I will never understand why, after so many version updates and upgrades in recent months (and years), OD is still not able to offer a preview of normal office files (doc(x), xls(x), or odt) and instead prefers to freeze. Many other file previews work just fine and even better than in some competitors.
To prevent DO from freezing, I must first meticulously ensure that all files in folder XY are displayed sorted by file type/suffix, and then carefully skip these conflicting file formats. This is really unprofessional, especially since it has never improved. Even Windows Explorer works more reliably: it simply shows the corresponding format icon instead, without freezing.
Opus itself isn't involved in previewing those document formats. Preview handlers which the programs themselves (Office/Word) install handle them.
File Explorer's viewer pane uses the same viewers we do.
If you get freezes in Opus but not doing the same thing in File Explorer, and documents are involved, it could be due to antivirus/privacy tools blocking things.
Thanks for this quick reply, but your answer is not convincing at all. If you were right, wouldn't it be a "nice gesture" to at least issue a simple warning instead of leaving the user alone? Why does Windows itself not complain about possible antivirus activities? Or even, why does Total Commander show ODT previews in a fraction of a second (just like OD when displaying image or PDF files)?
I personally never encountered issues previewing doc & docx or docm with DO. It takes some time for the first document, much less for subsequent docs (fraction of a second). Maybe its something in the formatting, things other than tables or pictures maybe.
Well, I only wrote the thing that hosts third party viewers inside Opus, so what would I know, I guess.
If you were right, wouldn't it be a "nice gesture" to at least issue a simple warning instead of leaving the user alone?
I don’t follow. What do you want to warn the user, about what? Remember that it isn’t our code that’s going wrong when a viewer or antivirus made by another company breaks in some say. We can’t make their code better or show a warning when it does something that freezes inside of our process.
And what you’re seeing isn’t normal for other people.
Thanks again for the quick reply. The fact that you don't have any problems with the preview doesn't help me at all.
And since Total Commander, for example, displays such files without any problems, it can't necessarily be due to my system. However, that's just a guess, which is why I was asking for advice here. I also understand that complex documents take longer to display, but that's not what I mean by “freezing.” When nothing happens even after waiting 2 or 3 minutes and I have to close the app, then that's not normal.
I mean, the program could at least display a message saying that file XY cannot be displayed. So not necessarily a “warning,” but perhaps just a note saying something like “OD is not responsible for this problem” or something along those lines.
OK, understood. Sorry for even asking.
It actually does, because that helps narrow down what is going wrong to something specific in your system (not just Opus).
Not necessarily. I guess Opus and TC do not share code, so the two do not handle third-party file previewing in exactly the same way. Also, security software could simply block one but not the other due to a totally random, unrelated situation.
Yes, that is not normal. I suggest you try whitelisting Opus in your security software (most likely Defender). You could also try reinstalling Office (you did not say which specific version). If the issue continues, then you might need to create a process snapshot.
BTW: I have now stopped my firewall and deactivated the entire antivirus software (ESET), then tried to preview an ODT file of just 5 KB (sic) - nothing. Then I followed the same procedure in Total Commander - even with a 2 MB ODT file. In both cases, the preview showed up immediately.
Just one last comment on this topic:
I have just tested the preview of local email files (*.eml) and can even say that OD does this even better than Total Commander.
Did you recently install specific fonts? This is the one problem I remember I once had with word visualisation, when I had installed some weird font. Its just an idea. The plugin may not recognize it.
I also didn’t yet see the word “reboot” appear on this page, but I assume you already did that.
That sounds like your Office preview handler is broken.
Are you sure TC is using the same preview handler as Opus? Because it seems like TC has third-party plugins for that kind of task, which may be using different preview methods (I don't know, I don't have TC).
Have you tried reinstalling (I think it was called repairing) Office? You do it from its own installer.
Thanks for your suggestions.
I have now found some hints on how to fix ActiveX issues (Office Preview Handler) and used the "quick repair" option for the Microsoft Office installations, but with the exception of the success message, it had no effect. Then I found an option within DO > Viewer Pane exclusion list to - at least - "prevent certain file types from being displayed by the viewer pane." After a restart, nothing has changed. I keep having the same issue as if nothing had happened.
Reinstalling Office usually fixes the preview handler, but it's really a job for Microsoft/Office support.
If you want Opus to do the same as File Explorer on your machine, and not even attempt to view Word files, then you can do that by turning off the Word preview handler:
In Opus, Preferences / Viewer / Plugins
Configure the MetaPlugin
Turn off Word in the top part of the list.
(The setting you were trying is for disabling internal handlers for things like PNG and JPG, since they can't be disabled by turning off or configuring a plugin.)
Hi Leo,
Thanks for this “emergency hint.” At least now I no longer have to worry about DO freezing when I accidentally click on a Microsoft file. Nothing happens now, but it doesn't freeze anymore either. I can live with that, I guess.