Failure when converting editor format to storage format: How can I rescue my unsaved data?
Asked by Evelin:

Hi,

We have Confluence 5.1.1 and got this error message when editing a page. Saving the page was not possible. What's the best way to rescue the data when the error occurs?

The behaviour has already been reported for instance in <https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/CONF-25944> and can have lots of reasons.

Cheers


Answers:
author: Evelin
body: Luckily this error occured only once and we hope this was the first and last time. If Confluence Source Editor is available, we can fix the problem, but if it was the initial editing and Source Editor is not around we have no solution so far. I tick the question off anyway because I think its no use to have it hanging around here in unanswered status.

comments: author: ViswanathanR
body: Hi Evelin,

I have source editor. How do we get this fixed.


author: boardtc
body: I am receiving this error today with Confluence 5.8.13


author: Paul Wisner
body: I was able to save my document by creating a new browser window and creating another confluence page. Then I pasted one section at a time from my unsaved document to the new window. I saved after pasting each section. With this method I could identify the section that was causing the save error and I only had to recreate that section.

The cause of the problem seemed to be related to dragging screen captures from my desktop into the document (OSX 10.9.2, Safari).

(I've used many wikis and this was my initial experience with confluence.)

comments: author: Bruce Cannon
body: I have had many problems with this, all related to pasting images, either from the web or from the clipboard.

I can reproduce the issue at will by pasting bad clipboard data. For example, copying an image to the clipboard from an image editor and then pasting it in, works. But copying the same image to the clipboard from Mac's Preview application, when pasting image does not show up but bad code is inserted somewhere.

And if I can't find the space character that holds that code, I can't save the page. Ever.


author: Arya Banerjee
body: I'm coming across an error while trying to edit the Confluence (5.1.4) Resources Test Page. I think it arose in relation to copying and pasting a divbox that contained an image and another divbox. The error says "Failure when converting editor format to storage format," and then when I try to proceed from there I continually get an "Error saving draft" message.

This is what the Confluence log says after I replicate the issue:-

2014-05-26 13:24:30,951 WARN \[http-8090-9\] \[confluence.tinymceplugin.rest.DraftsResource\] save The supplied editor content could not be converted to storage format.  
-- url: /rest/tinymce/1/drafts \| userName: likwid1 \| referer: [](https://likwid.nike.com/pages/editpage.action)<https://likwid.nike.com/pages/editpage.action>  
com.atlassian.confluence.content.render.xhtml.XhtmlException: RuntimeException occurred while transforming editor format to storage format (java.lang.RuntimeException: java.lang.RuntimeException: java.lang.RuntimeException: java.lang.RuntimeException: java.lang.RuntimeException: com.atlassian.confluence.content.render.xhtml.XhtmlException: An error occurred while unmarshalling a link in the editor with the title Networks)


author: Guilherme Nedel [Atlassian]
body: Hello Evelin,

Some customers reportedly were able to retrieve data by using the [Confluence Source Editor](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/plugins/com.atlassian.confluence.plugins.editor.confluence-source-editor) to tweak into the tags and remove the fault or retrieve the information which was not being saved.

As described below:
> After receiving the error (and hence, being unable to save the page), I deleted what I thought might be the problem (the link), and then opened the Source Editor plugin to view the XML. The second paragraph, that had contained the link, had the following class attribute:  
>
> ```
> <p class="confluence-link">
> ```
>
> I deleted the class attribute, returned to the rich text editor, re-created the link to the user name, and saved the page without further ado.

comments: author: Evelin
body: Hi Guilherme, thanks for your quick answer. We would have used Source Editor but we couldn't because the \<\> button was not available (but the user had the necessary permissions). It was a page that never had been saved before.


author: Guilherme Nedel [Atlassian]
body: Hello Evelin, not sure if you are aware, the [Confluence Source Editor](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/plugins/com.atlassian.confluence.plugins.editor.confluence-source-editor) is an add on it can be installed from the Confluence admin, Add ons section, as described in [this doco](https://confluence.atlassian.com/display/UPM/Installing+Add-ons#InstallingAdd-ons-Installingadd-onsdirectlyfromAtlassianMarketplace).


author: Evelin
body: Hi, of course, it is installed and working. But as I mentioned we could not access it because the page had not been saved when the error occured and in this case you cannot usse it.


author: Guilherme Nedel [Atlassian]
body: I see, thank you for clarifying. :)