Apache OpenOffice Community Forum

all of a sudden i wsas trying to open my file i wrote and it brings up a window that says ASCII options. then when i open it, it is just pages of ################################

wtf?

Your file has been damaged, perhaps because of over hasty close down of the computer before internal housekeeping was complete. Experience tells us that there will be nothing usable in your damaged file.

See this link for information on recovery:
[Tutorial] How to find and un-delete Writer temporary files

If that desn't work, as soon as possible do the following:

Download Recuva or PhotoRec (only one needed) and let it do an indepth recovery of deleted files on your computer. You may get a file containing some or all of your data (or not). Do this as a first priority; other use of the computer may overwrite any existing but deleted files and prevent their recovery. There is no guarantee that you will recover anything useful.

Do the above soonest!

it still shows up normally on my iphone in our dropbox folder, weird. we have a shared folder for a book project....

Then take a copy from your dropbox folder. The ASCII filter message is almost always a sign that OpenOffice cannot understand the file, usually because it has been damaged.

take a copy....and then what?

Either it is correct on your Dropbox folder, as your iphone suggests, or it is not. The more use you make of your computer before undertaking the recovery process I suggested, the less chance there is of finding a good version of the file.

well i found a way to bring back an older version anyways...suck