[Solved] OOo saved PPT claimed "corrupt" by PowerPoint?

[patrickov]

[Solved, see post 166293]

Okay, I don't necessarily use OO 3.2 for this. Rather it's a long case, with probably OO 3.0 and 3.1 used.

So I had four PPTs modified by OO some 1 or 2 years ago. They opened correctly with OO that my laptop solely runs.

Right until a colleague of mine asked me to hand over these PPT's. She couldn't open them with M$ Powerpoint, so I tried to open them, still no avail.

I immediately update the OO's on machines I am responsible for if possible, but even after that, re-saving them to ODP, close OO, reopen them, and re-save as PPT again, STILL no avail.

The two error messages I got are attached in this message.

ALL M$ Powerpoint's on different machines have the problem, but ALL OO's on different machines work (I have some machines with both M$ and OO)

[Cambirder]

Difficult to say what the problem is without having access to one of the files. Could you upload one here?

[Hagar Delest]

Also remember that until recently, the PPT file format was not documented. The import/export filters have been reverse engineered, hence some flaws. If you need to work with PPT, then better stick to MS PowerPoint...

[Zizi64]

...and never mix editing the file with OOo Impress and MS Powerpoint applications. And always try to display an OOo created PPT file with free PPTViewer (before you send or use (show) it)...

Or use the native format of OOo (ODP).

[patrickov]

Thanks for you guy's assistance.

I didn't have enough M$ Office licenses (my laptop was for myself so could not install software provided by company; I already used up my home machines' licenses), and I didn't want to BUY any more by then. However, my colleagues still rely on M$ so...

Though I admit that I shouldn't mix edit, that if I was to edit them I should keep the original PPT as a master back-up, and keep the edits as ODP as much as possible.

The files themselves are in Chinese so you guys might see something really strange, nevertheless I'd post one of them here.

[Hagar Delest]

Works perfectly with MS PowerPoint 2003 on my W2k system. Here is the file.

P1A - SIP - Hagar.zip

(29.63 KiB) Downloaded 169 times

Please add '[Solved]' at beginning of your first post title (edit button) if your issue has been fixed.

[Zizi64]

What did you do with the file, Hagar?
Your file works fine with my PPTViewer2007, but the original one is not.

[Cambirder]

I get the same error opening the file in PP 2007, and interestingly if I convert it to an ODP file PP2007 has no problem opening it. Convert it back to a PPT file again however and PP claims a part of the file is missing.

So it seems the issue is compatibility between Impress and PP 2007 (seems earlier versions are OK) If your colleagues are all using 2007 then it would appear to be preferable to swap files in ODP format.

[Cambirder]

Also if I open Hagar's file in Impress and save it that file can no longer be opened in PP.

[patrickov]

Which reminds me of something... I think I might have modified those files with PP2007 once in a while, but for today's incident, all PP's are 2003... Maybe I should find a machine with PP2007 and try it out...

[Villeroy]

PP2003 has no problem with it whereas the latest versions reports an invalid file when it detects that some non-MS program generated that file.

Reminds me of something different...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AARD_code

[PGAGA]

Monday, November 29, 2010

About a week ago I participated in a similar thread. It was a Powerpoint which would open with the MS Powerpoint Viewer but would not with Powerpoint 2007. The problem lies with 2007.

Phil

[patrickov]

I got the problem solved...

By opening those files with PP2007, save, and then opening with PP2003 again.

To minimize impact, I now keep those files with two versions, PPT and ODP; though I think the PPT's would have to stick to M$, because when I derive a PPT from an ODP, it would not work.

Conclusion: PP2007 is troublesome. If I'm dealing with OO, the very original has to be created OO or PP2003, but not PP2007.

[Omar]

I've posted a more in-depth analysis of the problem and its cause in the following thread
Microsoft patch breaks Impress/PowerPoint compatibility

[therabi]

As much as I dislike the government setting requirements, this is one case where it seems that it will be needed. Requiring open standards is the only way to keep MS from becoming a monopoly.