[Solved] Open Office 4.1.7 no longer opens .xls files

[gawain]

Hi there,
I am new here. I've been trying to find an answer to my problem but have decided to make a post as nothing seems to cover my issue.
So, I have a few .xls files on my computer which OpenOffice has always been able to open, edit, and save again as .xls files. (I realise, after reading the advice on this forum, that I should have been saving them in OO format, but hey, it was working fine, so why not?)
As of the most recent update, I can no longer open ANY of these .xls files which is a real worry - they are financial files for my business including all my tax / cash flow / income and expenses info.

The error I get when opening the files, which previously opened fine, is:
"Read-Error.
Internal import error."

I would really appreciate some help with this. I see people saying that LibreOffice has better compatibility with MSO and maybe I'll try that if nothing else works. For now, if I can open my documents somehow, that'd be amazing. If you need further info, please let me know.
Thanks,
Gawain

[Zizi64]

So, I have a few .xls files on my computer which OpenOffice has always been able to open, edit, and save again as .xls files.

- Please upload one of the problematic files (then we will able examine it)
- Do not use the foreign, obosolete file formats like the binary .xls file.
- Try to open an older version of the problematic file (I hope you created some backup copies of them)
- Try to reset the user profile of the AOO4.1.7
- Try to make a clean reinstall of the AOO4.1.7 (delete the user profile, and the rest of the directory of the AOO in the Program Files (x86) directory after the uninstall procedure).
- Try the LibreOffice

[gawain]

Thanks for your reply.
I am using Mac OSX 10.8.5. Mac OS has a 'Quick Look' function where you can 'see inside' the file, by pressing space bar. Doing this, I can mostly see the contents of each file, though it doesn't show me results of cell functions. But opening with OO doesn't work.
Here is a file with less sensitive information, just stating performances of my songs. I believe I made this file using OO on April 4th, not long before updating to version 4.1.7. I think you'll find it should work okay.
In answer to your other suggestions:
-sorry, I didn't save other copies of the files. But as I said, I can still see some information inside them, so all is not lost.
-I'm not sure how to reset the user profile?
-to do a clean reinstall as you suggested I may need to figure out how to do it.
-thanks, I will try LibreOffice next.

Thanks for your help

[Zizi64]

-I'm not sure how to reset the user profile?

For Mac:
viewtopic.php?f=74&t=89283
See the Q2 part.

[Zizi64]

-to do a clean reinstall as you suggested I may need to figure out how to do it.

The usual uninstall procedures (on Windows) will not remove all parts of the previuosly installed AOO. You must delete them manually. Maybe it is same on the Mac.

[Zizi64]

-sorry, I didn't save other copies of the files.

Always (often) create backup copies of your important files.
Here is an extension for one-click-made-timestamped backup (the extension creates a backup of the actual document with timestamped file name into the Backup directory. (You can find the path of this directory in the settings, and you can redirect it to a more user friendly place)
https://extensions.libreoffice.org/exte ... amp-backup

[Zizi64]

Because it doesn't exist yet the AOO4.1.7 portable version, i have not AOO 4.1.7. on my PC. (I am using LibreOffice. But I have AOO 4.1.5 portable.)

Here are two converted version of your sample file. I can open your file with my AOO 4.1.5, LO6.2.8. and I can edit it, I can add (copy-paste) more lines to the table, and I can save it, and when I reopen it the added lines are present.

Try them.

1819FY LPR Template_AOO415.ods

(16.62 KiB) Downloaded 257 times

1819FY LPR Template_LO628.ods

(19.98 KiB) Downloaded 215 times

[gawain]

Thank you for your assistance Zizi64. It'll take me a little while to try your suggestions.
I'm not sure if I'll be able to fix the problem today, as I have some urgent things to do, but I will respond when I have tried everything.
Good to know there's nothing wrong with my files, and maybe I'll have to try LibreOffice if resetting the user profile or reinstalling AOO doesn't help.
Thanks again

[MrProgrammer]

As of the most recent update, I can no longer open ANY of these .xls files which is a real worry - they are financial files for my business including all my tax / cash flow / income and expenses info.

Can you open the files with the Guest User account, described in [Tutorial] Mac FAQ Q28/A28? If so, your problem is solved because you can use that account to open the XLS files and save them in ODS format. Otherwise, Q55/A55 suggests alternatives for DOCX/XLSX/PPTX which would also work for DOC/XLS/PPT. Once you have the file open, you can probably copy/paste the content to a new OpenOffice document and save it in ODS format.

1819FY LPR Template.xls

This file opened fine for me on MacOS with either OpenOffice 4.1.7 or Numbers (see Q55/A55).

As of the most recent update, I can no longer open ANY of these .xls files

On the Downloads page you can find older versions of OpenOffice. I don't know if they will help. I know there are several posts in the Mac OSX forum (where I've moved your topic) about General Input/Output Error. Take a look. However most of them are from people running newer MacOS versions than yours. Installing OpenOffice is discussed in Q03/A03.

… if resetting the user profile or reinstalling AOO doesn't help.

A profile reset might help. I think reinstalling 4.1.7 is unlikely to solve the problem.

delete … the rest of the directory of the AOO in the Program Files (x86) directory after the uninstall procedure

The usual uninstall procedures (on Windows) will not remove all parts of the previously installed AOO. You must delete them manually. Maybe it is same on the Mac.

There is no Program Files (x86) directory on a Mac. Removing OpenOffice is covered in Q04/A04. The single step of dragging the application to the Trash removes everything except the user profile and Q02/A02 discusses that. No need to empty the Trash. No need to reboot.

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

[John_Ha]

1819FY LPR Template.xls opened fine with AOO 4.1.7 - the last formatted cell was E39.

I searched with Read Error Internal import error - It seems to be a MacOS problem.

Strange problems are sometimes fixed by resetting the user profile - see Resetting the user profile.

See [Tutorial] Differences between Writer and MS Word files for a description of differences and for why you should always work in, and save Writer files as .odt, Calc files as .ods, Impress files as .odp etc.

[gawain]

Hello,
I tried resetting the user profile by renaming to useryyyymmdd (with today's date), and set up the replacement / new user profile, but 4.1.7 still couldn't open .xls files...
So, I went back and downloaded AOO 4.1.5, which I think was the version I had prior to this. Voilá - the program can now open .xls files again. Thanks for your help, and thanks MrProgrammer for suggesting an older version.
I'm guessing something changed in the update/s, although given other people with 4.1.7 can open my .xls file, that means it's probably something to do with my older operating system. Who knows?
I will be saving these files in OO formats as well now.
Thank you for your help and interest in my problem. I guess I will stick with the older version from now on. Maybe I should try 4.1.6?

Even though we didn't figure out the issue, my problem is solved - should I make the thread say solved?

[John_Ha]

Try opening test.xls.

See the explanation here

[gawain]

I see, there was a known issue already. Thanks for linking me to the thread. That's the kind of info I was searching for. I see the issue started in 4.1.6, so I'm glad I went back to 4.1.5.
Yes, I could open the test.xls file fine using 4.1.5. I'll keep using that version for now - why upgrade if it works?
Thanks again!

[John_Ha]

I swapped to LibreOffice this year after 20+ years with AOO.

[Zizi64]

I see the issue started in 4.1.6, so I'm glad I went back to 4.1.5.

I suggest you: use the LibreOffice and the ODF file formats.

[Sultan]

Specific story on a mac mini running OSX 10.9.5
The latest version I had 4.1.7 was working fine for opening xls and docx files for quite a time.
(I receive files in these formats and need to be able to open/edit/save and send back in the original MS format)
Then suddenly it stopped - non of the files would open anymore
So I tried the first suggestion:
1. Go to users/me-user/library/application support/openOffice/4/user.......deleted the user folder.
2. Opened the app and set up my profile again / tried opening several xls and docx files - still not opening
3. Deleted 4.1.7 from my apps folder/Downloaded 4.1.6/installed - same problem
4. Deleted 4.1.6 from my apps folder/Downloaded 4.1.5/installed - And now it works!!!

However I'm a bit mystified why 4.1.7 should have suddenly stopped opening docx and xlsx files and that now only 4.1.5 does.
The only thing that changed recently was that my main OS HD had an issue so I used my mac's Time Machine app to re-format and re-install everything via a backup drive from a few hours before.
Could that have caused a problem?

[Zizi64]

Try the LibreOffice.