ASCII Filter option

[WandaR]

Hi I have been having a problem lately opening anything with Open office Everything I try to open the ASCII filter comes on and when I click ok all that comes up is un readable to me and sometimes it will not even open it says open office has stopped working. I have windows 10 and open office 4.1.2

Plz help!! Thank you in advance

[RoryOF]

Please try downloading and opening the attached file. This will help us narrow down the source of the problem.

[WandaR]

Hi
I downloaded the file saved to desk top all is good I can read and no ASCII pops up.

[RoryOF]

Load the file and use /File /Save As to save it under a different name. If that Saved file doesn't open correctly, please upload it to the Forum. The Upload tab is below Submit button on PostReply and FullEditor screens, not on QuickReply screen.

[WandaR]

That file worked I tried uploading a file but they are to big (they are 155kb) I will try and see if I have a smaller one

[RoryOF]

Please confirm that the renamed and Saved version of the test file I sent opened correctly for you.

I may be offline now for a few hours - or not, depending on depth of snow outside - now 30 cm.

[John_Ha]

You see the ASCII filter when you try to open a .TXT file with ASCII characters. You never see it when you try to open a proper .odt file because a proper .odt file is a ZIP file. Are you sure the file you are trying to open is a .odt file? Can you see its file qualifier is .odt?

Are you clicking the file to open it? If so, try starting AOO, and going File > Open ..., and navigating to the file.

You say you are running 4.1.2. Uninstall it. Rename C:\Users\xxxxxx\AppData\Roaming\OpenOffice\4\user to ...\user_OLD. Download AOO 4.1.5 from http://www.openoffice.org/download/index.html. Install it.

[WandaR]

Please confirm that the renamed and Saved version of the test file I sent opened correctly for you.

I may be offline now for a few hours - or not, depending on depth of snow outside - now 30 cm.

Yes RoryOF your download worked fine I could open it and read it normally.

[RoryOF]

Did you then use /File/Save as, and save it under another name? If so, did that file reopen for you correctly?

[WandaR]

You see the ASCII filter when you try to open a .TXT file with ASCII characters. You never see it when you try to open a proper .odt file because a proper .odt file is a ZIP file. Are you sure the file you are trying to open is a .odt file? Can you see its file qualifier is .odt?

Are you clicking the file to open it? If so, try starting AOO, and going File > Open ..., and navigating to the file.

You say you are running 4.1.2. Uninstall it. Rename C:\Users\xxxxxx\AppData\Roaming\OpenOffice\4\user to ...\user_OLD. Download AOO 4.1.5 from http://www.openoffice.org/download/index.html. Install it.

I updated my 4.1.2 to 4.1.5 a couple days ago but this is the weird thing on my short cut it says open office 4.1.5 but when I right click on a file to "open with" it comes up 4.1.2. only.
I am having trouble opening Pdf files example something I downloaded from internet is when I get ASCII filter and also thing I have saved on a stick from when I had microsoft office will also not open

[WandaR]

Did you then use /File/Save as, and save it under another name? If so, did that file reopen for you correctly?

Yes I saved it under a different name and Yes it worked correctly

[John_Ha]

1. Check if you have lost the association between .odt file and AOO. Start > Settings > Control Panel> Default Programs ..., and give AOO all its defaults.

2. Make file types visible. Control Panel > Folder options > View. Un-tick Hide extensions for known file types. You will now be able to see what type of file you have.

[John_Ha]

1. Download test.odt. Can you see the qualifier on the file? If not make file types visible by Control Panel > Folder options > View. Un-tick Hide extensions for known file types. You will now be able to see what type of file you have.

2. Double-click test.odt. Does it open correctly? If not, check if you have lost the association between .odt file and AOO. Start > Settings > Control Panel> Default Programs ..., and give AOO all its defaults.

[RoryOF]

PDF files should not be opened in OpenOffice; there may be a wrong file association set causing PDF files to use OO. I have no experience using Win 10 but understand that it opens PDF files in a web browser by default. I found this on installing a dedicated PDF reader

https://www.pcworld.com/article/2975289 ... aches.html

About halfway down it tells how to install a dedicated PDF reader. I would use Adobe Reader, in spite of the above URL's author.

[peggyspeer]

This is exactly the problem I'm having.
I have downloaded the "Pride and Prejudice" document test,
and changed its name and put it on my desktop.
It opens and reads easily.
But I'm still getting only the ASCII Filter when I try to open documents.
What can I do to open and read my documents?

[RoryOF]

What is the file extension (the three or four letter tag after the file name) of your documents?

[John_Ha]

IF you get the ASCII filter
THEN It is because you are opening a flat, ASCII file (Fred.???) which does not have a .txt file qualifier.
AND you cannot be opening a valid .odt file.

IF you are opening a .odt file
AND you get the ASCII filter
THEN it is because the .odt file is not a proper .odt file. It is either corrupted, and probably full of NULL characters; or it is something like a .txt file which has been renamed to a .odt file.

[peggyspeer]

.pdf

[peggyspeer]

none of my files say .odt
most are .doc or .pdf

[RoryOF]

OpenOffice should open .doc files - if you get ASCII filter message this almost certainly means the file is damaged beyond repair.

OO generates PDF files but is not intended to open them. For reading of large PDF files one should use a dedicated PDF reader, of which Adobe Reader is the best known. PDF files are intended to be an output format only, not designed for editing. With the addition of the PDF import extension at
https://extensions.openoffice.org/en/pr ... openoffice
one can then use OO to read small PDF files and make minor cosmetic changes to them, but not major layout or editing changes.

[John_Ha]

Upload a small document file (eg .odt) showing the problem so that it can be analysed. Use the Upload attachment tab below where you type (128 kB max) or use a file share site for a larger file.

Remember ...

IF you get the ASCII filter
THEN It is because you are opening a flat, ASCII file Fred.??? which does not have a .txt file qualifier.
AND you cannot be opening a valid .odt file.

IF you are opening a .odt file like Fred.odt
AND you get the ASCII filter
THEN it is because Fred.odt is not a proper .odt file. It is either a badly corrupted .odt file, and probably full of NULL characters; or it is something like Fred.txt which has been renamed to Fred.odt.

[dekatessera]

I have had 4.1.6 for a while. Recently I went to bed and in the morning my windows was "crashed" (first time this has ever happened) and the 20 page document I typed the night before opened to this "ascii" window, I was in a rush and just clicked okay. I was rewarded with 19 pages of octothorpe. Naturally I searched the problem and of course found the threads on it. Eventually I found 15 of the 20 pages in a .tmp file. I rewrote the remaining 5 pages, added 4 more, and lo and behold I get up this morning to type, "ascii" window again, leading in to a file with nothing but the "dreaded" # octothorpe.

Any advice?