Re: [libreoffice-users] pptx files can't be opened when created with Impress 5.0.x

Thanks Tim and Tom for your quick responses.

I *think* what I am experiencing might be related to the bug report
you mentioned, I'll check again soon to see.

In response to Tom:

1. I generally avoid the 2007-2013 Microsoft XML format since I am
aware of all its problems... :) Unfortunately when I create a
presentation with Impress and save it as a .ppt (without the "x"),
many things are not retained, or don't appear correctly when opened in
any version of PowerPoint!! Would people still fix bugs for .ppt
support if I report them? I'm still having loads of problems with
.ppt.

2. According to the bug report Tim mentioned, the bug has been around
for a long time. So using the "still" verses the "fresh" branches will
probably not help much... I can provide the file I'm having problems
with, and if someone can test it with their installation of still
that'd be great because I don't have it.

3. Thanks for the links to portable LibreOffice. Actually that is what
I always try to do: Bring a portable version with me. But like you
said sometimes you don't get USB access, and the portable version
takes *FOREVER* to transfer to and from my USB drive: there are
millions of tiny files so the transfer can take up to an hour!! What
is the problem??? (honest question) I hope this can be addressed in a
future portable version.

4. I agree Microsoft PowerPoint is one of the worst presentation
programs, and frankly I don't think LibreOffice Impress is much better
feature-wise, I just like to use it because it is freedom respecting
software. I have been looking for a good presentation software for
almost a decade (I'm not kidding), and I think by far the best one is
still Apple Keynote. Unfortunately it is super proprietary, only runs
on Macs, and the alleged support for it in Impress is only for very
very early versions of Keynote. I have a HUGE wishlist of things for
LibreOffice Impress that would make it up to par with Apple Keynote,
but no one I've talked to seem to care..... :( :( Is there a mechanism
in the development of LibreOffice where I can help make this happen?
Unfortunately I'm not a programmer...

Anyway, thanks for your replies. I'll check if my problem is exactly
the one reported and report back here.

On 11/10/2015, Tom Davies <tomcecf@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi :)
> I mostly just agree with Tim Lloyd but with more detail and alternatives.
>
>
> 1.  Always avoid the 2007-2013 Microsoft XML format!!!
>
> It's not just one format, for a start!  It's so inconsistently implemented
> in each version of MS Office that they call each version a new
> "transitional" format.  They just can't seem to quite implement their own
> format properly or even consistently.  It's highly likely that you'd have
> the same problem if you'd created the Pptx in, say MS Office 2007 and then
> tried to open it in MS Office 2013.
>
> By stunning coincidence that means people often have to buy a different
> version of MS Office in order to be able to work together with other people
> they know.  Possibly one of the few moves at the end of Steve Bullmer's
> reign that seemed to help keep their profits up but all by accident of
> course.
>
> The older MS format (2003/Xp and earlier) "ppt" (without the X for XML) is
> MUCH more reliable and much more consistently applied across their own
> products and can also be handled better by almost all non-Microsoft
> products.
>
> Note that it was just after pretty much all other relevant software could
> easily handle the older Microsoft format that MS suddenly produced this
> newer format, allegedly releasing it "to improve interoperability" but
> actually appearing to have quite the opposite effect.
>
> So even if you are using a version of MS Office it's well worth doing
> File - "Save As ..."
> and using the older MS format.
>
>
> 2.  Have all the versions of LibreOffice been in the "Fresh" branch?
> Please try the latest in the "Still" branch.  The way branches work is that
> preceding versions of the same branch are unlikely to have fixed the
> problem.  It's only by going to an earlier branch that you get in front of
> a regression but really this is back-to-front thinking and generally things
> tend to get a lot better rather than worse, despite what you may have read
> here recently!  If you think of the 3rd digit as a "Service Pack" number
> you get a clearer idea of what's going on.  The "Still" branch has a higher
> "Sp" so it's fixed more of it's teething problems.
>
>
> 3.  Do you really need to do a PowerPoint presentation?  You can 'install'
> LibreOffice on a usb-stick and then use it on almost any Windows machine.
> I'm not sure how well it works as i know some places now lock-down their
> usb-ports so that people can't copying anything.
> http://www.winpenpack.com/en/download.php?list.37
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WinPenPack
>
> http://alternativeto.net/software/winpenpack/
>
> https://www.libreoffice.org/download/portable-versions/
>
>
> 4.  Also there are much better programs for writing presentations.
> Powerpoint is one of the worst.  The only advantage with Impress or
> Powerpoint is that they are part of the office suite and it may be easier
> to use things created in other programs/elements/apps/modules of the suite
> within your presentation.  Also it's what 'everyone' seems to be using.
>
> Anyway good luck and regards from
> Tom :)
>
>
>
> On 11 October 2015 at 23:12, Tim Lloyd <tim.lloyd@gmx.com> wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > this looks like your problem, can you confirm pls?
> >
> > https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=59323
> >
> > If this is the same it is worth adding your comments.
> >
> > As a workaround though, is it possible to save the file as .ppt?
> >
> > Cheers
> >
> >
> > On 12/10/15 08:07, avamk wrote:
> >
> > > Hello,
> > >
> > > I've noticed that .pptx files  (I selected the Microsoft PowerPoint
> > > 2007-2013 XML format) I created and saved with LibreOffice Impress 5.0.x
> > > (I
> > > tried both 5.0.2 the version before it) do not open correctly in
> > > Microsoft
> > > Office 2010. When opening, PowerPoint tells me that the file is
> > > corrupted,
> > > and clicking the Repair button either fails or results in a file with
> > > many
> > > elements missing or messed up. This happens for LibreOffice Impress
> > > created
> > > .pptx files from Linux, Mac, and Windows versions of LibreOffice.
> > >
> > > I can provide more detail or an example file, but I just wanted to ask
> > > first
> > > if this is a known problem and is being fixed??? This is a big show
> > > stopping
> > > bug for me.... Thanks for your help!

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