bob.m.
Level 1 (4 points)
Notebooks

Q: "frozen" cell in spreadsheet

While running AppleWorks 6.2.9 on a G4 iBook (OS 10.9.1), one cell in one of my spreadsheets has "frozen":  I can't delete it, edit it, lock or unlock it, nothing.  I've searched high & low and found nothing to restore this one cell to proper operating condition.  Meanwhile, everything else in this one spreadsheet is working just fine.  Is there a fix for this problem?

Posted on Jan 23, 2014 8:54 PM

by bob.m.,Solvedanswer
bob.m. bob.m.
Level 1 (4 points)
Notebooks
A:

Many thanks!  Your suggestions worked, but with an interesting distinction:    

- after copying & pasting the entire document into TextEdit, although the correct results appeared in each cell, all of the underlying formulas & values that produced those results were lost.

- however, after pasting the entire document into AppleWorks, both the correct results and the underlying formulas & values were preserved.

Posted on Jan 25, 2014 7:37 AM

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bob.m.

Q: "frozen" cell in spreadsheet

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  • by Barry,Helpful

    Barry Barry Jan 23, 2014 10:17 PM in response to bob.m.
    Level 7 (32,640 points)
    iWork
    Jan 23, 2014 10:17 PM in response to bob.m.

    HI Bob,

     

    Must be an error is some part of your specs:

     

    G4 iBook is reasonable, as that was the last iBook series.

     

    AppleWorks 6.2.9 was the last version of AppleWorks, so that could happen on an iBook G4

     

    But OS X 10.9.1 can't enter into the mix for several reasons.

     

    The last version of OS X able to run on a G4 processor is Leopard (v10.5.x)

     

    The last version of OS X able to run Rosetta, an environment required for running Power PC applications (including AppleWorks) is Snow Leopard (v10.6.x). Snow Leopard requires an intel processor; the G4 is an IBM/Motorola product.

     

    Regarding the issue at hand, I would suggest a couple of possible solutions:

     

    Try Saving the document as an AppleWorks 5 file, then opening that file using AppleWorks 6. The required translations to v5 then back to v6 has been known to flush out a few problems.

     

    Try copying the whole spreadsheet, then pasting it into an empty spreadsheet in a new document. Like the process above, this has sometimes been enough to remove issues causing problems.

     

    Regards,

    Barry

  • by bob.m.,

    bob.m. bob.m. Jan 24, 2014 5:16 AM in response to Barry
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Jan 24, 2014 5:16 AM in response to Barry

    Thanks, Barry.  

    When I tried saving it in AppleWorks 5.0, the process was preceded by a warning message, saying "Saving this will lose all offsheet references.  Proceed?"     I clicked the OK button  (rather than Cancel)  and within a couple seconds, the process went into its endless "spinning disk" mode and that was it.  Does this warning message throw any light on this problem?  what next?

    Bob

  • by fruhulda,

    fruhulda fruhulda Jan 24, 2014 8:33 AM in response to bob.m.
    Level 6 (15,126 points)
    Jan 24, 2014 8:33 AM in response to bob.m.

    I think there is a corruption in the document. You could try copy the problematic table and paste into a new document. Sometimes it helps.

    Or paste it into TextEdit. Or save the document as rtf and then open it in AW again.

  • by bob.m.,

    bob.m. bob.m. Jan 24, 2014 9:16 AM in response to fruhulda
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Jan 24, 2014 9:16 AM in response to fruhulda

    Thanks.

    Here's another reason that supports your thinking:   I tried a couple times to send this document as an attachment to an email messge, and every time, the outgoing message got part way thru transmission and then quit, and the message never got sent.

    I'll try your suggestions later today and then tell you the results.

  • by bob.m.,Solvedanswer

    bob.m. bob.m. Jan 25, 2014 7:37 AM in response to fruhulda
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Jan 25, 2014 7:37 AM in response to fruhulda

    Many thanks!  Your suggestions worked, but with an interesting distinction:    

    - after copying & pasting the entire document into TextEdit, although the correct results appeared in each cell, all of the underlying formulas & values that produced those results were lost.

    - however, after pasting the entire document into AppleWorks, both the correct results and the underlying formulas & values were preserved.

  • by fruhulda,

    fruhulda fruhulda Jan 25, 2014 7:42 AM in response to bob.m.
    Level 6 (15,126 points)
    Jan 25, 2014 7:42 AM in response to bob.m.

    Hurray!