Open, Save and Download Copies in Collabora Online Calc

Separate the host-stored workbook from a local download and an independent working copy. Identical filenames are not proof that two windows are editing the same object.

Before you start: version and deployment gate

Collabora Online Calc in an English desktop browser using the compact menu interface; documentary baseline is co-25.04 branch snapshot 3847fbcfe35a234544cf163ed9e004a3d197337c. Actual deployed build, dialogs, save behavior and native screenshots remain unverified.

This is a documentation-supported practice and acceptance recipe, not a report of a successful native run. Record the server build from Help → About, the storage host, browser and interface before proceeding. The pinned Online menu source and English command labels establish the compact-menu entry points below; they do not prove that every host exposes them or that the server implements every dialog field. Online’s compact menu is still a browser interface, not Collabora Office Classic. Do not substitute desktop instructions when a control is absent.

Use a new private, disposable ODS workbook that you are permitted to edit. Opening or creating it is a storage-host operation: this guide cannot name a universal Nextcloud, ownCloud or other host button. Do not practice in a shared production file. If you cannot identify the host file and edit permissions, stop. Finish each cell entry with Enter before invoking another operation.

Identify the master before editing

Use the host’s file list to create or open an authorized disposable ODS workbook named Save-state-master.ods. Record its host folder and stable file identity or URL locally, without sharing access tokens. Verify that the editor is writable and that you are not merely viewing a preview or a downloaded browser file. Do not invent a universal File → Open route: Online is embedded in a storage integration.

Enter this ledger on Sheet1:

Cell	Input
A1	Marker
B1	Quantity
A2	MASTER-1
B2	10
A3	MASTER-2
B3	20
D1	Total
D2	=SUM(B2:B3)

Expect 30. Press Enter to commit D2. Write down that A2 is MASTER-1, B2 is 10, B3 is 20 and total is 30.

Establish host persistence

1. Inspect the actual save indicator and record its wording. Use File → Save if exposed by the host. The pinned menu code hides Save when HideSaveOption is set; absence of the command does not establish either autosave success or failure.
2. Wait for the editor/host to acknowledge save completion. A spinning indicator, connection error or unsaved-warning state is not permission to close. If acknowledgement cannot be identified, leave the test open and ask the host administrator how persistence is confirmed.
3. After acknowledgement, close the editor normally and reopen the same file from its host location. Confirm the original marker, quantities and formula result 30. Inspect D2’s formula, not only its displayed value.
4. Change B3 to 25 and A2 to MASTER-CHANGED. Expect 35. Commit, save/await acknowledgement, close and reopen again. The new marker and total 35 must persist. This is a specific check, not a guarantee against every disconnection or concurrent-edit failure.

Download a snapshot and prove independence

Choose File → Download as → ODF spreadsheet (.ods) if available. The verified Online menu label is Download as in the desktop browser; mobile Export as wording is outside this guide. Name the downloaded file Save-state-snapshot.ods and record where the browser actually saved it. If a download is blocked by policy or HideExportOption, record that result and stop this branch. Do not bypass the integration.

Open the downloaded file in an authorized local receiving application, recording its name and version. It should contain MASTER-CHANGED, 10, 25 and total 35. This receiving-app check has not been run. Change A2 there to LOCAL-ONLY and B2 to 100; expect 125. Save under Save-state-local-test.ods, close and reopen that local file, and verify LOCAL-ONLY/125. Keep the untouched snapshot as evidence.

Return to the host file list and reopen Save-state-master.ods independently. It should still have MASTER-CHANGED/35. If it contains LOCAL-ONLY/125, investigate whether you actually edited an integrated host copy or a synchronized folder rather than an isolated download. Do not dismiss that discrepancy as an autosave effect without identifying the file identities.

Make an independent host copy, if supported

A downloaded file is not automatically a second host file. Use the host’s explicit duplicate/copy action, or File → Save As only when that operation’s destination and behavior are understood. The pinned source gates Save As on UserCanNotWriteRelative and allows different Save As UI modes; it does not define your host’s destination picker. Record the exact observed host control. If no allowed copy operation exists, this branch is blocked.

Name the independent host file Save-state-host-copy.ods. Confirm it appears as a separate host object before editing. In that copy change A2 to HOST-COPY and B2 to 7; B3 remains 25 and D2 becomes 32. Add A4 COPY-NEW, B4 3 and explicitly replace D2 with =SUM(B2:B4), expecting 35. Save, acknowledge, close and reopen the copy. Final copy markers are HOST-COPY and COPY-NEW, quantities 7/25/3 and total 35. The master also totals 35 but has different markers and only two input records; totals alone cannot prove independence.

Reopen the master again and verify MASTER-CHANGED, 10/25, no COPY-NEW record, and original =SUM(B2:B3). Keep both final files. Optional reset belongs in another newly identified copy, using the exact original fixture, never an assumed Undo history after reopen.

Troubleshooting and scope

If a browser adds (1) to a filename, inspect the timestamp and contents before opening. If Save As changes which file the editor now displays, recheck identity before the next edit. A copy action that cannot identify its destination is unresolved, not successful. A downloaded file may be in a synchronized local folder; choose an appropriate isolated test destination if you need this independence test.

No credentials, sharing permissions, external invitations or real production workbooks are needed. This guide has not executed any host operation, receiving-app save or native screenshot capture. Its final acceptance record must state which branches were actually tested and which remained blocked. For file conversion rather than storage identity, use a separately reviewed format-exchange recipe.