[Solved] Opening Downloaded Files (Firefox & Calc)

[SimonF]

I have recently changed computers from W7 to W10 and this is my problem. I download statements from my bank in the form of a CSV file and previously these would open into Calc just like that. On the W10 computer (OO 4.1.7) I get an error message from Calc saying that the file does not exist. If I go to where it is downloaded (i.e. the folder as detailed in the error message) the download is there. If I click on the file and say "open with Calc" it will open it. Is there a setting in OO that needs changing to get back to the easy way it worked in W7?

Thanks for any help

[RoryOF]

Files sent by email are in a temporary location; if you edit them there, the edited content _will_ be lost. Before editing with OpenOffice, one _must_ Save them to a directory on the local hard disk.

[SimonF]

Thanks but:
> It is a download in Firefox from my bank (it isn't sent by email)
> I am using the identical procedure I formerly used, the only change being that it is W10 and a new version of OO
> I am not editing anything
> OO seems to think the file does not exist when it does

[RoryOF]

Will you please upload a sample of the file path and filename - you can disguise the filename if necessary.

[SimonF]

Thanks and please excuse me if I am not understanding correctly.

When I am in FireFox and I click on the download link it offers me the option to "open with" and that is set to Calc

The file is then in my FF downloads file and the location therein correlates with the error message as below

At this stage I get the error message in OO Calc saying "C:\Users\SimonF\Appdata\Local\Temp\Statement does not exist" and there is an "ok" button

If I click on "ok" then I get a new pane that states "C:\Windows\System32\download does not exist"

If it is relevant, I have a 64 bit system.

[John_Ha]

Yet another of these problems - the 4th? 5th? in a few days. I am sure it is a W10 problem.

Don't choose Open with. Download the file itself and save it to the desktop.

It is almost certainly a bug with your email provider - report it to them.

At this stage I get the error message in OO Calc saying "C:\Users\SimonF\Appdata\Local\Temp\Statement does not exist"

C:\Users\SimonF\Appdata\Local\Temp is a location for temporary files and the file located there will be deleted when you leave email.

[SimonF]

But this has nothing to do with email ...

[John_Ha]

But this has nothing to do with email ...

That is interesting - the other cases have always been attached to emails so I jumped to trhe conclusion this was too.
Your error message suggests the file name is "Statement" - is that correct? Does it have a qualifier like .csv or .txt?

Does the file name have a space in it as in "the cat.csv"?

Are you downloading it from your bank website?

My workaround will still work.

Try with this file. I am using Firefox and Windows 10. When I try downloading it it offers me the Open with ... dialogue and it opens OK in AOO.

[SimonF]

I get exactly the same message with your test file - it says "opening with ..." and it says against that "OpenOffice Calc" and then I go into the identical error messages as above (except of course with a different file name)

I have tried yoyr workarounbd and yes it seems ok with that which is good, I just find it frustrating as it's extra steps and cannot help wondering why it will not work when it would with W7

Maybe I have to live with the workaround - but thank you for your help on this

[John_Ha]

It is not an AOO problem - it's almost certainly a Windows 10 problem, probably to do with Defender which is preventing AOO from writing files into the ...\Temp folder.

Let's fix it.

1. You say Test Case.csv fails. Try this file where there is no space.

2. See [Tutorial] Problems with Windows Defender under Windows 10 and enable soffice.bin.

As you can see, when I did it the file was written into the ...\Temp folder.

TestCase.csv

(52 Bytes) Downloaded 147 times

[SimonF]

That seems fine?!

[John_Ha]

So TestCase.csv works OK but Test Case.csv fails - the only change is the space in the file name. Windows allows spaces in file and folder names so there should be no difference.

Try enabling soffice.bin in Defender and then download my two files again. Do both now work?

[Zizi64]

... On the W10 computer (OO 4.1.7) ...

...
______________________________________
OpenOffice 3.3.0 Windows 7

Please update your signature in this forum.

[SimonF]

So ... here's the added problem. I use Eset so when I follow the path that is described in the tutorial it takes me into Eset and not Defender. I think I will live with saving the file and opening it as I am probably getting beyond my limited abilities.

I do appreciate the help - thank you. And yes, I'll update my signature - whoops.

[SimonF]

I think that I have partially got to the bottom of this issue and I am adding a final post hoping that it may assist someone in the future.

The issue concerns CSV files downloaded from the internet via Firefox with the intention of opening these in Calc.

In FF, if you go to "options" and then "applications" you can instruct FF how to deal with CSV files.

If you tell FF to use Calc for CSV files, when you click on the downloaded file (at least for me) it produces an error message in Calc saying the download does not exist.

However, if you alter the FF setting for CSV files to "save file", when you click on the downloaded file (in FF) it seems to open the download in Calc without issue.

To me (and I am not very computer literate) this seems like some form of conflict between Open Office and Firefox.

Anyway, I very-much appreciate those who were willing to help me.

[John_Ha]

It seems from robleyed's post Re: [Solved] Can't open .docx files sent via email that the problem is faulty web page coding.

If a file name on a website has a space (or non alpha-numeric character) in it then the web standards require that file name should be enclosed in quotes as "London Bridge.abc". Such a file works properly. The AOO web site includes quotes so all works OK.

However many web sites have incompetent programmers who ignore standards and do not enclose such file names in quotes. This is an error by the web site author. Such a file downloads OK but does not Open with ..., OK as only the characters up to the first space (or non alpha-numeric character) are recognised, so the file is thought to be called London and, of course, cannot be found.

The problem is not Firefox - it is incompetent web programmers who cannot or will not follow the agreed standards. What has probably happened is that the web page coding has recently been changed. Firefox has known of this problem for some years but does not want to make changes as it breaks the web rules and affects other things in Firefox, especially in other languages.

See Filenames with spaces are truncated upon download for a full explanation and for two extensions which can fix it - Content-Type Fixer and FixDisposition.