https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=173871
Bug ID: 173871
Summary: External references fail with Error 501 when the
folder or file name contains an apostrophe; Calc
lowercases the sheet name and rejects the reference
before attempting to open the file.
Product: LibreOffice
Version: 26.2.6.3 release
Hardware: x86-64 (AMD64)
OS: Windows (All)
Status: UNCONFIRMED
Severity: normal
Priority: medium
Component: Calc
Assignee: [email protected]
Reporter: [email protected]
Test Scenario: External Reference Failure When Folder or File Contains
Apostrophes
1. Create the source file
Create a folder: C:\Test's 1
Inside that folder, create a file: Untitle's 1.ods
In that file create a sheet named: Sept 2026
Put a value in:A1 → 123 and in C3 → 456
Save and close the file.
2. Create the destination file
Create a second file in the same folder: Untitled 2.ods
In cell A1 of Untitled 2, enter the external reference: ='file:///c:/Test's
1/Untitle's 1.ods'#$'Sept 2026'.C3
3. Expected Behavior (Actual Bug)
LibreOffice Calc will: Lowercase the sheet name before you press Enter
→ Sept 2026 becomes sept 2026
Reject the external reference
→ Displays Error 501
Never attempts to open the file
→ The parser fails before file access
This happens even though:
The folder exists
The file exists
The sheet exists
The cell exists
The URL is syntactically valid
HYPERLINK can open the file
WEBSERVICE accepts the URL
The path works in Windows Explorer
The file opens normally in Calc
This isolates the failure to the external‑reference parser, not the filesystem,
not permissions, not URL syntax, not file access.
4. Why This Scenario Is Valuable to LibreOffice Support
It demonstrates:
A. Apostrophes in folder or file names break the external‑reference parser
Even though:
Apostrophes are valid Windows filename characters
Apostrophes are valid in URLs
Apostrophes are valid in Calc sheet names
Apostrophes do not break HYPERLINK
Apostrophes do not break WEBSERVICE
B. The parser fails before resolving the sheet name
The lowercase rewrite is the signature of this failure.
C. The failure is reproducible on any OS
Windows, Linux, macOS — same behavior.
D. The failure is isolated to one feature
Only external references break.
Eliminating apostrophes in file and folder names is not reasonable because it
destroys readability and context for users of other systems that use the file
structure. Replacing apostrophes with an escape sequence in the external
reference like / replaces \ would be acceptable as a fix since other users will
never have to deal the issue, just the reference coder.
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