[Solved] Formula results not displayed: "Err:509"

[Hayabusa]

I have just gone through the trauma of recovering most of my files after a hard drive crash. Looking at some of my most important spreadsheets, I see that, wherever a formula is used, the cell now displays "Err:509". If I click on the cell, the underlying formula is still intact. A search across this forum for "Err:509" has not thrown up any results.

What do I need to do to restore the display of data to normal please?

Thanks in advance.

[Hagar Delest]

Can you upload an extract of your file so that we have a look (see How to attach a document here)?
Numbers may have been formatted as text. Hit Ctrl+F8 to check the colors: black is text, blue is for numbers and green for formulas.

[Hayabusa]

As requested. File cut down and data randomised. From where I'm sitting, the Ctl/F8 function confirms that the cells are correctly formatted.

[Hagar Delest]

No problem on Ubuntu 12.10 with AOO 3.4.1:

[FJCC]

Hmm, I don't see any errors. The cells are formatted as currency and the sums look right.

[Hayabusa]

Yes, no problems for 5 years - until now when I've had to retrieve the files from backups.

Two thoughts:

- With the new hard disk I took the opportunity to upgrade from OO 3.2 to 3.4.1. Could there be some incompatibility between the 2 versions?
- Is there not some master reference somewhere that explains what "Err:509" is? (I assume I'm right believing this to be a OO problem and not a Windows one?)

[floris v]

If you updated to 3.4.1 very recently, you may want to reset your user profile. Click here for help how to do that. It's just a wild guess, but if formulas as simple as sum don't work, something very basic is wrong with your installation.

[Hayabusa]

Thanks to everyone for your engagement and help: a great encouragement in what has been a very depressing day.

I'm having some trouble following the instructions on resetting my profile. Under "Roaming" I have in fact 2 folders, OpenOffice.org and OpenOffice.org2. Only the first has a subfile "3" which contains folders user, user.old, user.old1 and a file called .Lock. Windows would not let me rename the "user" file to "user.old2". Initially I got "Destination folder access denied. You need to confirm this operation". When I tried to proceed I got "User Account Control. Windows needs your permission to continue." When I tried to proceed, I got "Destination Folder Access Denied: You need permission to perform this operation". (NB I am the only person who has ever used this computer, so I don't know who other than me is going to give permission.)

OpenOffice.org2 did not have a subfolder "3" but did have a subfolder "user". This I renamed to "user.old", saved, shut down the computer and restarted. Calc file opened fine but there was no change to the presentation of the data and, when I looked in the OpenOffice.org2 folder, no new profile had been created. Your further advice on where I go from here please!

I have since found in the AOO documentation an explanation in Dutch by Schoonen Admar of error 509: "Operator is not present. Operator is missing, for example '=2 (3+4)' where the operator between '2' and '(' is missing." I fail to see how that relates to the formulas in my extract though.

[Hagar Delest]

OpenOffice.org2 was for OOo 2.x. You can delete it.
If you see a .lock file, it means that either there is still an instance of AOO running or it has not been shut down properly. Open the task manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) and kill any soffice.bin process you can see. If none, just delete this .lock file and rename the user folder.

[Hayabusa]

Many thanks. New profile created. But it hasn't made any difference to my problem. Out of interest I created a new spreadsheet this morning from scratch: once again, as soon as I enter a formula, the cell displays "Err:509".

Where now please?

[floris v]

Try this - download again and re-install.

[Keith Wild]

When in Calc ,from the menu, select Help, OpenOffice.orgHelp. Then on the Index tab click on the first entry, namely ### error message, and you will get a list of error codes.
For error 509 the message is "Missing operator" and the explanation is "Operator is missing, for example, "=2(3+4) * ", where the operator between "2" and "(" is missing."
Unfortunately, this does not seem to be helpful in you case, where the operator looks to be there; your spreadsheet works ok for me as well.

[Hayabusa]

Thanks, Floris.

A simple Uninstall and Reinstall I think I could cope with, but are there other things I need to do to get rid of AOO remnants? What is the Registry of which TomT speaks and where is it? Can you explain how the "checksum" works? Are you recommending that, like TomT apparently, I revert to AOO 3.2.1? That would be no hardship to me as at least it worked reliably.

Grateful for some really simple instructions on what to do. Sorry to trouble you. On the other hand the fact that this is only my second appearance on this forum in 5 years shows how reliable and idiot-proof AOO is.

[floris v]

It's possible that your download was incomplete, and then you can of course expect anything. I never bothered with the checksum, the downloads always worked for me. If you have trouble getting checksums to work, better download the file again.

[Hayabusa]

So you suggest a simple Uninstall and then re-install 3.4.1 with no rummaging around in folders to delete files required?

[floris v]

Yes, download the install file, uninstall the probably flawed 3.4.1 and install again - from the new download.

[Hayabusa]

What wonderful people you all are! Many thanks: downloading afresh seem to have solved the problem. A real testimony to the power of community forums: not only did I get a solution to my problem but, even before then, it was some reassurance to know that other people had experienced the same problem and overcome it.

One little tip for those less familiar with these things: before trying to uninstall a defective download, check task manager [Ctl/Sh/Esc] to check whether there are any soffice.bin files running: if so, click [End Process] for them before attempting the uninstall. It's probably implicit in what Hagar said but, for bears of little brain like myself, it all needs to be spelled out!

Again, thanks to everyone, especially Hagar and Floris V, for your time and patience.

[bernatikv@gmail.com]

hello for me the issue was I installed language pack 4.1.2 on open office 4.1.3. Uninstalling language package and installed latest 4.1.3 has fixed the problem