Calc workbooks filling with #######

[bigyin]

This has probably been posted many times before but there's a lot of posts to search.
I keep suffering from my Calc workbooks filling with ####### which results in losing a lot of data.
It's been happening for a long time now but no sign of it being fixed.
Is there a way of preventing it from happening ?
TIA.

[RoryOF]

Yes - close your file; then Close OpenOffice, wait a few seconds (5-10 should be enough) then use the formal computer closedown procedure, wait a few seconds for the hard disk's internal buffers to flush to disk, then power down or close the laptop lid,

[bigyin]

Thank you very much. I'll try that next time.

[bigyin]

Hi again,
I tried the steps you suggested but still the same.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1tc8e- ... 5oxmrT_WyB
Not sure the image will worg. It shows the Western Digital dialog.
I'm on Windows 7 by the way.

[bigyin]

This is still happening. I don't understand why a bug that has existed for so long has not been addressed.

[John_Ha]

I keep suffering from my Calc workbooks filling with ####### which results in losing a lot of data.

Your data is not lost. The ### - only three - in a cell mean the column width is too narrow to display all the figures you have asked to be displayed in that cell. Just widen the column or ask for fewer digits to be displayed.

B2 =1/7. C2 is equal to B2 but column C is too narrow to display the 12 decimal places asked for so ### is displayed

See [Tutorial] Ten concepts that every Calc user should know

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.

[bigyin]

Thank you for your quick reply.
Unfortunately I am not getting as far as th situation shown in your screen shot.
When I click on the desk top icon for the file, I get this:-

When I click on "OK" I get 19 pages of this:-
Note that on the top bar it says "Open Office Writer" ???

By the way, I've updated to the latest version of AOO but it makes no difference.
Hope you can see the images.

Edit: We can't because you only provide a link to the image on Google Drive, but the link requires a Google ID and password. You need to arrange for the image to be public without needing any ID. This is a Google issue; ask Google how to accomplish that. But such Google links will all eventually break, as has the one you provided two years ago. We can't open it anymore, and I doubt if you can either even though it's to your own image. Prevent that problem by uploading your image to the forum. How to upload a document -- MrProgrammer, forum moderator

[RoryOF]

No images.

19 pages of ### is an indication that your file is utterly corrupt. This is either due to a crash of OpenOffice or of the computer, or sometimes premature power-off of the computer before the write buffers have written to disk. Nothing in it to recover, based n previous experience.

[bigyin]

Thanks.
Your'e probably right about it being the data rather than the program but I don't see how it has become a Writer file instead of a Calc file.
I tried inserting the two images by pasting URL's between the [img] brackets for images (.jpg's) I had uploaded to Google Drive.

[RoryOF]

19 pages of ### cannot be the data. What John_Ha describes is a cell on a spreadsheet, shown as a proper spreadsheet with gridlines and toolbars, with one cell or all cells in a column showing ### chars. That is due to the column not being wide enough to show the result, and can be cured by widening the column.

It shown as a Writer file because all the information, including the formatting information, has been lost, and OpenOffice decides that a stream of characters is best treated as a Writer file.

[bigyin]

Thank you.
Is there any way of preventing this from happening or of recovering the file ?

[RoryOF]

You may be able to recover by using the methods described in this tutorial
[Tutorial] How to find and un-delete AOO/LO temporary files

The problem occurs from improper termination of OpenOffice (a program or computer crash), or over hasty hasty power off of the computer, without giving the few seconds the write buffers need to flush to the hard drive. Close OpenOffice, then wait a few seconds before powering down or closing a laptop lid.

[John_Ha]

I don't see how it has become a Writer file instead of a Calc file.

If, when you open a .ods file, you get a Writer screen full of ################ then your file is corrupted beyond repair.

See Why is my Writer file full of #####? for an explanation of files full of null characters. Such files, whether .odt, .ods or .odp, always open with Writer and display as ######.

It's not an AOO problem. Your PC crashed before the buffers had been flushed.

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.