Bug 154591 - I edit excel files and then save as 97-2003 Format and later when I open it backup it is completely empty. Frustrating to say the least
Summary: I edit excel files and then save as 97-2003 Format and later when I open it b...
Status: UNCONFIRMED
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: LibreOffice (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
7.4.6.2 release
Hardware: All All
: medium normal
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2023-04-03 18:29 UTC by John
Modified: 2023-05-10 13:53 UTC (History)
2 users (show)

See Also:
Crash report or crash signature:


Attachments
XLS file (33.00 KB, application/vnd.ms-excel)
2023-04-25 01:52 UTC, John
Details

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Description John 2023-04-03 18:29:07 UTC
wipes out spread sheet.  Not good!!!
Comment 1 Julien Nabet 2023-04-03 18:36:06 UTC
First try https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/QA/FirstSteps#Corrupted_user_profile and if you still reproduce the pb, could you indicate how to reproduce it step by step?
Comment 2 John 2023-04-18 01:58:53 UTC
I ran in safe mode for awhile and it still happens.  Completely deleted LibrOffice from PC and re-loaded 7.4.6.2   It still happens.
Comment 3 Julien Nabet 2023-04-18 07:50:36 UTC
Would it be possible you attach Excel file after having sanitized it (see https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/QA/Bugzilla/Sanitizing_Files_Before_Submission) if needed?
Comment 4 John 2023-04-25 01:52:25 UTC
Created attachment 186898 [details]
XLS file

Everything had been stable to the last 10 days or so but today, anytime I edit and save this file, it is empty when I reopen it.  I thought I might have a idea of what was going on as the file had been expanded to 20 sheets.  I deleted 1 sheet to get it back to 19 but then it still happened today.  Although the one in question today is back to 20.  I don't know how.  I haven't been able to figure out the path of the user profile.  I did completely delete libr office and reload so I thought the user profile would be new.  I'm out of ideas and think my only option is to purchase Microsoft Office.

John Updike
Comment 5 Julien Nabet 2023-04-25 07:35:59 UTC
Reinstalling from scratch won't recreate a LO profile from scratch.

https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/QA/FirstSteps#Corrupted_user_profile indicates:
For details see "User profile" location and "Resolving corruption in the user profile" (backing up the existing profile is highly advised). 
"User profile" is a link towards

https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/UserProfile#Default_locations

For Windows, it indicates:
"Windows

    %APPDATA%\libreoffice\4\user (LibreOffice 4 to 7)
    %APPDATA%\libreoffice\3\user (LibreOffice 3)

Note: on a normal Windows install, %APPDATA% resolves to C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Roaming, at least on English versions of Windows Vista and later (part of the path may be localized on non-English versions).

Thus, you can copy and paste %APPDATA%\libreoffice\4 in the File Explorer Address Bar and press ↵ Enter to access it directly. Or press ⊞ Win + r and write %appdata% and hit ↵ Enter."


I gave a try to your file, it contains 21 sheets but all are empty.
IMHO, you should use a backup file and convert your file info xlsx (if you need to stick to Excel) or rather ods (the native format of Calc).
Then once you checked if everything is ok, you can keep on with this last file.

About Microsoft Office, if you need to use xls or xlsx file, it might be a better choice for you.
Comment 6 Buovjaga 2023-05-10 13:53:42 UTC
(In reply to John from comment #4)
> Created attachment 186898 [details]
> XLS file

I added a bunch of text to the Expenses sheet, saved as XLS and reloaded and nothing was gone.

In any case, it is best to do your actual editing in ODS format and treat the Microsoft formats as export-only (in case you need them for some reason).

Version: 7.3.0.0.alpha1+ / LibreOffice Community
Build ID: 229123ccc6f90ebf66b3e659bebbd53f8a9bdd3a
CPU threads: 8; OS: Linux 6.3; UI render: default; VCL: x11
Locale: en-US (C.UTF-8); UI: en-US
Calc: threaded

Arch Linux 64-bit, X11
Version: 7.6.0.0.alpha0+ (X86_64) / LibreOffice Community
Build ID: b1568a4cd8b439de19aab2bfe5f8f8465e4dc6af
CPU threads: 8; OS: Linux 6.3; UI render: default; VCL: kf5 (cairo+xcb)
Locale: fi-FI (fi_FI.UTF-8); UI: en-US
Calc: threaded
Built on 10 May 2023