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Open Office compatibility issues

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by m.testori

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Hi there, I am in urgent need of the opinion of anyone with some knowledge of Open Office. I recently had to post a university assignment + reference list on my university portal.
The files were in Open Office format and I think I may have
forgotten to convert them into a Word format. So I uploaded them
on the portal, got confirmation that the submission was successful
but apparently there is no sign of it on the portal! Is this possible at all? Could there be a compatibility issue, i.e. the portal maybe doesn't recognize Open Office documents,? if anyone has any ideas please let me know! Cheers, Milena

7 replies

by older mycroft

Whoever is collating all these submissions, simply cannot see it.

In that case - YES that would be possible because M$ Word will only be looking for .doc files.

But if the portal is examined, even using M$ Explorer, the files WILL show up since there is no filter in place for a full file search.

It is not a compatibility issue though, simply a submission in the wrong file format. You should be allowed to submit it again if you can prove BOTH formats are identical right down to the file start date.

However, if it cannot be found when searching with a File Manager, then that is different.

by m.testori

Thanks a lot Old Mycroft, you have been most helpful! I have contacted the university helpdesk service to ask if there is any record of me posting the assignment on my uni portal, but they have confirmed that I don't appear to have submitted it. Can this be justified by the submission of files in the wrong format? Apols for my very basic IT explanation but I am no expert ;)

by dumphrey

specs of how the accept assignments, I would have to say that its POSSIBLE. For example, I has an intro to programming class that all the files had to be zipped. I used 7ip to do this with...apparently his (the teacher) version of XP's built in zip function could not extract them... though the classroom computer I tried it on had no problem..
I used Open Office all the way through school but saved as an MS Word 2000 by default instead of OOo format, it prevented many headaches.
Unfortunately this does not help you at all =( If nothing else maybe see if you can get a late submission, which is better then no submission.

by older mycroft

I spent 5 years in total as a student, Gawd help me, and had a fair few 'run-ins' with College and University records offices.

If the university helpdesk service has confirmed that you "[i]don't appear to have submitted it[/i]" [u]bear in mind[/u]: if ALL the students had used an Open Office file extension, the helpdesk service might not be able to confirm or find ANY OF THEM!!

Academics are not always the brightest of the bunch!

I would advise that you (a)immediately re-submit in the correct format (although the 'portal' may now be invalid); (b)submit a hard copy to your tutor; (c)continue to pester the helpdesk service - ask them directly what they CAN and CAN'T see (as opposed to confirm).

If your campus has a Computer Faculty, ask around the computer technicians, they'll probably find your submission in a matter of seconds (if you did submit it).

Submission of files in the wrong format CANNOT be held legally to be non-submission, I would think at most it would be a 'slap on the wrist' and perhaps a salutory lesson for the rest of your life. A de-merit might occur but that WOULD be your fault.

Pester, pester, pester until you get fed up - not them.

And don't apologise for basic IT skills: I know someone with stronger skills (oddly attached to my fingers!) who has made similarly stupid, obvious, mistakes.

Never put yourself down - there are plenty of others around that'll try to do that for you!! :)

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