.docx compile does not use special characters

Scrivener Scrivener for Windows
1

Hello all,

First post here to report a - in my opinion - nasty bug in the .docx compile (v 1.8.5)
Here’s my use case: I’m a French writer, which has quite strict typographic rules, which Word does, but Scriv doesn’t. For instance, dialog are signalled, among other things with « », which are followed / preceded by a non-breaking space.
So I simply set an autocorrection rule to replace all such characters by the right combination of it + non-breaking space. All works fine.

However, when I export to .docx, these non-breaking spaces disappear. It is not the case in .doc formats. It renders the .docx export unusable for the French language (and I guess all others which have a different typographic ruleset than English and resort to autocorrection like I do).

Apart from that, love Scrivener, I’m always eagerly waiting for new versions!
Cheers,

2

There are two converters available for exporting to the DOCX format, if you have MS Word installed. My guess here is that the default tool isn’t keeping these characters, and you may have better luck with the alternative. Try going to the Import/Export tab of Tools > Options… and clicking “Export Converters”, then selecting “DOCX” from the left menu and “Microsoft Word” from the right. OK out of that and the Options, then try compiling again. Does that work properly, or are you seeing the same issue?

3

Many thanks! Indeed I have Word installed and your workaround perfectly solved the issue. :smiley: