name
 >> Stay informed about: Safari appends .dot to all .doc files after Word 2008