Bug 145515 - Does LibreOffice alter xls files such that Excel 2004 must be force-quit?
Summary: Does LibreOffice alter xls files such that Excel 2004 must be force-quit?
Status: RESOLVED INSUFFICIENTDATA
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Calc (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
7.1.5.2 release
Hardware: All macOS (All)
: medium normal
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2021-11-02 21:49 UTC by n6ac
Modified: 2022-07-22 03:44 UTC (History)
2 users (show)

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Crash report or crash signature:


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Description n6ac 2021-11-02 21:49:01 UTC
Description:
Version: 7.1.5.2 / LibreOffice Community
Build ID: 85f04e9f809797b8199d13c421bd8a2b025d52b5
CPU threads: 8; OS: Mac OS X 10.14.6; UI render: default; VCL: osx
Locale: en-US (en_US.UTF-8); UI: en-US
Calc: threaded

     I have used the LibreOffice spreadsheet function, successfully, to modify some years-old Excel-2004 xls files, on disk attached to my Mac (Mojave).
     I occasionally open my xls files in a virtualbox instance under Snow Leopard, and/or in an older iMac also with Snow Leopard.
     Up until now, this has all always worked in all of these environments.

     But, now in those 10.6.8 environments, when I try to operate further on those xls files (that I had recently modified with LibreOffice) and then save, Excel locks up requiring a force-quit. If I restart Excel in SL, the files reopen, and the app freezes again. It’s not a full freeze, sometimes I have been able to save the file to desktop with a new name. But little confidence in the result!
     Also I note that the sheets open in a smaller than ordinary size, tucked up at the upper left corner of the window.
     This is quite frustrating, as LibreOffice is decidely not smooth at modifying complex charts, so I prefer going to the vintage invironment for tweaks.
     Is there a way to “clean up” whatever is happening to the files that causes this behavior, or some setting that I am missing? I’ve been using Excel on Mac since 1984, and never before encountered this kind of behavior.


Steps to Reproduce:
1. open a MacOS Excel-2004 (v.111101) xls file in LibreOffice (in MacOS 10.14.6 Mojave)
2. modify the data, save as xls
3. open the xls file in Excel 2004 (in Snow Leopard), enter data in a cell, try to save
4. see Excel inoperable, requires force-quit

Actual Results:
Excel will not allow processing the file, becomes non-responsive and must be force-quit.
Experienced this both in a virtual box instance on Mojave, and on a different computer.

Expected Results:
be able to operate further on the xls file in Excel 2004.


Reproducible: Always


User Profile Reset: Yes


OpenGL enabled: Yes

Additional Info:
We want the expected behavior, because many graphs in our existing xls files are difficult/impossible to maintain in LibreOffice.
Comment 1 n6ac 2021-11-02 21:54:48 UTC
Trying to open one LO-modified xls file in Snow Leopard instead opens multiple such files recently processed (or attempted) - probably due to force-quit not emptying job cache of Excel-2004 ?
Comment 2 n6ac 2021-11-03 22:39:41 UTC
(In reply to n6ac from comment #1)
> Trying to open one LO-modified xls file in Snow Leopard instead opens
> multiple such files recently processed (or attempted) - probably due to
> force-quit not emptying job cache of Excel-2004 ?

But most important, the LO-modified files CAN NOT be operated upon in Excel-2004.

I have found that They can be hidden so that Excel-2004 can work on other files successfully, but not the LO-modified files.
Also I find that The Apple 'Numbers' application-save files do not suffer this endless-death, but most graphs are garbled by Numbers, so that's no good either.
Comment 3 Michael Warner 2021-11-18 13:38:46 UTC
From your description, it sounds possible that there is some other issue with your environment that is causing this.

Even if LO changed the file in some way that didn't meet Excel's expectations, it's really on Microsoft to make Excel detect and recover from that error in a robust manner. Perhaps they did that in some later version. 

Since Excel is closed-source, it would be very difficult for an LO developer to debug what would be causing the behavior you describe. Doubly so since I will guess that not many of them have a copy of Excel 2004 for Macintosh, without which it may not be possible to test any change. In any case, in order to have any ability at all to debug this, we will need at least the following:

1. An Excel 2004 file that has not been modified by LO
2. A description of a minimal (as minimal as possible) set of edits to make in LO that will cause the erroneous behavior in Excel

The key here is that we need data and a process that we can reproduce, that will reliably cause this behavior. 

As this is a public forum, be sure that anything you attach does not contain any confidential data.
Comment 4 n6ac 2021-12-01 02:33:18 UTC
Thanks, I will try to gather the appropriate items.
Comment 5 QA Administrators 2021-12-01 04:39:38 UTC Comment hidden (obsolete)
Comment 6 raal 2021-12-22 17:17:11 UTC
Hello,

Thank you for filing the bug. Please send us a sample document, as this makes it easier for us to verify the bug. 
I have set the bug's status to 'NEEDINFO', so please do change it back to 'UNCONFIRMED' once you have attached a document.
(Please note that the attachment will be public, remove any sensitive information before attaching it.)
How can I eliminate confidential data from a sample document?
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/QA/FAQ#How_can_I_eliminate_confidential_data_from_a_sample_document.3F
Thank you
Comment 7 QA Administrators 2022-06-21 03:30:06 UTC Comment hidden (obsolete)
Comment 8 QA Administrators 2022-07-22 03:44:27 UTC
Dear n6ac,

Please read this message in its entirety before proceeding.

Your bug report is being closed as INSUFFICIENTDATA due to inactivity and
a lack of information which is needed in order to accurately
reproduce and confirm the problem. We encourage you to retest
your bug against the latest release. If the issue is still
present in the latest stable release, we need the following
information (please ignore any that you've already provided):

a) Provide details of your system including your operating
   system and the latest version of LibreOffice that you have
   confirmed the bug to be present

b) Provide easy to reproduce steps – the simpler the better

c) Provide any test case(s) which will help us confirm the problem

d) Provide screenshots of the problem if you think it might help

e) Read all comments and provide any requested information

Once all of this is done, please set the bug back to UNCONFIRMED
and we will attempt to reproduce the issue. Please do not:

a) respond via email 

b) update the version field in the bug or any of the other details
   on the top section of our bug tracker

Warm Regards,
QA Team

MassPing-NeedInfo-FollowUp