Apache OpenOffice Community Forum

Hi everyone, i apologise in advance in case my issue had already been solved elsewhere.
The point is i have just found out i can't open one of my .ods files anymore, in fact when i try opening it, calc shows me the "import text mask" (or whatever is called) usually used to import text tabulated data (eg. a .csv file) or, alternatevely, the "ASCII filter options" mask. What's really annoing is that in the first case the calc file appears to be completly blank (though the file uses 30kb of disk space), while in the second one it displays a few pages full of "#" chars. I even tried opening the calc file with vista default application for managing zip files and even 7zip, but in both cases i only get an "impossibile to open the file" error message.
Am I doomed?


P.S.: Oh... i almost forgot this, of course i didn't have the "automatic backup option" turned on.

I fear you may well be doomed! Try doing a system-wide search for Yourfile.*, where Yourfile is replaced by the correct name. Enable "search for hidden files and folders", to be safe.

Had you other applications running when you last saved the file? Were you saving to a USB device?

See also 22 pages term paper replaced with pound signs.

Well, it seems all was in vain. I'll tell you what happend, maybe it can help you for similar issues. I only found out that the file was damaged a few days after having saved it, also I am quite sure the open office saving procedure of the file was completed without any appearent problems. Still, there's a possibility vista crashed afterwards, while hybernating or shutting down. I saved my file on a hard disk partition (i have raid 10 enabled), not on removable drives.
Thanks for your help anyway.

As a ageneral rule with computers if your files are important to you, you should maximise the chances of their survivability by saving frequently during their use, in different locations and with different names.