Compatibility Pack for Office 2007 file format does not render <w:dataBinding>

I created a Word 2007 file with data binding to a CustomXML part

When I open it in Word 2003 with the capability pack installed, the data is not displayed.

After some investigation, I open up the document.xml (just rename the word file extension to .zip instead of .docx) and realize that the compatibility pack only renders the content inside <w:t> tag and ignores the XPath binding on the <w:dataBinding> tag. Below is a part of my document.xml, notice the blue colored text.

<w:sdt>
– <w:sdtPr>
  <w:dataBinding w:xpath=”/root[1]/name[1]” w:storeItemID=”{b6aa39be-c6d5-40ca-a66e-93dbd069104f}” /> 
  <w:id w:val=”3411243″ />
– <w:placeholder>
  <w:docPart w:val=”DefaultPlaceholder_22675703″ />
  </w:placeholder>
  <w:showingPlcHdr />
  <w:text />
  </w:sdtPr>
– <w:sdtContent>
– <w:p w:rsidR=”006D15FD” w:rsidRDefault=”00F43988″>
– <w:r w:rsidRPr=”00583873″>
– <w:rPr>
  <w:rStyle w:val=”PlaceholderText” />
  </w:rPr>
  <w:t>Click here to enter text.</w:t>
  </w:r>
  </w:p>
  </w:sdtContent>
  </w:sdt>

If you are creating a WordML document thru this manner and want to enable it for users of older version of Word, remember to update your <w:t> tag as well.

Lim Guan Eng @ WCIT 2008

Yup, I recall he speaks in one of the session. Lim Guan Eng, Chief Minister of Penang paid a visit to the Penang booth on the third day of the event. That makes it a VIP visit during everyday of WCIT.