CorelDRAW 4 file will not open

[Andrew McDonnell]

I wonder if anyone can help with the following problem with a CorelDRAW
4 file (in .CDR format).

While working on this file I received a message stating something
like "Unexpected condition encountered, please refer to CorelDRAW
Help.” The only choice was to click OK. I continued to work without
incident for about an hour, saved and closed the file, but was unable
later to open the .CDR file, or its .BAK backup later. (The two files
are of identical size, and regrettably probably are identically damaged
or corrupted.)

The drawing was rather complicated, and large (2.4 MB), and I
speculate that it may have too many objects, or too many nodes,
and that a corruption developed, which the aforementioned message
flagged, and which now keeps the file from opening.

Can anyone suggest a way to open this file?

Can anyone suggest a data recovery procedure to repair the file, even
partially, and to extract objects from the file?

Lastly, can anyone inform mer of the proper steps to avoid such a
contingency in the future, or the proper procedure to follow in the
event such a message comes up, to avoid this lockout from the file?

Any help that could be provided would be sincerely appreciated.

Sincerely,
Andrew McDonnell
amcd...@concentric.net