OPEN OFFICE

[JOHN EVERETT <es...@verizon.net>]

Martin Groenescheij and Brian Barker. I am sending this to both of you to first thank you both for the advice you gave me.  Perhaps you know each other.

I uninstalled Open Office 3.1 and installed Open Office 4.1.1. I tried opening several of the files I had saved under 3.1 and the Window asking what app did I want to open with came up as before. So I used the Open Office Welcome page to open one of the files that had been saved under 3.1. It opened then I at first saved it under 4.1.1 with a slightly different file name. I then closed that screen then opened the Documents screen showing the list documents that had been saved under 3.1 , 4.1.1 and other documents that had been saved under other methods. I noted the white, no color or border file, was there and also two other new files, one with the same file name as the file saved under 3.1 and a third that was saved under 4.1.1 but with the different file name. These two latter files opened with a double click as you would expect any file to open. I was surprised to see the file icon with the same file name as the original saved under 3.1. So I opened another file using the Open Office Welcome page and opened the file that had been saved under 3.1 . I saved it with its same file name and when I went to the Documents page, there were the two files , the 3.1 file and the 4.1.1 file . The 3.1 file requiring the app to open and the 4.1.1 file which opened with 2 clicks. So when I want to open a 3.1 file I will have to open it with the Open File on the Welcome page , then save it again without changing the file name. I then delete the original 3.1 file. I do this by selecting it and then Shift Delete. 



Now on the Start page the Open Office 3.1 is still there. To open 4.1.1 I have to go to All Programs and open it from there. Is there a solution for this?

Re: OPEN OFFICE

[Brian Barker <b....@btinternet.com>]

At 18:55 23/10/2015 -0400, JOHN EVERETT wrote:
>I uninstalled Open Office 3.1 and installed Open Office 4.1.1. I 
>tried opening several of the files I had saved under 3.1 and the 
>Window asking what app did I want to open with came up as before. So 
>I used the Open Office Welcome page to open one of the files that 
>had been saved under 3.1. It opened then I at first saved it under 
>4.1.1 with a slightly different file name. I then closed that screen 
>then opened the Documents screen showing the list documents that had 
>been saved under 3.1, 4.1.1 and other documents that had been saved 
>under other methods. I noted the white, no color or border file, was 
>there and also two other new files, one with the same file name as 
>the file saved under 3.1 and a third that was saved under 4.1.1 but 
>with the different file name. These two latter files opened with a 
>double click as you would expect any file to open. I was surprised 
>to see the file icon with the same file name as the original saved 
>under 3.1. So I opened another file using the Open Office Welcome 
>page and opened the file that had been saved under 3.1. I saved it 
>with its same file name and when I went to the Documents page, there 
>were the two files, the 3.1 file and the 4.1.1 file. The 3.1 file 
>requiring the app to open and the 4.1.1 file which opened with 2 
>clicks. So when I want to open a 3.1 file I will have to open it 
>with the Open File on the Welcome page, then save it again without 
>changing the file name. I then delete the original 3.1 file. I do 
>this by selecting it and then Shift Delete.

This suggests that your problem was perhaps not as you originally 
thought - that all your old OpenOffice document files were behaving 
in this way - but that just recently created document files were 
showing this problem. Here's a possibility. OpenOffice has an odd 
option in the Save As... dialogue box. Near the bottom, you will see 
an "Automatic file name extension" tick box. Has this become 
unticked? If it has, you will be saving documents in the correct 
format, but the file names will not be getting the proper extension. 
So a document will be called just "name" rather than "name.odt", 
"name.ods", and so on. Like this, the documents will not open in the 
correct application when they are double-clicked, but can be opened 
by using File | Open... from within the appropriate application - 
here OpenOffice.

Your selection for this option in your installation of OpenOffice 
sticks, so it will continue to apply until you correct it. It seems 
that your new arrangement now has the tick in place and your new or 
re-saved document files are being correctly named again. To correct 
existing document files, either:
o open the documents in OpenOffice and re-save them with the tick in 
place (as you have been doing),
or:
o outside OpenOffice, use Windows' facility to rename the files to 
add the extension (but see note below).

Note:
o The icon you see for document files in Windows (outside OpenOffice) 
is - perhaps surprisingly - governed not by the format or contents of 
the file but by the application that Windows will invoke to handle it 
when you double-click it. If there is no extension, Windows is flying blind.

o By default, Windows hides extension to file names, so you won't see 
what is happening. To use the second technique above, you would need 
(at least temporarily) to turn on the display of extensions in Windows.

I trust this helps.

Brian Barker


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