How can I find a file created by LibreCalc in Debian/GNU/Linux file system?

I have developed a spread sheet using LibreCalc which I want to print on paper so that I can refer to it when I do not have access to any electronic/digital resource. I put the file name in the header center along with creation date. What gets printed is not a file name that I can use with the find command in a virtual terminal. I need this to update master file from penciled notes on paper copy when i next have access to my computer. Also, I have created several different versions during development and given them different file names which are not accurately reflected in what I see in Gnome Terminal. I need to understand the correspondence between LibreCalc file names and System file names to keep track of progress in development. Folders are mentioned in LibreOffice docs, but don’t seem to be part of what is printed in headers. Are folders analogous to directories in POSSIX/Linux? I am confused and badly need a better understanding of where LibreCalc puts information on hard disk. IMHO, any useful answer to this question will surely lead to more questions on my part.
My computer is a HP desktop running Debian Jessie (with systemd) version 4 of LibreOffice, but with indications that is once had version 3 of LibreOffice installed. Please don’t suggest buying an iPad or other hand held digital device in lieu of paper. I’m old and couldn’t master it before I die. I am barely in command of my Jessie box as it is.

Hi pec77

I’m going to assume that you have zero idea on computers - no insult intended.

Main Advice:

Install mlocate (it will be within your standard Repository; if you have not already installed Synaptic, I suggest installing that as well):

“mlocate is a new implementation of locate, a tool to find files
anywhere in the filesystem based on their name, using a fixed pattern
or a regular expression. Unlike other tools like find(1), locate uses
a previously created database to perform the search, allowing queries
to execute much faster. This database is updated periodically from
cron.”

“…After installation, you may
wish to run /etc/cron.daily/mlocate by hand to create the database,
otherwise mlocate won’t work until that script is run from cron itself”

You can then run a very-simple “locate name-of-file” (no quotes) from Terminal to find any file almost-instantly within the system. It is by far the sanest way to find files within your system. I would be lost without it.

Correspondence between LibreCalc file names and System file names:

These should be the same. If not, work tirelessly until they are the same!

Issue the following in a terminal:

:~$ locale
LANG=en_GB.UTF-8
LANGUAGE=
LC_CTYPE="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_NUMERIC="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_TIME="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_COLLATE="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_MONETARY="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_MESSAGES="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_PAPER=en_GB.UTF-8
LC_NAME="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_ADDRESS="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_TELEPHONE="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_MEASUREMENT=en_GB.UTF-8
LC_IDENTIFICATION="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_ALL=

(it is the single word ‘locale’)

(notice how each one is the same - that was a lot of work)

Now check the following within LO:-

(menu):ToolsOptionsLanguage SettingsLanguages

For best, each language wants to be the same as your system locale above (LO is UTF-8 throughout, and your system should be also; change it to UTF-8 if not).

PS
As a small, possible assistance for the file-save issue have a look also at the following:-

(menu):ToolsOptionsLibreOfficePaths

“Are folders analogous to directories?”

Windows has been built on the foundation of MS-DOS. That latter used UNIX as the inspiration for it’s file-system, as did Linux. There is one main difference between the two, and a handful of other differences.

As I understand it, Linux is UNIX as far as the file-system is concerned:-

  • A directory is marked within it’s metadata as a dir; otherwise ‘files’ & ‘dirs’ are identical on disk (though dirs are often much smaller)
  • the separator used to denote a dir is a forward-slash (/)
  • any character within the system charset other than the separator can be used within a file and/or directory name
    (a perfectly terrifying decision)
  • A LF ((U+000A) LINE FEED) is used as the system EOL (End-of-Line) character

Here are the differences between the Windows fs compared the Linux fs:-

  • M$ always refers to ‘folders’ rather than ‘directories’
    (pure terminology, nothing else)
  • the separator used to denote a dir is a back-slash (\)
    (a most stupid decision)
  • legal chars for dir + filenames are far more restrictive
    (a most sensible decision)
    (this includes the colon (:slight_smile: due to it’s use within MS-DOS partition names (eg ‘C:’))
  • A CR/LF pair ((U+000D) CARRIAGE RETURN + (U+000A) LINE FEED) is used as the system EOL (End-of-Line) characters

If this helps then please tick the answer (:heavy_check_mark:)

…and/or show you like it with an uptick ()