Calc problem

users
#1

Hi,

I am testing LibreOffice to replace MS Office 2003. So I created 4 xlsx
files with LibreOffice Calc 4.1.4.2 and while files are open formula syntax
is working (Calc A1), and it is looking like this:
=SUM(B22:B22*'file:///C:/temp/Test file 2.xlsx'#$Sheet1.B22)

But as soon as I save it and close that files, reopen them I got this error:
Err:508, and formula syntax is looking like this:
=SUM(B22:B22*['file:///c:/temp/test file 2.xlsx']$Sheet1.B22)

So what I am doing wrong?

#2

Hi IOmazic

IOmazic wrote

So what I am doing wrong?

You aren't doing anything wrong. It's a Bug. Even worse, because of the
error when the formula is saved, the xlsx file is not compatible with
Excel...

However LibreOffice's purpose is to promote the use of the open document
format ODF. If you save the file with the formula as ODS there is no loss...
(the target file can remain xlsx)

So maybe you can have a MS Office replacement for free but you need to
adjust a little...

Alternatively you can try to convince people to fix the bug for you or fix
it yourself (if you are a developer) and contribute the patch to the
project...

#3

Hi :slight_smile:
The new XlsX format is notoriously unreliable, in my opinion and as
people seem to suggest on this mailing list. Each version of MS
Office 'accidentally' introduces different variances from each other
and from the ISO standard as published.

So, if you move to another version of MS Office then there is a good
chance you will find pre-existing documents also have problems with MS
Office.

The current best format to allow different people to actively work on
spreadsheets together and exchange between each other is the older MS
format. Use
File - "Save As ... " - MS Excel 2003/Xp
or something like that to save in
.xls
without the X at the end. This allows Android and iPad/iPhones users
to also freely use the spreadsheets.

For the longer term storage of documents the ODF formats are better.
For spreadsheets the specific one is .ods and it is likely to become
the best one to use when sharing and collaborating too in the next few
years.

Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#4

I have had similar problems including both simple formulas and, in some
cases, simple links to other cells. This occurs not only when I save to
xlsx, but also when I save to xls. These same spreadsheets save with no
problems using 4.1.4, to which I have had to revert. Unfortunately, I need
to supply the spreadsheets to multiple clients in multiple organizations who
may or may not use LibreOffice and over whom I have no control. This makes
it impractical to save in ODF format. Since I am a Linux user, using
Microsoft is not an option even if I wanted to. This is a serious problem.

#5

Hi :slight_smile:
That is a tad disturbing. Please file a bug-report about it
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/BugReport

This is about the first time we've had reports of problems with Xls
but a lot of work went into Calc for the 4.2.0. It's plausible that
created glitches. Hopefully those might get ironed out quickly if
people report any odd problems they find with the 4.2.0. It is good
to tests-drive the new branch as soon as it comes out (or even before)
to make sure any unexpected oddities do show up. For "production use"
it's good to use the latest stable-branch, currently the 4.1.4 i htink
Regards and apols from
Tom :slight_smile:

#6

Hi Tom and all that reply,

thank you all for your answers.

Kind regards,
Ivan Omazic