Need help with opening files

[Mac on the Bayou]

My first post: I recently bought a refurbished MacBookAir from Apple. Now I cannot open the files I need in my "Drop Box". I can access the Drop Box but cannot open the files I have used before. They are in ods format. I can open the .doc, .pdf, & .odt files in the same Drop Box.
Please help as I am working for a non-profit agency and I need to record my data!

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

ODS files are OpenOffice Spreadsheet files. Have you downloaded and installed OpenOffice on the MBA?

Apache OpenOffice Downloads

 

[Mac on the Bayou]

Thanks, Cory, but I have downloaded Open Office successfully from the link you sent. Still I cannot open the file. The file is labeled "Zip" and it has a picture of a zipper. Could this be the problem?

 

[Cory Cooper]

Yes, if it has a zip extension, then it is in a zip archive. You should only have to double-click the zip file. It will expand, then you should see a file with the correct ods extension, which you can open.

 

[Mac on the Bayou]

Thanks for the reply. I just tried opening the Zip file with a double click as you suggested. I tried numerous times wherever the file appears. Something flashes very fast then disappears immediately. Whatever comes up goes so fast I cannot see what it is. I still cannot see the file.

 

[Kaveman]

Try downloading it again, sounds like a problem with the Zip.

Or it could be putting it somewhere that you are not seeing.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Try downloading it again, sounds like a problem with the Zip.

Or it could be putting it somewhere that you are not seeing.

Could be either of these suggestions.

-Have you looked around your HD - Desktop, Documents, etc. for the file extracted from the zip?
-Are you downloading the file from your DropBox via Safari (or another browser) or using it from the DropBox sync folder on your Mac?

C