Pages won't let me open a document, says "unable to open document"

Question

Pages for my iPad 2 is preventing me from opening one specific file. I reaaally need that file back but I can't open it or transfer it anyway. Every time I click on it it says "unable to open document." Pleaaaase help!

Answer 1

Hey mate, do you already have iCloud enabled?  If not, then do as RickHanson-Sacto mentioned about and see how you go,
If iCloud was already enabled, then you've possibly run into the same issue I just had.  I opened up Pages & Numbers on my iPad, and all the icons were black.  Clicking on any of them gave me the 'Document can't be opened' message.  If I signed into iCloud.com, I wasn't able to download the documents either.
After a lot of messing around, it seems like it was something to do with file conflicts, and maybe they caused problems when I updated to iOS 5.1 or the new Pages/Numbers App updates?  I don't know, but somewhere along the line, the file conflicts were blocking all documents from being accessed.
The way I fixed it was to fire up Pages & Numbers on my iPhone.  It showed me my documents, but when I clicked on them, they told me there were conflicts in the files, and presented me with two options, one a black icon, the other a normal document icon.  I clicked on the normal one, and the document seemed to open and load. Additionally, with Numbers at least, the files all updated on the iPad too, and all the documents could now be downloaded via iCloud.com.  I had an issue with Pages on the iPad, in that it wasn't updating the documents as I was fixing them on the iPhone, so I simply uninstalled Pages on the iPad, and then re-installed.  Once iCloud was enabled, all the documents loaded up properly.
I really can't say if this is the same issue you are experiencing, but I figured I'd mention it.. just in case!!
And another tip.. until iCloud gets fixed-up good 'n proper, for your own piece of mind, whenever you edit a document in Pages/Numbers/Keynote, just before you finish-up, hit the 'wrench' icon, choose the 'Share and Print' option, and then click 'Save to iTunes'.  Choose the first file type, and it'll save a copy in a different location on your iPad.  That way, if a file gets corrupted by Pages or deleted/corrupted by iCloud, you can simply click the + button on the Documents page, and select 'Copy from iTunes'.  This will show you all the documents you saved. They also show up in iTunes should you want to pull them off the iPad quickly. 
Sorry if this is no use to you, I hope you manage to get something back!