Open Office Writer can't open document created with OfficeIMO

[Goddfrey]

I'm getting "general input/output error" from Open Office. Here's the code I used to create a test document:

int rowCount = 5;
int colCount = 2;

using (WordDocument document = WordDocument.Create(path, true))
{
    var table = document.AddTable(rowCount, colCount, WordTableStyle.GridTable5DarkAccent5);
    for (int i = 0; i < rowCount; i++)
    {
        for (int c = 0; c < colCount; c++)
        {
            string text = "test " + i.ToString();
            table.Rows[i].Cells[c].Paragraphs[0].Text = text;
        }
    }

    document.Save();
}

Libre Office opens the same file just fine and I can see the table created. And I don't have MS Word. test.docx

Unfortunately OpenOffice can only read .docx it apparently has no way to save a document as .docx so I cannot check what's missing by creating similar table by hand and then extracting and comparing the two.

I did create a similar simple table docx using LibreOffice, that OpenOffice can open, and I can see quite a few differences. Folder docProps does not exist in the one created by OfficeIMO. Folder word created by Libre Office has 2 subfolders (_rels, theme) and 4 files while the one created by OfficeIMO has same two subfolders and 8 files, and so on. Alas I dont know which of the differences matter and which do not.

[PrzemyslawKlys]

Does it work with empty doc? If not can you attach empty for comparison that works?

[Goddfrey]

Sure. Although both Open Office and Libre Office are free if you want to run some tests of your own.

libre_office_empty.docx OfficeIMO_empty.docx

I created two empty docx files, one using Libre Office and another using this code:

            using (WordDocument document = WordDocument.Create(path, true))
            {

                document.Save();
            }

Open Office does open the one created with Libre Office, and does not open the one created with Office IMO.

[PrzemyslawKlys]

This needs testing:

• https://www.codeproject.com/Questions/230373/OpenXML-SDK-docx-files-and-Open-Office

Old, but maybe still there.

[PrzemyslawKlys]

So i'm pretty confident this is due to forward slash

There are plenty of issues around that:

• https://github.com/dotnet/Open-XML-SDK/issues/249
• https://github.com/dotnet/Open-XML-SDK/issues/59
• https://github.com/dotnet/Open-XML-SDK/issues/88
• https://github.com/dotnet/Open-XML-SDK/issues/86

I saw some project actively changing it:

• https://github.com/sestegra/spreadsheet_decoder/commit/a98df56e54efa4528e7310ab051e33f2c8b865fc

OpenXMLSDK doesn't expose those paths directly from what I see.

I can see ClosedXML having similar issue:

• https://github.com/ClosedXML/ClosedXML/issues/279

I am not sure how to fix it. I'm open for fixes/suggestions as I can see it being useful, but don't have high hopes.

I see this code:

• https://stackoverflow.com/questions/10929054/openxml-spreadsheet-created-in-net-wont-open-in-ipad

But after trying to apply it I get unreadable word. I guess i'm missing some details.

[PrzemyslawKlys]

I've created a PR:

• https://github.com/EvotecIT/OfficeIMO/pull/191

But requires testing, and I am pretty sure this is not the best option to do it like that

[Rofliex]

I have the same problem, but new documents created from a template (I use a copy in memory of a document that is on disk) cannot be opened in MS Word, but work correctly in LibreOffice and Google docs :)

[PrzemyslawKlys]

You mean created by OfficeIMO? Before or after the PR?

[Rofliex]

You mean created by OfficeIMO? Before or after the PR?

Im didnt test with your changes. Used only latest release from nuget.

[PrzemyslawKlys]

Can you test with the PR?

[Rofliex]

Can you test with the PR?

I checked your fix from PR. It doesn't work in my case :( I'll try to get the logs from Ms Word where the docx file parser got an exception, and maybe figure out what's wrong.

[Rofliex]

I found compatibility issues with the property Paragraph .ParagraphAlignment. If you override this property or set it for a new paragraph, it will cause errors in Ms Word and you will not be able to open a new document.

[PrzemyslawKlys]

I found compatibility issues with the property Paragraph .ParagraphAlignment. If you override this property or set it for a new paragraph, it will cause errors in Ms Word and you will not be able to open a new document.

So under which conditions exactly your documents don't open? They don't open in MS Word? What is the code you're using - i'm a bit confused what doesn't work for you?

[Rofliex]

I found compatibility issues with the property Paragraph .ParagraphAlignment. If you override this property or set it for a new paragraph, it will cause errors in Ms Word and you will not be able to open a new document.

So under which conditions exactly your documents don't open? They don't open in MS Word? What is the code you're using - i'm a bit confused what doesn't work for you?

I apologize for flooding this issue. In general, if I add any paragraph to a document and define the ParagraphAlignment property using the library, the document stops opening. If I don’t touch the ParagraphAlignment property, then everything opens fine.

[PrzemyslawKlys]

So in other words Create Word Document, add paragraph, add paragraph alignment and it stops opening in Word? Which version of word?

[PrzemyslawKlys]

public static void Example_BasicWord(string folderPath, bool openWord) {
    Console.WriteLine("[*] Creating standard document with paragraph");
    string filePath = System.IO.Path.Combine(folderPath, "BasicDocumentWithParagraphs.docx");
    using (WordDocument document = WordDocument.Create(filePath)) {
        var paragraph = document.AddParagraph("Adding paragraph with some text");
        paragraph.ParagraphAlignment = JustificationValues.Center;
        //Console.WriteLine(SixLabors.ImageSharp.Color.Blue.ToHexColor());
        //Console.WriteLine(SixLabors.ImageSharp.Color.Crimson.ToHexColor());
        //Console.WriteLine(SixLabors.ImageSharp.Color.Aquamarine.ToHexColor());

        //paragraph.Color = SixLabors.ImageSharp.Color.Red;

        //paragraph = document.AddParagraph("Adding another paragraph with some more text");
        //paragraph.Bold = true;
        //paragraph = paragraph.AddText(" , but now we also decided to add more text to this paragraph using different style");
        //paragraph.Underline = UnderlineValues.DashLong;
        //paragraph = paragraph.AddText(" , and we still continue adding more text to existing paragraph.");
        //paragraph.Color = SixLabors.ImageSharp.Color.CornflowerBlue;

        document.Save(true);
    }
}

I just did this and it worked. You need to be more specific.

[tmheath]

I was using LibreOffice for this from home last year, it seemed to work fine. If it's something specific like how you mentioned the property, I can't say anything, the documents were simple at the time.

[tmheath]

Just noticed this was about OpenOffice... It's a virtually dead project on life support for years, apparently it has a userbase but people really should not be using it, not sure if there's an issue with it being dead or not.