[Solved] OpenOffice quit and will not start on MacOS 10.14

[AWRM]

I was typing in a OO doc and the screen went black. I somehow got to restart the mac and when it came back, OO was not at the bottom of my computer screen (The "tray"?) and when I found it in the Launchpad and clicked on it, it started to open for a fraction of a second and gave some kind of error notice that flashed too quickly on the screen for me to read and was informed that OO closed unexpectantly and I had a choice to ignore, report or reopen. I believe that I have a current version of OO but I am not exactly sure of the version since I can no longer open the app. I'm wondering if there's not enough space on my laptop or somehting since I have not updated my mac recently to the new ios update due to space limitations. I also wonder if I should just uninstall and reninstall the app.

[MrProgrammer]

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

I was typing in a OO doc and the screen went black. I somehow got to restart the mac … [OO] started to open for a fraction of a second and gave some kind of error notice that flashed too quickly on the screen for me to read and was informed that OO closed unexpectantly and I had a choice to ignore, report or reopen

Mac FAQ Q01/A01: How do I fix: Do you want to try to reopen its windows again?

I'm wondering if there's not enough space on my laptop or somehting since I have not updated my mac recently to the new ios update due to space limitations.

Our forum is for OpenOffice and derivatives. It is beyond the scope of the forum to diagnose problems with your operating system.

I also wonder if I should just uninstall and reninstall the app.

Read Q01/A01 first, but if you decide to do that:
Mac FAQ Q04/A04: How do I uninstall OpenOffice on a Mac?
Mac FAQ Q03/A03: How do I install OpenOffice on a Mac?

Mac ios 10.14 … the new ios update …

Your Mac runs MacOS as shown by  → About this Mac. iOS is for phones.

I believe that I have a current version of OO …

Then why does your forum signature say you use OpenOffice 3.1? Fix your forum signature in User Control Panel → Profile → Edit Signature. When your forum signature is wrong, you may receive inappropriate advice.

Edit: I updated the signature since AWRM failed to do so. And I marked the topic as [Solved] since AWRM didn't do that either.

If this solved your problem please go to your first post use the Edit button and add [Solved] to the start of the subject field. Select the green checkmark icon at the same time.

[AWRM]

1. I don't think this is the solution. At the link you sent is says this is for " a MacOS problem, typically created when your computer shuts down unexpecedly" My computer did not shut down. Open Office shut down. When my screen went black, I found my way out (I forget how) and closed the other programs and then did a restart. All the other programs I was running are fine.
2. I thought the space problem might interfere with the OO program operation.
3. I won't uninstall/install until I get a better grip of the problem
4. Yes yes.. Moc OS 10.14.16.6 to be exact.
5 AWRM wrote:
I believe that I have a current version of OO ...AND THEN I SAID...."but I am not exactly sure of the version since I can no longer open the app". I take it you have a lot of files to handle and might not be reading them all as thoroughly as you'd like. If you have a suggestion on how I can find out what version I have whilst not being able to open the program, I'm open to your relevant and constructive commentary.

[MrProgrammer]

If you have a suggestion on how I can find out what version I have whilst not being able to open the program, I'm open to your relevant and constructive commentary.

In Finder, use Go → Go to folder → /Applications/OpenOffice.app/Contents/readmes → OK. Then open the HTML file you find there like README_en-US.html. The file contents show the version number. Type or paste the 45-character red name from this post into the Go to the folder dialog. You would need a different path if you are running OpenOffice 3.1 as shown in your forum signature.

My computer did not shut down. Open Office shut down.

That's good to know. The situation was not clear to me from your first post. All I have to work with is what you wrote, where you describe a restart of MacOS. Doesn't it seem reasonable for me to think that MacOS died if the screen was black and you had to restart it? You did say you have a laptop. We have literally hundreds of posts about laptops dying because battery power ran low and then they experience the Q01 situation (or worse).

I was typing in a OO doc and the screen went black. I somehow got to restart the mac and when it came back

I forget how …

I hope you can appreciate that it is difficult to help you when you can't tell me what you have done.

But now with the new information that OpenOffice has produced a black screen I wondered what might have happened, since I wasn't there to see it. Then I reviewed these two posts, which you could have found by searching for "black screen" instead of waiting for me to do it:
[Solved] Exit full screen in Yosemite = black screen
[Solved] Writer black screen when closing file
Could this be related to your "black screen"? Did you perhaps use  → Force Quit or other nonstandard ways of stopping OpenOffice? If you did, then this suggests to me that the abrupt termination of OpenOffice produced the situation which causes Q01.

Can you reproduce the problem after applying the procedure in A01?

[lgusaas]

... gave some kind of error notice that flashed too quickly on the screen for me to read and was informed that OO closed unexpectantly and I had a choice to ignore, report or reopen.

What did you do at that point? Did you choose "reopen", or one of the other options??/

It is difficult to give solutions when we don't know what you have done, or what error messages you got.

[AWRM]

1. Version is 4.1.3. Thanks.
2. Yes I totally understand that it was reasonable to think my OS died. I admit my memory of what I did exactly is foggy and I can understand your frustration.
3. I took a video of the screen so I could capture the message. It reads: "The last time you opened Open Office it unexpectedly quit while reopening windows. Do you want to try to reopen its windows again?" That sounded a lot like the A01 answer and I followed that and the problem was solved.
Thanks for your help.