[Solved] Has .docx save been removed from OO version 4+?

[Dummy88]

OO 4.1.5, Windows 10
I just had need to save a Writer document as docx, something not done for a while. When I tried "Save As" there was no option for docx.
Looking on Options, General, Load and Save for Text Document there was no option there either.
There are Forum topics for this but are version 3.0 plus from several years ago.
Following the solution given in one of then I have completely un-installed 4.1.5, deleted the OpenOffice folder in Apps, Roving and cleaned up the registry. I happened to have a copy of 4.1.4 install handy and installed it with all options enabled.
When I look at that version Options or SaveAs there appears to be no option for docx.

Do I need to add an extension? If so which one?
Suggestions to fix gratefully received

[Zizi64]

Do I need to add an extension? If so which one?

The AOO can open and edit the .OOXML type files. But it can not save into OOXML format. There is not any extension for this task.

If you want to export your native ODF type documents into MS OOXML format, then you need use the LibreOffice. The LO can save into the foreign OOXML fileformat too.
But I suggest you: Always store your documents into the native, International Standard ODF (.odt. ods, ...) fileformats, and export a copy only into a foreign fileformat.

[John_Ha]

See [Tutorial] Differences between Writer and MS Word files for why you should always work in and save files as .odt.

Showing that a problem has been solved helps others searching so, if your problem is now solved, please view your first post in this thread and click the Edit button (top right in the post) and add [Solved] in front of the subject.

[Dummy88]

This does not answer the question. The question is "Has the option to save as .docx been withdrawn?"
Yes, initial save as .odt. On this occasion I needed to also save the file (no clever formatting) as .docx so that the person I was sending it to could open it.

[John_Ha]

This does not answer the question. The question is "Has the option to save as .docx been withdrawn?"

Read Zizi64's post which answers the question you asked. For the avoidance of doubt the simple answer is no, it has not "been withdrawn" ... because saving as a .docx was never in AOO.

Yes, initial save as .odt. On this occasion I needed to also save the file (no clever formatting) as .docx so that the person I was sending it to could open it.

Anyone who can open a .docx file can open a .odt file. Read the tutorial.

Showing that a problem has been solved helps others searching so, if your problem is now solved, please view your first post in this thread and click the Edit button (top right in the post) and add [Solved] in front of the subject.

[keme]

This does not answer the question. The question is "Has the option to save as .docx been withdrawn?"
Yes, initial save as .odt. On this occasion I needed to also save the file (no clever formatting) as .docx so that the person I was sending it to could open it.

Addressing the question:
As far as I know, the answer to your question is "No". The ability to save as docx was never there. (Experimentally it may have been present in a beta release, or my memory may deceive me and it was there in an official release, but I doubt it.)
If you want to insist that it was there at some time, perhaps read this thread, check your facts, then reconsider.

Offering a solution for the issue (summary of previous replies, mostly):
Most wordprocessing software can open the old Word "doc" format, which Writer can save as. In some versions you may get a warning about insecure content, which you can choose to ignore.

Recent versions of most titles will also happily open and save odt. Some layout alteration may occur in Word, but with "no clever formatting" as you stated, that effect should be insignificant.

If the receiver does not need to edit the file further, you can also export to PDF. That should preserve layout, even with "clever" formatting applied.

Reading your mind, or not (what is it that you aren't telling us?):
Some conversion utilities are very particular about file formats. If that is the receiver's software, or for other reasons you still find that docx is required, you need to acquire MS Word, WPS Office (previously "Kingsoft") with ODF plugin, or LibreOffice. They can all open your odt file and save it as docx.

[Zizi64]

Which version of the OOXML .docx format you want to save to? To the "Strict" one, or to the "Transitional" one?

[Dummy88]

To all above,
If I wanted Libre Office, that is what I would have installed.
Zizi64 first reply talks of formats I do not recognise, so tended to not take particular note.

If OO "never had" the option then how is it I managed to save .docx sometime ago? And, explain this web page https://www.techwalla.com/articles/how- ... pen-office.

I will solve the problem of .docx for the moment by opening a Google document and copy/pasting the text, and then send that document.

[Zizi64]

If OO "never had" the option then how is it I managed to save .docx sometime ago? And, explain this web page https://www.techwalla.com/articles/how- ... pen-office.

The Apache OpenOffice never had the option. But there was another versions of the OpenOffice:

StarOffice, OpenOffice.org, Oracle OpenOffice, Go-OO, ... etc... (Maybe one or more versions had that option, about the version number 3.x.x)

[Zizi64]

Zizi64 first reply talks of formats I do not recognise, so tended to not take particular note.

The OOXML Standard (that describes the "rules" for the .docx, .xlsx file formats) have descriptions for two subversions: The real Standard is the "Strict" version, but the Microsoft not fully support that. The default fileformat of the MS office suites is the "Transitional" version of the 'Standard'. But the developers of the MS often change the "rules" of the Transitional version without published documentation. There is no any way to follow such type of the development by the developers of the other office suites.

I suppose it: that is the reason, why the AOO dropped the save function for that file format.

[Dummy88]

Thanks

[Villeroy]

There is no reason to save this hell of a file format as long as MS supports the old binary ones (doc, xls, ppt).
OOXML (docx, xlsx, pptx) is only here to fight our truely free and consistent file format. Saving OOXML means adding another file to keep this hellfire burning.

[Dronz]

The reason to save docx is generally a business reason, that there are non-technical users who may be employers, clients, customers, officials, bosses, etc, who would respond poorly to anything other than being given a file that their software will open, in the format they expect (which sadly in some cases is DOCX, due to Microsoft's aggressive efforts to create new "standards" that other software will struggle with).

The answer above that any editor than can open docx can also open odt files is also not accurate, as I recently experienced trying to do so in Mac Pages, a standard solution for opening and saving DOCX on Mac, which was not able to open ODT.

I guess it's LibreOffice for my solution to this problem.

[John_Ha]

The reason to save docx is generally a business reason ...

In that case you need to buy MS Office.

Neither AOO nor LO read all the data which MS Word puts in .docx files though LO is better than AOO as it supports Textboxes. LO does not write all the data AOO can produce to .docx files. There will never be 100% compatibility.

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.

If Pages does not support .odt files then tell a Pages user they can always download the free AOO or LO. .odt is an international ISO standard.

Different capabilities of Writer and its .odt files, compared with MS Word and its .doc, .docx (and .rtf) files, and LO .docx files.
Note that MS Word, while capable of supporting some of the function stored in a .odt file, chooses not to implement that function.
MS Word 95 and MS Word 6.0 files cannot store Draw objects.
Note that .docx files do not necessarily comply with the OOXML Standard - items like Textboxes are not part of the standard (see text).
LO .docx files do not store MS Word Draw components.

.rtf files save two copies of any image, and one of those copies is uncompressed. .rtf files with images can therefore be many times - 50x - larger than the equivalent .odt files!

If necessary click the image to see a larger one.

[Villeroy]

I guess it's LibreOffice for my solution to this problem.

Microsoft Office is the one and only solution. It is intended to be so. So far Open Document Format has proven to be the best weapon to fight this intention.

[Zizi64]

Note:
The OOXML Standard (docx, xlsx ... file formats) has two versions: The Strict one and the Transitional one. The "Transitional" means: The microsoft can change the properties of the fileformats without publishing the decsription of the changes.

The LO can handle the Strict version well, but the default file format of the MS Office is the OOXML Transitional. Most of users can not set the Strict version of the OOXML as the default file format of the MS Office, meanwhile it is achievable.

[Villeroy]

I never saved any docx, xlsx, pptx in my life except for experimental documents posted on this forum. Same with doc, xls, ppt which I did not save in the last 6 years. I open all MS documents with MS Viewer applications and store my own work as ODF and send them as PDF. We did not face a single computer virus in all those years while everyone can read my documents on any device.