In a spreadsheet ODS I have external links that point to CSV files. When I open the spreadsheet it shows the link dialogs with the data tables, one for each link. All is as expected. However, in some cases if I edit a linked CSV file then do a (full or not) recalculate, the link values update in the spreadsheet. In other cases they do not. Sorry, I have no discriminator for which. The logic behind the link is identical in all cases.
What is more worrisome is that even if I close Calc and restart it, and reopen the spreadsheet the link still “retrieves” the data as it was before I modified the CSV file–unless I close out of all LibreOffice processes, then restart Calc, then the information updates.
It is like there is a file handle to an old file image that is not updating in some cases, something held at the level of LO, not just Calc. Doing a link update does not change this. Even renaming (to hide) the CSV file, getting a link fail on opening the ODS, then naming it back and opening the ODS again does not help. Only a complete restart of all LO.
I have not been able to see if an OS page swap or some other event that might invalidate an out-dated file handle has any effect.
It is worrisome, because it leads to a false sense of security that values have been updated, when some may not have been.
Version: 7.3.4.2 (x64) / LibreOffice Community
Build ID: 728fec16bd5f605073805c3c9e7c4212a0120dc5
CPU threads: 4; OS: Windows 10.0 Build 19044; UI render: Skia/Raster; VCL: win
Locale: en-US (en_US); UI: en-US
Calc: CL
If this is not a known issue I can try to pare down a set of example files–but it’s pretty messy. I have to confess that the logic to the external link is convoluted. The link file name is read from a sheet and the external link is addressed in a Named Expression. This is true, however, of links that update as well as ones that don’t. Notice: When I say some links update, I mean at times any given link may update, or may not, so far as I know–there is not a specific external file that always updates, for example, so far as I know.