# Interesting Pop up when using word to open a buildfile

**URL:** <https://forum.vassalengine.org/t/interesting-pop-up-when-using-word-to-open-a-buildfile/74467>\
**Category:** General Discussion\
**Created:** [April 26, 2022, 5:51am UTC](https://forum.vassalengine.org/t/interesting-pop-up-when-using-word-to-open-a-buildfile/74467 "2022-04-26T05:51:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![palad0n](https://forum.vassalengine.org/user_avatar/forum.vassalengine.org/palad0n/32/215_2.png) [@palad0n](https://forum.vassalengine.org/u/palad0n)\
**Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 5:51am UTC](https://forum.vassalengine.org/t/interesting-pop-up-when-using-word-to-open-a-buildfile/74467/1 "2022-04-26T05:51:15Z")

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I met with an interesting warning/caution pop-up when I used usoft word to open a buildfile. See attached pic. As it was though I ended using notepad++ with the compare addin to do my comparisons between different module buildfiles. Simple copy, paste saved me many days of work.

 ![buildfileinwordmessage](https://forum.vassalengine.org/uploads/default/original/2X/8/8421aa5a3035744dcc2212a1aa5857adec6831f6.png)

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**Author:** ![uckelman](https://forum.vassalengine.org/user_avatar/forum.vassalengine.org/uckelman/32/10020_2.png) [@uckelman](https://forum.vassalengine.org/u/uckelman)\
**Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 8:50am UTC](https://forum.vassalengine.org/t/interesting-pop-up-when-using-word-to-open-a-buildfile/74467/2 "2022-04-26T08:50:43Z")

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You absolutely should not ever edit a buildFile.xml in Word. That’s almost guaranteed to corrupt it. Use a text editor if you need to do that, not a word processor.

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**Author:** ![palad0n](https://forum.vassalengine.org/user_avatar/forum.vassalengine.org/palad0n/32/215_2.png) [@palad0n](https://forum.vassalengine.org/u/palad0n)\
**Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 3:37pm UTC](https://forum.vassalengine.org/t/interesting-pop-up-when-using-word-to-open-a-buildfile/74467/3 "2022-04-26T15:37:44Z")

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Agreed. But thought a reminder would be appropriate.  
The other message is custom xml elements no longer supported in word. Have you created a non viable system that is not supported by the the general “masses”?

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**Author:** ![uckelman](https://forum.vassalengine.org/user_avatar/forum.vassalengine.org/uckelman/32/10020_2.png) [@uckelman](https://forum.vassalengine.org/u/uckelman)\
**Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 4:17pm UTC](https://forum.vassalengine.org/t/interesting-pop-up-when-using-word-to-open-a-buildfile/74467/4 "2022-04-26T16:17:27Z")

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I have no idea what they could mean by “custom XML elements”. All XML elements are custom. The whole point of XML is that it’s extensible; it doesn’t define _any_ elements by default. You define the elements.

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**Author:** ![JoelCFC25](https://forum.vassalengine.org/user_avatar/forum.vassalengine.org/joelcfc25/32/2687_2.png) [@JoelCFC25](https://forum.vassalengine.org/u/JoelCFC25)\
**Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 5:50pm UTC](https://forum.vassalengine.org/t/interesting-pop-up-when-using-word-to-open-a-buildfile/74467/5 "2022-04-26T17:50:29Z")

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It’s definitely going to be problematic to start from “what does Microsoft Word support” when assessing whether you have good HTML or XML–yikes!

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**Author:** ![palad0n](https://forum.vassalengine.org/user_avatar/forum.vassalengine.org/palad0n/32/215_2.png) [@palad0n](https://forum.vassalengine.org/u/palad0n)\
**Post date:** [April 27, 2022, 11:34am UTC](https://forum.vassalengine.org/t/interesting-pop-up-when-using-word-to-open-a-buildfile/74467/6 "2022-04-27T11:34:49Z")

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Notebook++ with compare addin worked very well.