Edit source code of Impress odp file

Question

I want to edit the source code of an Impress file (.odp) but when I open it is just machine coded.

I want to do it because when I converted files from PowerPoint to an Impress File some parts got mixed up. Like for example footer and numbering can't be changed globally. So by editing the source code, I hope to be able to use find/replace in a Text Editor.

Answer 1

LibreOffice formats are zipped archives primarily containing XML files. So unzip the .odp and then edit content.xml.

When finished, zip it back up, making sure to zip it from the correct directory (the one that contains content.xml).

Documentation: https://help.libreoffice.org/Common/XML_File_Formats#XML_file_structure.

Answer 2

If you are using a Mac do the following:

1. Change the .odp extension to .zip by manually clicking the icon and renaming the file
2. Unzip the file using something other than the standard Archiver (I used Keka)
3. You will see the folder of contents including the content.xml which you can easily edit now
4. Crucial: Go into the directory with your separate files, select all the files then hit 'compress' from the options menu when you right click
5. Next, rename the .zip to .odp and the file will open successfully

I found that if you don't do option 4 above exactly then the file is slightly different and won't open due to a corruption message.