Apache OpenOffice Community Forum

Apologies if this is repetition, but I've looked at similar threads and I just can't separate what might be relevant/helpful to me, and what isn't. As soon as people use terminology that I'm not familiar with, and I'm not familiar enough with much, I just get brain freeze. And quite the same issue doesn't seem to have been referenced.

But the constantly updated spreadsheet that's turned into gibberish is a really important one, that interrelates to others, and although much older versions exist, the more recent copies I thought I'd made (or should have made) just don't seem to be there. So help to recover it would be HUGELY appreciated!

The first inkling of a problem was when a red cross showed up against the only affected file (as in having not been recovered) during what was otherwise a seemingly normal recovery of the documents that were open when OpenOffice shut down. Open Office has always shut down repeatedly (which is irritating as anything), but other than having to make sure that I save changes every 5 minutes and having to click through document recovery too often, there've never been any other issues associated with it.

Now, when I try to open the one affected .ods spreadsheet, instead of just opening, a "Text import" window opens instead. That "Text Import" title is followed by the file name, except that that has lots of %20 s breaking it up. I did try to delete the %20s, just in case that made a difference, but it isn't editable. The window includes a preview of the file, but it's all just gobbledygook and if I just accept the specifications of the Text import window (re a copy), another window opens to say the maximum number of lines has been exceeded and that the excess won't be imported, and if I then accept that, a spreadsheet of the same gobbledygook as the preview opens.

There aren't many specifications on the Text Import window. There are separator options and "semicolon" and "space" have their boxes ticked. And I've tried playing with other options, but although there are changes to the previewed document, nothing that I've tried fixes it.

The gobbledygook starts like/looks like this (below). IS THERE ANYTHING i CAN DO!! Please help if you can.........J


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If you upload the actual file, someone might be able to offer advice. See How to attach a document for details regarding attaching a document.

That .ods file is complete random junk.

See [Tutorial] How to find and un-delete AOO temporary files for detailed instructions on how to

a) use Previous Versions (W7 and later) to recover previous versions of the file (is there something similar on MacOS and Linux?);

b) recover your file as it was when you last opened or saved it, or as it was when it was last saved with AutoRecovery;

c) find previous versions of the file in the folder it is located in, but which have since been deleted;

d) find any temporary files AOO wrote while you were editing the file but which have not yet been deleted;

e) un-delete the temporary files AOO wrote while you were editing the file, and then deleted. d) and e) will recover your file as it was when you last opened or you last saved it.

If you cannot follow the instructions ask someone with more PC skills to help you. Act quickly - the longer you wait the more likely any temporary files are to be deleted.