Can't open .xls files in LibreOffice 4.4 calc

users
#1

Hi allI'm trying to open an .xls file (actually a number of xls files) I
downloaded from the Australia Statistics agency website and want to check if
other people can open it before I raise it as an issue with ... someone.The
file is attached 3303_1_underlying_causes_of_death_(australia).xls
<http://nabble.documentfoundation.org/file/n4142025/3303_1_underlying_causes_of_death_(australia).xls>
The versions I'm using are:LibreOffice Version: 4.4.0.3Build ID:
de093506bcdc5fafd9023ee680b8c60e3e0645dI'm using Ubuntu 14.10Can someone try
and open up the file attached in LibreOffice please?Also if someone could
let me know what I need to do to trouble shoot that would be great.PS I can
open some .xls files, just not this (or a few others) so it might be
something *in* the file. A workaround rather than solution would also
suffice for my purposes.

#2

Hi,

same problem for me...Fedora 21 and LO4.4.1

However, LO4.2.0.4 on XP manages to open the file with no problems. I don't know whether 4.2 will perform the same feat on Linux.

If I save with 4.2.0.4 on XP I can open with 4.4.1 on Fedora. With the extension unchanged.

A bit of a convoluted answer but a few options anyway :slight_smile:

Cheers

#3

All fine, OpenSuse 12.2 and LO 4.1.6.2
steve

#4

The file is not corrupted. It open correctly in MS Office 2010.
However it will not open in LibreOffice 4.4.1 under Windows 7 x64 but it
will open in 4.3.6
Therefore this seems to be a regression in the 4.4 branch
The workaround is to use a release from the previous branch. Under Windows
there are two portable versions you could use without installing just to
convert the files.

Hope this helps.

#5

Thanks everyone.

I suspected it might be something specific to 4.4
I'll try find my way to raising a bug and I'll download a previous release
to open the files.

Thanks again.

#6

Hi,

before you raise a bug (if you could). It would be helpful to log a few things:

  * last version it actually worked with
  * if you save with the working version, can you open with 4.4

Cheers

#7

The datasheet contains open links to other datasheets which are hosted
somewhere in Australia, and is trying to update the numbers when it
opens. LibreOffice hangs during this operation.

Unfortunately, I do not have a workaround for this problem, but maybe
someone other has some ideas.

#8

If the file is opened in an earlier version, then saved(keeping the xls format), the file will open in 4.4.0.

TomW

#9

Hi :slight_smile:
Nice one TomW! :slight_smile: Good to know LibreOffice can fix the file :slight_smile: This has
been reported as a good way of helping MS Office users share documents that
they initially have trouble with in MS Office. The LibreOffice user acts
as a stepping stone to solve incompatibility issues between differeing
versions of MS Office.

I guess next step might be if someone can find the time to do that and then
upload the new file to Nabble or somewhere so that the o.p. can download it
easily?

Of course one trouble-shooting tactic that is only possible with documents
in ODF format is to;
1. create a copy of the document (basic rule of data-recovery is to work
on a copy rather than the original)
2. rename the file-ending from .ods to .zip
3. now the 'file' opens as a normal compressed set of folders&files. Most
of the text of the document is in the "content.xml" file. I'm not quite
sure how that plays out for spreadsheets.

Also this tactic doesn't work for the older MS formats. It is still better
to use them rather than any of the newer MS formats though because the
older format can be read by a much wider range of software so it's better
for sharing documents. XlsX often needs people to be using the exact same
version of MS Office as each other!

The ODF format is becoming more widely used, especially since MS Office
2013 can (allegedly!) finally read the same version of ODF as everyone
else.

Regards from
Tom :slight_smile: