[Solved] Corrupted file AOO->MS Word->AOO

[MiniA]

I have a 200 page OpenOffice document which I saved as .doc to send to a publisher. Editing has been done (Track Changes, comments, etc.) and emailed back as a .doc file, but now I can't open it in OO. I get the 'corrupt file' message. OO can't repair the file. It has been resent, just in case it was a transmission error but with the same result. Previous docs between the publisher and I (three years ago) have been fine.

I tried opening a text file and inserting the document, as suggested elsewhere on this forum, but with the same result. Help!

[Villeroy]

Try https://libreoffice.org/ which is a lot more compatible with MS Word formats. Open your odt copy with LibreOffice, send the doc copy or a docx copy. You should use MS Word if someone or something forces you to work with MS Word document formats.

[MiniA]

Thanks for that info, Villeroy. I'll bear it in mind for future reference.

[RoryOF]

You need to upload the file or make a copy available on a filesharing site. We need a copy as high up the chain as possible, i.e., as returned by the publisher, not after attempted repair.

[esperantisto]

Editing has been done (Track Changes, comments, etc.) and emailed back as a .doc file

I can't understand: who edited the document in the change tracking mode and who emailed back to whom? The posting is too ambiguous to advise.

Anyway, do not do ongoing work in a foreign format, use only ODF and only after you have completed your task export to DOC or whatever.

Try https://libreoffice.org/ which is a lot more compatible with MS Word formats.

Such a statement only means that you have had limited/specific experience. In my experience, AOO is quite often better when exporting to DOC and anyway is much more stable when working with large text document (and spreadsheet, although irrelevant for this case) files.

[Villeroy]

Such a statement only means that you have had limited/specific experience. In my experience, AOO is quite often better when exporting to DOC and anyway is much more stable when working with large text document (and spreadsheet, although irrelevant for this case) files.

You are right. Our small business does not accept any MS document formats except for read-only access (no co-editing) and we don't have to write that much.

[RoryOF]

The immediate problem is not which branch of the program to use, but how to recover the damaged file. This we need to have hands-on, as I earlier wrote. We need the copy as near the point of damage as possible in the chain.

As a general comment: For any important work it is essential to make regular dated backups, working in OO's native format (.odt etc)

The timed/dated backup extension may be of use for this. You can download it from
viewtopic.php?p=406045#p405921

Note that you must invoke it separately using its button; it does not replace the standard save mechanism.

[RoryOF]

Editing has been done (Track Changes, comments, etc.) and emailed back as a .doc file

I can't understand: who edited the document in the change tracking mode and who emailed back to whom? The posting is too ambiguous to advise.

My interpretation is that the Publisher used track changes, and returned the document to the author for review of those changes.

[John_Ha]

Please upload the file 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, Dropbox or Google Drive for a larger file. It may be possible to extract the text and comments from the corrupted file.

Ask the sender to send the file in a different format: a PDF or a .odt or a .docx.

Google for repair doc file - there are sites which claim to fix broken files.

See [Tutorial] Differences between Writer and MS Word files for a description of differences and for why you should always work in, and save Writer files as .odt, Calc files as .ods, Impress files as .odp etc.

[RoryOF]

Google for repair doc file - there are sites which claim to fix broken files.

To be frank, I would have greater confidence in the skills for repair available from members on the forum.

[esperantisto]

My interpretation is that the Publisher used track changes, and returned the document to the author for review of those changes.

If that is the case, then the asker should ask the publisher to re-send the file by e-mail (pack into an archive for better safety [7Z or RAR are, probably, the best options]) or use a file sharing site (such as Google Drive).

[RoryOF]

My interpretation is that the Publisher used track changes, and returned the document to the author for review of those changes.

If that is the case, then the asker should ask the publisher to re-send the file by e-mail (pack into an archive for better safety [7Z or RAR are, probably, the best options]) or use a file sharing site (such as Google Drive).

Indeed; then such a file should (unchanged) be uploaded to some platform for repair. Unseen, I would hazard a guess that the problem is the multiple allocation of comments near the start of the file. A simple fix - we run into that problem frequently with MS Word formats, usually .docx, and track changes. But note: that is just a guess, and it may be wildly optimistic!

[John_Ha]

Rory

This is a .doc file which contains a memory dump so is somewhat more tricky to fix than an easily readable .docx file. However, unzipping it, extracting the content in WordDocument and removing the nulls should allow the text and comments to be recovered.

Or the publisher, who sent the file, could be asked to split the file into, say, ten parts and send them. Nine should then work ...

[RoryOF]

We won't know about the damage until we see the file.

It is to be hoped that the OP has a copy on his computer, although that will not have the publisher's edits and comments. If he has, at least the entire work has not been lost.

[MiniA]

Thank you, everyone, for your assistance. Given the Covid distractions, I've only just got back to this forum. With a publishing deadline rapidly approaching, I got my daughter to open the file in Word then create OO file and pdf which I then worked off. Not a long term solution but it fixed the immediate issue. I'll carefully read through all the comments here for future reference. Thank you again.

[John_Ha]

See [Tutorial] Differences between Writer and MS Word files for a description of differences and for why you should always work in, and save Writer files as .odt, Calc files as .ods, Impress files as .odp etc.