[Solved] Opening Word document with OpenOffice Writer

[Gordon1140]

I can't find out how to open a word document/template with extension of .doc or dotx.

Can someone help me out?

Gordon

[Villeroy]

You open that file with this program like you open any file with any other program. Same procedure since Windows 95.

Right-click the file icon > Open With... and choose the program
or
Start the program and use menu:File>Open...
or
Start the program and drag the file icon into the window
or
Drag the file icon over the program icon
or
some other method I can't recall right now.

[Gordon1140]

I appreciate your reply. However, I have done that many times. It seems that the file comes through but when I open it in Open Office there is no data/information in it.

Somewhere in Open Office I seem to recall a place where you can check a box that will allow the data in the Word file to appear. Doesn't make sense to me that that feature would even be there. I don't know where I saw this feature.

Maybe I should add that the person sending this file to me might have created it as a template in Word. If so how does one open such a file in Open Office?

Can you help?

[Villeroy]

You asked how to open a file with a program. "Does not work" is not a valid description because it does not give any clue what actually happens when you try. So your file appears empty, right? It might be a corrupted file. It may be a valid file but too complicated to be handled by this application. The file may be actually emtpy. It may be something else. Without seeing the file, it is impossible to say.
[Forum] How to attach a document here

[floris v]

You can install a Word viewer and make sure that the file isn't just blank. Maybe the file contains code that AOO doesn't recognize. LibreOffice seems to do a better job opening docx files, so you could try that - AOO and Libre will sit perfectly happy on a computer. Anyway, without the actual file to check we can only guess, read waste our time.

[John_Ha]

1 Start Writer
2 File > Open ..., now navigate to the file you want to open

Or open it with the free Microsoft Word Viewer, and copy the data into a Writer document. See How to obtain the latest Microsoft Word Viewer

If it is a .docx file, be aware that Writer does not recognise Microsoft Textboxes or their text or image contents - see [Issue] Writer doesn't display images in docx file textbox and the bug reports at https://bz.apache.org/ooo/buglist.cgi?q ... _id=179758

[Molley]

I have old diary files that I have imported to my laptop from another drive going back to 2004. I can open some 2005 files but all the 2004 files, which are trying to open as .wpd files won't open and I get the ascii Filter Options. I'm not sure what to do, it looks ok, but when I click the ok button it opens with unreadable text if you follow? I get the idea that maybe it's because the files were created with Windows XP or earlier? Funnily enough some of the 2005 files which were converted to XML 1.0 (.txt) which I can open normally won't open if they were created in 2005.
I can't help thinking that Open Office has issues with Windows 10 which I use with my computer. I have a friend who uses 2007 and claims not to be having any problems at all.

[thomasjk]

Wordperfect file filters were removed sometime ago. Try Libreoffice https://www.libreoffice.org/download/li ... sion=5.1.0 or use a file conversion service like www.zamzar.com

[John_Ha]

I can't help thinking that Open Office has issues with Windows 10 which I use with my computer. I have a friend who uses 2007 and claims not to be having any problems at all.

It is most unlikely that AOO operates any differently under Windows 10 compared with Windows 7 or even XP. It is far more likely that the files you and your friend are opening are different, or that you are using different versions of AOO.

You say you can open some files you saved in 2005 but not others you saved in 2005. The date you saved them should be irrelevant. It is the file format (.odt, .doc, etc) which is important.

Are the files you can open, and the files you cannot open, the same type - ie are they are all .odt files? Or are some .odt and others .doc? Or what type are they?

We need to know what type the files are to offer relevant advice.

Remember too that there are several different types of .doc files (Word 6, Word 95, Word 97/2000/XP) even though all are called .doc.

This is a list of the file types which Writer 4.1.2 can open. If the files you want to open are not on the list, you need to find another way to open them, either by converting them to a file type which is on the list; or by using the original application which wrote the files.

File types which Writer 4.1.2 can open

Clipboard01.png (10.69 KiB) Viewed 42152 times

Incidentally, never save your work in .doc files (or any other format apart from .odt). If you are absolutely forced to produce a .doc file, then work in and save your work in .odt, and only create a copy as a .doc file at the very end. Why? Because .odt supports all of Writer's features and other file formats may not. That is why Writer warns you when you try to save in another format.

Warning that formatting may be lost when saving as a .doc file

[RoryOF]

For conversion of files whose type OpenOffice does not directly support, we often recommend the free online service of http://www.zamzar.com

[Bill]

I get the idea that maybe it's because the files were created with Windows XP or earlier?

The operating system didn't create the files. The software used to create the files saved the files in a format which OpenOffice.org of that era could open, but which the Apache OpenOffice can't open.

I can't help thinking that Open Office has issues with Windows 10 which I use with my computer. I have a friend who uses 2007 and claims not to be having any problems at all.

I have no issues with OpenOffice on Windows 10. Windows 10 is an operating system, but "2007" isn't, so I'm not sure how your friend's claim is relevant to the problem.

[Molley]

I can't help thinking that Open Office has issues with Windows 10 which I use with my computer. I have a friend who uses 2007 and claims not to be having any problems at all.

It is most unlikely that AOO operates any differently under Windows 10 compared with Windows 7 or even XP. It is far more likely that the files you and your friend are opening are different, or that you are using different versions of AOO.

You say you can open some files you saved in 2005 but not others you saved in 2005. The date you saved them should be irrelevant. It is the file format (.odt, .doc, etc) which is important.

Are the files you can open, and the files you cannot open, the same type - ie are they are all .odt files? Or are some .odt and others .doc? Or what type are they?

We need to know what type the files are to offer relevant advice.

Hi John and thanks a lot for your input. If I can start with the earliest files I am trying to open. I have a whole lot from 2003 and AOO is trying to open them with .wpd. I can't remember what they were previously but I bring up their properties and they are described as OpenOffice.org XML 1.0 Text Document (.wpd). When I try to open a file a a box called "ascii Filter Options", with character set, language etc, comes up on the screen which I have to ok and then it opens up with unreadable text. Rory suggested converting the files but the computer is only showing me the name of the files that AOO wants to open them in and not having any success.



Remember too that there are several different types of .doc files (Word 6, Word 95, Word 97/2000/XP) even though all are called .doc.

This is a list of the file types which Writer 4.1.2 can open. If the files you want to open are not on the list, you need to find another way to open them, either by converting them to a file type which is on the list; or by using the original application which wrote the files.

[Molley]

I have just done some more checking in my Diary files and anything from 2007 (currently on an external drive) onwards I can open freely on my laptop. They are all described in properties as Microsoft Word (.docx) files and open with an "Unkown Application". I remember purchasing a computer quite a while back, maybe 10 years, and I purchased Microsoft Word at the same time. Everything from 2003 up to most of 2006 I can't open as described above.

[Bill]

You said earlier that the files were .wpd files. OpenOffice 4.1.2 cannot open .wpd files. If the files are .wpd files, then you will have to convert them to a format which OpenOffice 4.1.2 can open. If the files are not .wpd files, then we need to know the file name extension of the files.

[RoryOF]

In addition to what Bill has written, if you intend to use OpenOffice as your main editor/office suite, you would be well advised to move away from the .docx format. If you need to share files with others for editing, use the doc format (MS Wrord 997/2000/XP from the file Save As dropdown). If those with whom you share are using later versions of Word, they should be able to read .odt format (OO's native format). If you wish to share files not for editing, use Export as PDF and send a pdf file. Note that you must keep an original file in an editable format (preferable .odt) as PDF format is intended to be non-editable.

[John_Ha]

If I can start with the earliest files I am trying to open. I have a whole lot from 2003 and AOO is trying to open them with .wpd.

Files are like tins of baked beans - the baked beans are like the text inside the file and the file qualifier is like the label on the tin. A file with a .wpd qualifier is a Corel WordPerfect file and the text inside is WordPerfect text.

In an analogy, .wpd tins have baked beans inside, .doc tins have tomatoes (many would say worms but I resisted the temptation) inside and .odt tins have peaches inside. The label should match what is inside but if you rename a file, you might have given it the wrong file qualifier - it's like putting a label "plums" on a tin of sardines. Someone opens the tin expecting to find plums but finds sardines.

Writer is not "opening them with .wpd" - Writer is trying to "open a .wpd file".

But Writer does not work with .wpd files because .wpd is not one of the supported file formats and Writer does not know what to do with the tomatoes - it is expecting to see peaches. So, if you try to open a .wpd file, Writer does its best thinking it might be a misnamed ASCII .txt file with the wrong file qualifier. You are then asked what type of ASCII coding is used in the file, and because .wpd is not an ASCII .txt file, you then see garbage. You have presumably set the Open... dialogue to All Files as in the image below - this allows Writer to see files of all types, both those it can work with, and those it cannot work with.

Google open wordperfect files or open wpd files for help - you get hundreds of hits. You can use a file conversion site to convert the .wpd file to a .doc file and you can then open the .doc file.

Open ... dialogue set to All files shows all the files in the folder - those Writer can work with AND those Writer cannot work with

Result of opening a .wpd file - garbage

Clipboard02.png (2.12 KiB) Viewed 42080 times

Cookery lesson over

[Molley]

In addition to what Bill has written, if you intend to use OpenOffice as your main editor/office suite, you would be well advised to move away from the .docx format. If you need to share files with others for editing, use the doc format (MS Wrord 997/2000/XP from the file Save As dropdown). If those with whom you share are using later versions of Word, they should be able to read .odt format (OO's native format). If you wish to share files not for editing, use Export as PDF and send a pdf file. Note that you must keep an original file in an editable format (preferable .odt) as PDF format is intended to be non-editable.

Thanks guys, the information you have supplied has been very helpful. To me it was all about recovering Diary files that I saved on a laptop some 12 or 13 years ago. I no longer have Microsoft Word which was very good. I lost it (the disk) and have changed my laptop and unable to afford Microsoft these days.
Anyway RoryOF thanks to you guys I have found I can now read 2003 through to 2005 files by converting them to doc files using Zamzar. Rory are you suggesting that I save the files in .odt format so that that they are in a more editable format for future usage? In which case I'll readily do that and save them on my external drive as I've always done,

[RoryOF]

Yes, I strongly suggest saving the files as .odt; in fact, one might go even further and save as plain text, which will lose all formatting, but will preserve the words and the content. But even that may present problems ... If one has a long memory, one might remember EBCDIC encoding and ponder converting a plain text file encoded using EBCDIC. This is only an example ... the case does not arise for me,

[Molley]

Rory not quite sure what you mean by saving as plain text? Will lose all formatting? If you think I should I'll have a go if you can tell me how. You've been very helpful so far thank you.

[RoryOF]

Plain text will lose all but the most rudimentary formatting (possibly everything but new lines). If you wish to try this, select Text (.txt) from the file type dropdown in /File /Save as and make sure "Automatic file name extension" is checked. However, the longevity of your file is no greater than the life of the medium on which it is written (circa 5 years for a HD, 10 - 30 for DVD). Good printout using archival inkjet on archival paper and proper storage may give some hundreds of years.

[Molley]

This is all getting somewhat confusing/frustrating Rory. I don't understand why you would strongly recommend saving my files in .odt format and now you say (.txt) , am I missing something here? I saved a file previously saved as (.odt) as a (.txt) file and it wouldn't open. Call me lazy but I just want to save my files into a safe format, nothing too complicated, I'm not into that.

[RoryOF]

Save and work in .odt format.

My point was that all formats may become outmoded and that computer files are by their nature transient. The reference to saving as txt was intended to suggest that this was the minimal format, preserving the content but not the formatting, and therefore least likely to become outmoded in the very long term, provided the substrate on which it was written (at present a hard disk) remains readable.

[Molley]

I have another question if I may. I have a document in two formats (.txt) and (.sxw) When I look at the properties of each one they are both described as XML1.0 Text Documents. Which one should I be saving them in? It appears that the programme may have changed the file from (.txt) to .sxw all by itself somehow or I did something to prompt it do so? The program seems to be more comfortable with .sxw, it opens a little smoother and has a nicer default text format.
Anyway I think you are telling me that .txt is the preferable one to store them in? Interestingly my wife who has Microsoft Office Word 2007 (?) can't open the same file on her computer in either format from her Email.

[RoryOF]

No.You should work and save in .odt format.

My point was that ultimately, over decades of time, text files holding the minimal formatting information may be the optimum format for recoverability, but that printout in archival ink on archival paper in archival storage may be more long-lived and less likely to be lost.

[Molley]

There's just one more thing I'd like to bring up. When I first started this query I suggested that Openoffice wasn't compatible with Windows 10. I still think that I had less problems with Windows 7. Since I've installed OpenOffice I've had problem after problem. Just opening files can be a problem. Last night I changed the format on a number files as has already been discussed. This morning I couldn't open any of the Openoffice files on my computer. I had to do a complete shut down and start again and it still doesn't open as smoothly as I think it should. Again I will refer to my friend who has Windows 7 and knows a lot more about computers than I do and has no problems with program. My computer (laptop) is less than 12 months old so it is not age related.

[John_Ha]

I am 99.99% certain that any such problems you may be experiencing will not be being caused by OpenOffice and that you need to look elsewhere for their cause.

I also doubt very much that W10, as opposed to W7, is causing the problems.

The problems are almost certainly user related - you are doing / have done something differently, probably unknowingly. Or you have set up W10 differently from W7.

Just opening files can be a problem.
This morning I couldn't open any of the Openoffice files on my computer

I assume you are clicking on files to open them instead of File > Open ..., and navigating to the file. Have you set your default programs appropriately? Does AOO have all its defaults? Google for how to do it.

Have you setup W10 so that it displays the file qualifier for known file types? Google for how to do it.

[RoryOF]

In circumstances of unstable OpenOffice after Windows version upgrades it is often useful to rename your OO User profile. As you are using Windows do this by deleting or renaming your OpenOffice user profile.

Close OpenOffice and the Quickstarter. Open File Explorer. Copy and paste %appdata%\OpenOffice\4 in the File Explorer Address Bar (not the search engine) and press Enter. Delete or Rename the "user" folder. Start OpenOffice.

If you have customisation in your profile (special templates, dictionaries etc), renaming is best as you cn then bring forward the customisation to the new profile OO will generate when it cannot find the old one.

[Bill]

This morning I couldn't open any of the Openoffice files on my computer. I had to do a complete shut down and start again and it still doesn't open as smoothly as I think it should.

Similar statements have been made many times here about Windows 7 and other versions of Windows. If the first file you try to open fails, then subsequent files will also fail to open. Opening the Task Manager and closing all of the failed files usually solves the problem. This is an ongoing problem which is not new on Windows 10.

[Molley]

I am 99.99% certain that any such problems you may be experiencing will not be being caused by OpenOffice and that you need to look elsewhere for their cause.

I also doubt very much that W10, as opposed to W7, is causing the problems.

The problems are almost certainly user related - you are doing / have done something differently, probably unknowingly. Or you have set up W10 differently from W7.

Just opening files can be a problem.
This morning I couldn't open any of the Openoffice files on my computer

I assume you are clicking on files to open them instead of File > Open ..., and navigating to the file. Have you set your default programs appropriately? Does AOO have all its defaults? Google for how to do it.

Have you setup W10 so that it displays the file qualifier for known file types? Google for how to do it.

I think you you're right, well I'm hoping you are, John Ha. I will give the suggestions you made a try but I'm sorry I'm even struggling to follow your instructions with my limited knowledge on computer terminology . Anyway I'll let you know how I go and thank you.

[Molley]

Couldn't find anything in Google about setting or checking AOO default programs. I managed to find something about W10 file qualifiers which were referred to as extensions(?) and I changed them so that they are not hidden anymore.