'the required index.xml file is missing'

Jaime

1. Remove the ".pages" file extension

2. Double click the file in the Finder, which should decompress it

3. Restore the ".pages" file extension

This may fix the problem.

Peter

Sorry to hear that, it was a slim hope.

I know of nothing else to try, maybe someone else has an idea.

If you have AppleCare or this is a recent purchase, you can try ringing Apple support.

http://www.freeforum101.com/iworktipsntrick/viewtopic.php?t=93&mforum=iworktipsn trick

Peter

I tried all the other suggested solutions for the dreaded "The index.xml file is missing" error when trying to open a corrupted Pages document. I had tried all the suggestions from 2007 to 2009 with no luck.

Then, the last one I came across recommended renaming the file from "[file name].pages" to "[file name].pages.zip" and then opening it on my Mac. I tried this, but it still didn't work. So I emailed the file to myself at work where i use PC's, and lo and behold I was able to open the file with the intrinsic Windows XP Compressed Folders. I assume that this could probably be done in Windows in Parallels as well, and other applications like Winzip might work just as well as the Compressed Folders in Windows XP.

After opening it, I found the .pdf preview file (Thanks heavens for saving a preview in the Pages document) and I sent this back to myself at my Mac. Voila! I opened the PDF in Preview, copied, and pasted the text back into a Pages document (with saved preview!). Hope this helps!

EM

QSurferQ wrote:
Then, the last one I came across recommended renaming the file from "[file name].pages" to "[file name].pages.zip" and then opening it on my Mac. I tried this, but it still didn't work. So I emailed the file to myself at work where i use PC's, and lo and behold I was able to open the file with the intrinsic Windows XP Compressed Folders. I assume that this could probably be done in Windows in Parallels as well, and other applications like Winzip might work just as well as the Compressed Folders in Windows XP.

Sounds interesting.
Must I understand that the expand tool available in Windows is able to expand the flat iWork's documents ?

If it's really that, it would be interesting to know exactly which tool is used to do the trick.
I'm quite sure that it's one of the numerous expanders available in Unix but I don't know which one it is.

Yvan KOENIG (VALLAURIS, France) mardi 5 janvier 2010 23:30:04

I have been saving updates with no problem until last night. Now when I try to reopen the pages file that I saved, it only gives me the message that I have a missing index.xml file.

I tried all of the fixes that you suggest but none seem to work.

When I right click on the problem xxx.pages file, I don't get the choice to "Show Package Contents" , but on other xxx.pages files that I have on my system, I do get the choice to Show Package Contents.

I can see only the first page of the document in preview.pdf.

My file is quite large and I have been working on it for years now - 139.8 MB. If I could just open and get the written content, I could rework the file. The pictures I could add back in.

My backup is several months old and I have added much information since that time.

I'm having the exact same problem. Any new document I create is not able to be opened:
"The required index.xml file is missing."

Initially, I thought this was related to a problem with my HDD, but that was repaired and the problem still exists, even after a re-install. It really ***** because Pages is central to doing my job. Hopefully someone who works on Pages can shed some light here.

muscadine wrote:
When I right click on the problem xxx.pages file, I don't get the choice to "Show Package Contents" , but on other xxx.pages files that I have on my system, I do get the choice to Show Package Contents.

I guess that you used the default iWork '09 format : flatfile.

Rename the document from xxx.pages to xxx.pages.zip then double click it.
If you are lucky, you will be get an old_fashioned document named xxx.pages which would be a package.

Then, ctrl-click will allow you to see the content.
Maybe there is an Index.xml file which Pages can't decipher.
Maybe there is a complete PDF available in the subfolder 'Quicklook'. In this case, open the PDF with Preview then use copy to grab the text component which you will be able to paste in a clean doc.

If an Index.xml is available, open it then, looking carefully, you will be able to retrieve the original text contents.

Yvan KOENIG (VALLAURIS, France) jeudi 11 février 2010 22:04:44

I can see only the first page of the document in preview.pdf.

My file is quite large and I have been working on it for years now - 139.8 MB. If I could just open and get the written content, I could rework the file. The pictures I could add back in.

My backup is several months old and I have added much information since that time.

Most importantly, this technique allowed me to resurrect a 25 page document I had been working on. In one of the test documents I made which had the problem, changing it to .zip, the opening it to create a .pages file resulted in the document structure being there, but all the images are missing.

Any idea why any of this stuff is happening or how to stop it?
Should I be saving in a different file format?

Thanks,
Todd

Thanks again to Yvan z- I'm glad I could save my file, but it's of little use when the same thing keeps happening and it loses the changes I've made between versions. That's the part I can't understand - I've been using this same method for years - why did it suddenly stop working? iTunes update?

I guess I'm switching to Scribus ( a free, open source page layout app) until Apple gets it fixed. Please hurry Apple - I'd much rather use Pages.

You better tell apple, not us here in the Forum.

http://www.apple.com/feedback/pages.html

Don't worry - I've been sending them feedback all along the way - I was just at a point where I needed someone to answer rather than speaking into the void.

🙂 I'll try not to 😉

A PC is not needed. No special software is needed. Any iWork document is a type of package, not even compressed (any MS Office document is a compressed and screwy package). Right-click / option-click the iWork file and choose "Show Package Contents". You'll see a folder "QuickLook" (used by Leopard and later for.. you guessed it, QuickLook). Inside that is a thumnail (not much use except to the Finder-QuickLook) and a file "Preview.pdf. Bingo.