[Solved] My document lost it's images and numbering

[Malibu]

I created a document that had a page of text on the first page, with indented numbering, using the Bullets and Numbering feature.

I added 8 jpeg images and took a long time to get them to line up correctly. Finally, I got everything set up the way I wanted, then I did File > Export as PDF so I could share the file with someone.

I saved the text document as a Microsoft 6 file. I thought I had weeks ago gone under Tools > Options > Load/Save > General and selected "Always save as Microsoft Word 97/2000/XP" but for some reason Microsoft 6 was the file type when I clicked File > Save As. So I went ahead and saved as Microsoft 6.

Problem 1: I closed the text file. Then I opened it again to work on it some more, but all my indented numbering was gone. The numbers from 1-6 with several layers of indents turned into straight numbers from 1-23 with no spacing after the numbers, and no indents.

Problem 2: My images are gone! The caption boxes are overlapping each other. When I right-click the image to see the Image Map, there's just a tiny blob of some kind.

So is that what the big warning is referring to in the Tools > Options > Load/Save > General section? It says: "Not using ODF 1.2 may cause infomation to be lost." (Notice there's a typo in the warning: "infomation"). What is "ODF 1.2"? Would I save as "ODF Text Document"?

The reason I was saving as Microsoft Word 97/2000/XP is because people I share my documents with complain that they can't open my ODF documents. They don't have OpenOffice, but use Microsoft Word and/or Word Perfect. If I send them an ODF file, is there a way they can open my files? Or do I have to save as Microsoft Word 97/2000/XP before sharing with them?

I would sure hate to loose all my pictures on my huge 50-page document I've been working on the last few weeks. So I saved them as ODF today after reading My 18 page file is now #######s. Was that a good thing for me to do, or not?

Also, the backup folder in Windows Explorer is empty at the path listed here: Tools > Options > OOo > Paths

Lucky for me, I still have the PDF file, but unfortunately, I can't edit it and will have to start all over making a new text file.

[floris v]

The rule of thumb is, whatever word processor or other program you use: save the files you make with it in that program's native format. Always. Even if you have to send your file in another format, save it in the native format while you're working at it. When you have saved it in the native format, you can save it in another format to send to other people who don't have OOo. Saving in another format nearly always involves loss of formatting etc., because conversion filters aren't perfect. MS Word has a closed format, the developers of OOo had to reverse engineer it to develop the conversion filter. Therefore not everything works out correctly. You can expect trouble in compelx files like what you describe.
ODF is short for Open Document Format, the native format of OOo.

Hope this helps.

[Malibu]

Thanks for the explanation.

I'll ask my friends to see if they can "open with" Word on my odt docs. If not, I'll resave a separate doc in another format and send that to them.

Thanks!

[acknak]

They won't be able to open ODF documents with MS Office unless they install a conversion add-on from MS--probably something they (and you) don't want to bother with.

You don't have to save an extra copy to send a document to an MS Office user. Just do your work in ODF--as floris_v pointed out--and when you're ready to send it, use File > Send > Email as MS Word.

If the document formatting is crucial, and it doesn't need to be edited on the other end, you can use File > Send > Email as PDF.

[Malibu]

Ah, so my idea won't work.

I tried File > Send > Email as MS Word, but Yahoo opens, and no file gets attached. I normally don't use Yahoo and don't want it to be the default email program for OpenOffice.

I searched this group and also did internet searches for how to change the default to Gmail. I didn't find anything regarding Gmail in this group. But I found a way to get Gmail to show up in Firefox settings: http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/05/22 ... email-app/

Yahoo is still showing in the Properties of Vista (Start > Default Programs). I don't even have an option to add Gmail there, and I don't see a way to delete Yahoo from the default programs area.

In OpenOffice Writer, under Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org Writer > Mail Merge E-mail, I don't know if filling in anything there will help. I went thru all the menus in Tools and didn't see where to set a default.

If I should start another thread for this, let me know. I changed the subject line.

Any ideas for how I can get Gmail to open when I click File > Send > Email as MS Word?

Thanks

[acknak]

Oops, sorry, my bad. File > Send does not work at all with web email clients like Yahoo or Gmail. You have to be using a local mail application such as Outlook or Thunderbird in order to use that shortcut.

If you use get your mail through a web page, you'll have to create a temporary file in the MS Office format, then attach that using the web email's attachment feature.

I don't know if there's any way it could work--you would definitely need some kind of intermediary software or plug-in. Maybe someone has figured out some sort of workaround, but I don't know.

[glmory]

Did anyone actually come up with a solution for this? I was just working on a big project that just had a whole bunch of images completely deleted because of this bug! I see this post labeled as [Solved] but the only solutions I saw were to simply not use one of the most important features of open office, the ability to work in a commonly used and recognized file format.

[pcull]

I've just had the same thing happen to me.. a 64 page .DOC file that I've been working on has just lost all it's images.

Is there really a solution for this? To me, sadly, it's a show-stopper that makes OOo 3.0 useless to me.

Thanks for any help

Paul

[Hagar Delest]

There is a bug with tables in files exported as .doc: [Issue] Table problem with .doc after 3.0.1 upgrade. Basically: never work by default in an external format. Work in native format and export a copy if needed. Please remember that until last year, .doc format specification was secret.