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Problems with Word document Tables in 4.1.4 and 4.1.5

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2018 12:57 am
by katroving
I often create tables in my odt test files to organize data.
After upgrading to 4.1.4, I created some odt test filess with tables and saved them to a folder. When I opened the folder those files were not visible. The plain text file was accessible but not the ons with tables. I was able to find the tables in a Windows search which showed them existing in the folder but not visible through Windows file manager.

I was able to open some in the search view. But I cannot access them through the folder. As soon as I saved them and closed down, they disappeared again. One file with a table did save to the folder but when I tried to open it I got a pop-up for ASCII filter options. If I click ok- the file opens up all in hashmarks ###

Please advise, Thank you

Re: Problems with Word document Tables in 4.1.4 and 4.1.5

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2018 1:53 am
by John_Ha
Welcome to the forum.

I do not quite understand your description.

First, you say "in my word documents". Do you mean in my text documents? If so, are those text documents saved as .odt files or as .doc files?

Second "When I opened the folder those documents were not visible". Are they visible when you navigate to the folder using Windows? Note that if you were looking for .doc files, but were using the Save As ..., dialogue to do your looking, and Save As ..., was using .odt; then you see only any .odt files in that folder and you do not see any .doc files which are in that folder.

Third "one file with a table did save to the folder but when I tried to open it I got a pop-up for ASCII filter options. If I click ok- the folder opens up all in hashmarks ###" does not make sense to me. AOO cannot open a folder for editing as a document - it can only open a file for editing. What happens if you go File > Open ..., and navigate to the folder?

If you open a file with AOO, and you get ASCII options, it means you are opening a flat, ASCII or .txt file. If you see all ##### when the file opens, it means the file is full of NULL characters and there is no user data stored in it.

Please read Survival Guide for the forum. What program and version are you using? What Operating System?

As a new poster you will find much useful information in the Writer FAQ, the Writer Tutorials, the up to date Writer guide and the Writer Manual. May I suggest you bookmark the pages.

Press F1 to access the Help screen and search for your problem

The chapter headings in the manual are:

1 - Introducing Writer
2 - Setting up Writer
3 - Working with Text
4 - Formatting Pages
5 - Printing, Exporting, Faxing and E-Mailing
6 - Introduction to Styles
7 - Working with Styles
8 - Working with Graphics
9 - Working with Tables
10 - Working with Templates
11 - Using Mail Merge
12 - Tables of Contents, Indexes and Bibliographies
13 - Working with Master Documents
14 - Working with Fields
15 - Using Forms in Writer
16 - Customizing Writer – Keyboard shortcuts.

When a pop-up window opens, click the Help button for extensive help on that function - it is often more comprehensive than the manual.

See [Tutorial] Differences between Writer and MS Word files for why you should always work in and save files as .odt.

Re: Problems with Word document Tables in 4.1.4 and 4.1.5

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2018 4:54 am
by katroving
My apologies - I've been working with Word users.

I work exclusively in .odt when writing. The tables were also in .odt, with references, added text.

When accessing files through Windows 8 - I open the folder where they (and other documents and articles before and after) were saved. The .odt files do not appear to be there. If I use the search function for this PC - the missing files appear in the search, apparently in the correct folder and as .odt.

It seems not so much that the files were missing as invisible.

The one file containing 6 pages of tabled data that I saved to an .odt from a .tmp opens but file has no text, just number signs.

This started after I upgraded to Open Office 4.1.4 and did not change in 4.1.5.

P-erhaps I should just go back to a restore point and reload Open Office.

Re: Problems with Word document Tables in 4.1.4 and 4.1.5

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2018 9:48 am
by Hagar Delest
katroving wrote:I was able to find the tables in a Windows search which showed them existing in the folder but not visible through Windows file manager.
Have you checked what was the folder? Perhaps you've saved in a different one than the one you first expected. Or perhaps it's the backup folder of OpenOffice.
If you open AOO and try to open the files from the Recent files list, what is the result?

Re: Problems with Word document Tables in 4.1.4 and 4.1.5

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2018 6:41 pm
by UnklDonald418
It seems not so much that the files were missing as invisible.
From your Windows Explorer (file manager) select the View tab (it may be a menu, I'm not sure on Windows 8) and select Hidden Files.

Re: Problems with Word document Tables in 4.1.4 and 4.1.5

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2018 11:49 pm
by katroving
Thank you for your esponse
I have tried enabling the hidden files view and that does not cause the invisible files to appear

Re: Problems with Word document Tables in 4.1.4 and 4.1.5

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 1:29 am
by UnklDonald418
If I use the search function for this PC - the missing files appear in the search,
If the File Explorer can find them then they must exist somewhere.
In File Explorer right click on a found file and select Open File location. It should jump to the folder where the file was found and the file should be selected.

Re: Problems with Word document Tables in 4.1.4 and 4.1.5

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 9:27 am
by keme
UnklDonald418 wrote:
If I use the search function for this PC - the missing files appear in the search,
If the File Explorer can find them then they must exist somewhere.
In File Explorer right click on a found file and select Open File location. It should jump to the folder where the file was found and the file should be selected.
The search may have found a "recent files" entry. Applications will usually have their own "protected" list of recently opened files, but AFAIK, Windows still maintains "link files" in designated "recently accessed" folders within the file system, so they are searchable. The link file may remain when the object it points to has been deleted.