Apache OpenOffice Community Forum

There are several problems with 3.0.1 that have been fixed in 3.1 with tables in documents exported as .doc (like that one: Issue 99024 - WW8: table with center alignment disappears when exported). But some remains (especially that one: Issue 96307 - WW8: MS Word 2003 crash when opening exported writer document (tables)).

So beware if you have tables in documents made with a 2.x version. When exported to .doc, the tables are visible under MS Word (with minor formatting changes) but they're wrecked in OOo (both 3.1 and 2.4.1). The good point is that there is no data loss. But retrieving the data to display them is not that easy.

I've filed a bug report, feel free to vote and add comments. I haven't investigated yet how we can display the tables again in 3.1 correctly.

-> Issue 101593 - WW8: tables from 2.x OOo versions wrecked at export (some attachments to test in the report).

Edit: The bug has been solved but in the snapshot only for the moment. Will be available in 3.1.1.

I don't like this at all. Have the developers lost all sense? We see dozens of people coming here and at the old forum, after they were hit by these serious bugs. We can post a sticky thread here to warn people who have been around longer, but that doesn't help new users. Software in this state simply isn't up to scratch and should not be offered for even free download, unless with a warning that it almost certainly contains bugs that will make you lose your work and that you use it at your own risk.

Had to get this off my chest, folks.

Hi,

Hagar de l'Est wrote: [...]
So beware if you have tables in documents made with a 2.x version. When exported to .doc, the tables are visible under MS Word (with minor formatting changes) but they're wrecked in OOo (both 3.1 and 2.4.1)[...]

That's true.

But what is the common reason for saving as .doc?
That the file can be edited in MS Word [in my opinion].

So done with your original .doc [made with OOo 2.x] and a simple "ok" and saved [in Word 2000].
Now open this .doc in OOo 3.1.0 (also saved as .odt).
Not wrecked ...

[see attached files]

franx wrote:But what is the common reason for saving as .doc?
That the file can be edited in MS Word [in my opinion].

Right. But you can have to edit the file before it has been edited in MS Word. In that case, you don't get what you saved last time.

franx wrote:So done with your original .doc [made with OOo 2.x] and a simple "ok" and saved [in Word 2000].
Now open this .doc in OOo 3.1.0 (also saved as .odt).
Not wrecked ...

Interesting. I tried with MS Word 2003 and it is wrecked. So the MS Word version has an influence.

@ Hagar:

... the import of Tables.doc [Issue 101593] works fine now in OOo-dev 3.1.1 (OOO310_m16) ...

franx wrote:@ Hagar:

... the import of Tables.doc [Issue 101593] works fine now in OOo-dev 3.1.1 (OOO310_m16) ...

I'm only seeing 000310_m15. Have you by any chance a typo in your posting?

... see → 3.1.1 m16 Snapshot (build OOO310_m16) - Release Notes and extended mirrors ...

Thank you.

Thanks! Had noticed through the issue tracker mail notification, had forgotten there was also this topic!