What units is this OpenXml transform element using?

Question

I have a series of Word shapes positioned thusly:

Here's the XML for part of that:

<mc:AlternateContent>
                    <mc:Choice Requires="wpg">
                        <w:drawing>
                            <wp:anchor distT="0" distB="0" distL="114300" distR="114300" simplePos="0" relativeHeight="251665408" behindDoc="0" locked="0" layoutInCell="1" allowOverlap="1" wp14:anchorId="365EF0DD" wp14:editId="7F53A46C">
                                <wp:simplePos x="0" y="0"/>
                                <wp:positionH relativeFrom="column">
                                    <wp:posOffset>641350</wp:posOffset>
                                </wp:positionH>
                                <wp:positionV relativeFrom="paragraph">
                                    <wp:posOffset>12065</wp:posOffset>
                                </wp:positionV>
                                <wp:extent cx="4161155" cy="3540125"/>
                                <wp:effectExtent l="0" t="0" r="0" b="3175"/>
                                <wp:wrapNone/>
                                <wp:docPr id="25" name="Group 25"/>
                                <wp:cNvGraphicFramePr>
                                    <a:graphicFrameLocks
                                        xmlns:a="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/drawingml/2006/main"/>
                                    </wp:cNvGraphicFramePr>
                                    <a:graphic
                                        xmlns:a="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/drawingml/2006/main">
                                        <a:graphicData uri="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/word/2010/wordprocessingGroup">
                                            <wpg:wgp>
                                                <wpg:cNvGrpSpPr>
                                                    <a:grpSpLocks/>
                                                </wpg:cNvGrpSpPr>
                                                <wpg:grpSpPr bwMode="auto">
                                                    <a:xfrm>
                                                        <a:off x="0" y="0"/>
                                                        <a:ext cx="4161155" cy="3540125"/>
                                                        <a:chOff x="865" y="6727"/>
                                                        <a:chExt cx="6410" cy="5145"/>
                                                    </a:xfrm>
                                                </wpg:grpSpPr>
                                                <wps:wsp>
                                                    <wps:cNvPr id="26" name="Text Box 26"/>
                                                    <wps:cNvSpPr txBox="1">
                                                        <a:spLocks noChangeArrowheads="1"/>
                                                    </wps:cNvSpPr>
                                                    <wps:spPr bwMode="auto">
                                                        **<a:xfrm>
                                                            <a:off x="4132" y="6727"/>
                                                            <a:ext cx="3143" cy="2492"/>
                                                        </a:xfrm>**
                                                        <a:prstGeom prst="rect">
                                                            <a:avLst/>
                                                        </a:prstGeom>
                                                        <a:solidFill>
                                                            <a:srgbClr val="FFFFFF"/>
                                                        </a:solidFill>
                                                        <a:ln w="9525">
                                                            <a:solidFill>
                                                                <a:srgbClr val="000000"/>
                                                            </a:solidFill>
                                                            <a:miter lim="800000"/>
                                                            <a:headEnd/>
                                                            <a:tailEnd/>
                                                        </a:ln>
                                                    </wps:spPr>

The part that is vexing me is bolded, and right here:

<a:xfrm>
       <a:off x="4132" y="6727"/>
       <a:ext cx="3143" cy="2492"/>
</a:xfrm>

Those values are clearly not EMUs or anything like it - their values are way too small. I've determined experimentally that the correct conversion factor to pixels is somewhere around 17.5 (I've stared at this a lot). Some kind of setting is giving a different unit format to that transform, and I cannot figure it out. Some document setting??? I've pored over everything in the XML. Any help would be appreciated.

Holy carp, I think you're right. Where would the indication that you need to use twips be? If you can answer that, then that's the whole picture. — Chris B. Behrens, Mar 04 '21 at 16:02
This is ``, so I'm not sure, but do you have anything that says `dxa` in the markup above? Dxa is the same as twip. Also, have a read here: https://startbigthinksmall.wordpress.com/2010/01/04/points-inches-and-emus-measuring-units-in-office-open-xml/ — Todd Main, Mar 04 '21 at 17:37
dxa only appears in a table style, and this is not in a table. I'll broaden my search to the w:type attribute and see if that reveals anything. — Chris B. Behrens, Mar 04 '21 at 18:37
Nope - searched every single xml doc in the package, and nothing to indicate this. This is the puzzle...there's some setting buried somewhere that indicates that these are twips, and I can't find it... — Chris B. Behrens, Mar 04 '21 at 18:49
I guess we've answered the question that I asked - if you want to put this into a question, I'll accept the answer and give you credit. — Chris B. Behrens, Mar 04 '21 at 19:05
It's hard to say exactly where this comes from. Your `Choice` in `AlternativeContent` is not standard OpenXML, it's part of MS-ODRAWXML (see: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/openspecs/office_standards/ms-odrawxml/). I know this set of schemes can cover ways of doing things that the standard didn't account for in the beginning (basically, what can Office 2010 do that Office 2007 can't). Office programming used twips *a lot* in pre-.NET days, so it could just be a carry over. These guys might know: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/topics/openspecs-office-fileformats.html — Todd Main, Mar 04 '21 at 21:24
I've opened a question there. I'm beginning to suspect that there's some attribute that identifies version-wise, like you're saying, and in that version, Twips is just the unit. A piece of trivia you just have to know... — Chris B. Behrens, Mar 04 '21 at 22:00

What units is this OpenXml transform element using?

0 Answers0