[elizabethjj]

I just wanted to reopen this question which was asked in http://forums.macnn.com/82/applicati...d-modal-state/
"This command is not available because the document is in modal state".

As background, I am using a MacBook White with Mac OS 10.5.6. I am using a version of MS Office for Mac which I copied from my brother's computer. I have used Microsoft Word with no problem for the past many months, but just now I am facing this problem for the first time.

I was typing a paper, then I went to another application and returned to Word and it wouldn't let me type. Then I investigated further.
- I *can* click into the document and scroll
- I *can* adjust the margins
- I cannot type in text, backspace, etc
- I cannot copy text to paste it to another program
- I *can* select text with the mouse (but not with command-A for select all)
- I can't drag the selected text away to another program using the mouse
- Almost all of the commands on the Word menu bar are not able to be used (unclickable - in gray instead of black).
- I cannot click Save, nor can I click Quit Word, because these commands are non-clickable.

When I tried to drag selected text, the bottom line (I forget what this is called? The place where it normally displays your number of pages, current page, number of words, current word, etc), tells me:
"This command is not available because the document is in modal state".
That is how I knew to look up "modal state" but I cannot find any info about it by googling.

I (like the person who made the previous post about this) am going to force quit, and save my text by taking screenshots.
But I am curious. What is this "modal state" and what caused it to happen? Was it some key command that put it into modal state? How should one get out of modal state?

Thanks!!

Liz

[besson3c]

Why not use OpenOffice or NeoOffice?

[elizabethjj]

One thing I forgot to mention:
- I *can* still open new blank documents. In fact, I had multiple documents open at the time and only 2 of them went into modal state, the others are just fine. Opening a new document (or another document from disc), I can type, save, etc with no problem. The File New Blank Document and File Open commands are pretty much the only ones that still work.

[elizabethjj]

Also, I did google it and this forum Forums MacBidouille > Petit souci avec Word also discussed this problem it but did not find a solution.

[elizabethjj]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

Why not use OpenOffice or NeoOffice?

thanks! i should check that out instead of illegally copying microsoft software. i'd have to see how compatible it is with Word though (e.g. if I am sharing documents with people who have MS Word and want to track changes etc)

[besson3c]

Yeah, NeoOffice 3 and OpenOffice 3 are probably much better than Office v.X anyway. Compatibility is supposed to be quite high, although not flawless. However, I've heard that even the Windows version of Office has difficulty reading some Office formats, so perhaps 100% compatibility is a tall order regardless

[CharlesS]

NeoOffice's compatibility is higher than Word v.X's? Does that mean it supports Virus Basic for Applications scripts now?

[ghporter]

Cute! Actually Neo/Open Office support not only MS file formats (including .docx), but other programs' file formats as well. That makes it much easier to use with source documents from multiple users who don't necessarily use Word...

[JKT]

NeoOffice has supported VBA for a number of years now - somewhat absurdly, it is more compatible than Office 2008 in this regard given that versions complete absence of any VBA support - but I don't know how extensive or complete it is.