Horrible "table" issue when I save to Rich Text Format

June 9, 2022 5:22 PM

I have a new job where I write reports and the reports are sent back to me to correct and then I have to upload them back to the employer. The reports are sent in Microsoft Word. But I don't have Microsoft Word. I use Open Office instead of Microsoft Word. But the employer's portal doesn't accept .odt documents. But they do accept Rich Text Format documents.

Okay. So I open a .doc in Open Office and I make corrections. Then I save it in .rtf. But when I open it again, part of it is a table where one vertical half of the page has text on it, and then a vertical line, and the other vertical half of the page is blank. I can sort of fix it by putting my cursor on the vertical line and sliding it over to the right-hand margin of the page, but then the right-hand vertical line is no longer really vertical; rather, it goes right along the right of each word on the line, and they are not right-justified, so that vertical line is now not a straight line. And also the box is still there, with three lines. (?)

Okay, here is a screenshot of what happens: SoStupid


How can I fix this table problem so I can upload .rtf documents?

posted by DMelanogaster to Computers & Internet (10 answers total)

Best answer: If you're currently using OpenOffice, it would be worth trying LibreOffice instead - it's a continuation of the same project that's been much more actively maintained for several years now.

Does the portal accept .doc or .docx documents? If so, OpenOffice/LibreOffice can save in those formats quite happily -- that will probably work better than RTF for non-trivial formatting. (I use LibreOffice for complex forms in .doc/.docx format all the time for work, and it works more reliably than MS Office365 does.)
posted by offog at 5:33 PM on June 9, 2022 [10 favorites]

If by chance that doesn't work, and it turns out you do need Word, you can get a lifetime license to office for $49.99
posted by jonathanhughes at 6:03 PM on June 9, 2022 [7 favorites]

I use google docs and am able to save a google doc to word easily. But a lifetime Office license seems like a good idea. A little searching found even lower prices. Thanks, jonathanhughes.
posted by theora55 at 6:19 PM on June 9, 2022

Oh, that's the Word 2013/early 2016 table bug, probably caused by OpenOffice. Once that content is pasted into a file, tables will foul up repeatedly throughout. You have to stop using the software you're using: it is breaking your employer's documents. RTF will remove all edit history, so track changes information will be gone.

(Worked at a place where we had to have several large company foundation documents re-typed from paper copy to eliminate this, circa 2016)
posted by scruss at 7:23 PM on June 9, 2022 [4 favorites]

I'm a little confused why your employer is not providing you with the application you need to do your job.

That being said, if your use case is "simple" enough where .rtf documents seem like they should work, then I think you would be best off with the free version of Microsoft Office on the Web.
posted by oceano at 8:25 PM on June 9, 2022 [14 favorites]

Other options... pandoc can be used to convert documents (if you are comfortable with the command line).

If the portal accepts .doc or .docx files, I think you are probably better off trying to export to that format over trying to export to .rtf.
posted by oceano at 8:44 PM on June 9, 2022

Adding to the chorus that you need to stay in the MS ecosystem. The docx format is KINDA a standard, in that Microsoft paid enough money to ISO to make their format a standard, but the reality is that if you need to go back and forth with a microsoft office user on a document, you need to use office.
posted by rockindata at 4:29 AM on June 10, 2022 [1 favorite]

I'm a little confused why your employer is not providing you with the application you need to do your job.

Same here. You're working from home I take it, but are you a direct employee or just like a temp or a contractor or something?

If you're a direct employee, ask the IT guy for advice, that's what they're there for.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:03 AM on June 10, 2022 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I'm a part-time contract worker. Sorry I said "job" in my original question. However, it would have been nice if they had told me what kind of documents they'd be sending me to edit. I am currently trying a number of the suggestions up there, so thank you!
posted by DMelanogaster at 10:14 AM on June 12, 2022

Response by poster: I downloaded LibreOffice (which I tend to call Cuba Libre when I'm tired) and it's working fantastically so thanks!
posted by DMelanogaster at 3:09 PM on June 21, 2022 [1 favorite]