Have been able to confirm that neither options are retained when the file is saved as rich text format. 

However for me table width > relative wasn't retained in ODF text document format either. Repeat headings however was retained.

Created attachment 83581 [details]
.ODT format screenshots

I used OOo version 4.1.0 using a laptop Windows 8.1, 
64-bit operating system with Intel(r) Core (TM) processor.
Was able to replicate this issue in Open Office 4.1.0 with different results after saving and reopening.

My results for .ODT were:
Table Format options not available for selection.
Text Flow – Repeat Heading was retained.
  
Results for .RTF: 
Table Format selections were available for selection.
Text Flow options Break, W/Page Style (these options weren’t available before saving), Allow Table Split options were available but Repeat Heading was not retained.

Steps to Recreate Results

1.Opened Apache Open Office Writer 4.1.0. 
File >New>Text Document>Insert Table and selected rows and columns.

2.Go to Tables> Table Properties. Table Format - Width>Relative not available to select.
 
3.Select Text Flow> options: Allow table to split options are selected.  Repeat Heading not selected.

4.Select Repeat Heading saved .odt format.

5.Repeat steps 1-3. Break>W/Pg Style options unavailable. Select Repeat Heading > save .rtf format

6.Reopened .odt > Table Properties> Table Format - Width>Relative not available to select. 

7.Text Flow > options: Allow table to split selections are retained.  Repeat Heading still selected.

8.Reopened .rtf > Table Properties> Table Format - Width>Relative available to select. 

9. Text Flow > options: Break, W/Pg Style, Allow table to split options retained.  ‘Repeat Heading’ not retained.

Created attachment 83582 [details]
.rtf format screenshots

Was able to replicate this issue in Open Office 4.1.0 with slightly different results.  Text Flow options Break, W/Page Style (these options weren’t available before saving).

(In reply to Peter from comment #0)
> In OpenOffice Writer 4.1.0 the options in Table Properties > Table > Width >
> Relative AND > Text Flow > Repeat Heading are selected; the document is
> saved and then reopened:
> 
> [...]
> 
> 2. When document is saved as Rich Text Format (.rtf) both options are lost
> after Save and Open.  

Maybe RTF doesn't know these options?

I have successfully replicated this bug in OpenOffice 4.1.1 running on Windows 8.1. I followed the below steps to replicate this bug –
1) Create a new document in openoffice writer and insert a table.
2) Go to Table Properties  Table  Width and Check Relative AND select Repeat Heading in Text Flow tab.
3) Save the document as .rtf format close it and open it again
4) Check the relative and Repeat heading options, both saved options are lost

I have done some follow-up tests to see how the changes are saved in .dot format, I found that when saving in .dot format and opening the doc again the changes saved for “Relative” check is lost whereas it remains same for "Repeat Heading".
I also tried Checking “Keep with Next Paragraph” in Text flow tab and saving the document in .rtf format and opening it again, this change is lost too after opening the document again.
I would consider this feature important since any Format changes made should be present after closing and opening the document again.

I have successfully replicated the initial bug about lost 'Relative' and 'Repeat Heading' properties on both OS X 10.11.3 with OO Version 4.1.2 AOO412m3(Build:9782)  -  Rev. 1709696 and on Windows 10 with OO Version 4.2.0 AOO42m1(Build:9800) - Rev. 1692551.

I've also made some follow up tests with other properties of 'Table Format' window that have recovered additional issues (same behavior on both OS X 10.11.3 and Windows 10):

1. Values of the 'Text Flow', 'Borders', 'Background' tabs are reset to ‘default’ rtf value after either switching from odt to rtf or after saving rtf document and reopening it in OO Writer;
2. 'Width' field value of 'Table' tab decreases after either switching from odt to rtf or after saving rtf document and reopening in it OO Writer.

See full investigation document clarifying which fields lose their value here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_pDezTGXzcPh2U_aW9_Yeg8M9hLewNgpCbHA_CD5fFQ/edit?usp=sharing.


Also listing some additional tests that I've made (both on OS X and Windows):

1. Checking that every function of the 'Table Format' window is saved after saving and reopening document with a table. Here I've tried several different paths:
    - Create new .odt doc, insert table, change some settings in 'Table Format' window, save doc in .odt, reopen OO Writer, check that 'Table Format' window values are still the same - this test was PASSED, except little discrepancy in 'Columns' field (possibly related to manual alignment);
    -  Create new .odt doc, insert table, change some settings in 'Table Format' window, save doc in .rtf, reopen OO Writer, check that 'Table Format' window values are still the same - this test was generally FAILED, introducing some new issues (described above);
    - Open existing .rtf doc, insert a table, change some values in 'Table Format' window, save .rtf doc, reopen OO Writer, check that 'Table Format' window values are still the same - this test has also FAILED. In this case the behaviour is the same as when moving from .odt to .rtf (see issues listed above);
    - Create new .odt doc, insert table, change some settings in 'Table Format' window, save doc in .doc format (Microsoft Office 2007), reopen OO Writer, check that 'Table Format' window values are still the same - this test was PASSED, all values are retained. The issue is localized only around .rtf format.

2. Checking consistency between the same features in competitive products (Microsoft Word 2011 on OS X). The behaviour in Word differs from OO Writer: all values of table formatting window (including 'Width' field, breaking text in a cell or setting cell borders) are retained after either changing format to .rtf or after further reopening .rtf doc.

I assume that regarding obtained test results this bug is pretty important, as it introduces several new inconsistencies with .rtf format: within the product (since the data is partially changed when reopening OO Writer) and with competitive product (Microsoft Word doesn't lose .rtf formatting data after reopening).

This issue may be related to the current one: https://bz.apache.org/ooo/show_bug.cgi?id=125199. It shows similar behaviour ("Repeat Heading" and "Table-Alignment" fields values lost), when saving .doc file in OO Writer and further opening it in Microsoft Word.

(In reply to mroe from comment #6)
> (In reply to Peter from comment #0)
> > In OpenOffice Writer 4.1.0 the options in Table Properties > Table > Width >
> > Relative AND > Text Flow > Repeat Heading are selected; the document is
> > saved and then reopened:
> > 
> > [...]
> > 
> > 2. When document is saved as Rich Text Format (.rtf) both options are lost
> > after Save and Open.  
> 
> Maybe RTF doesn't know these options?

Using a laptop with Windows 10 operating system, I tested this same issue using Microsoft Office Word 2016. When reopening .rtf file using Word, the options are retained. Therefore, it is a bug with Open Office.

On Word I preformed these steps:
1. Open Microsoft Word 2016
2. Create a New Document
3. Insert -> Table
4. Choose number of Rows and Columns
5. Table Tools Layout -> Properties -> Row
6. Check the box next to Repeat as Header . . .
7. File -> Save As -> .rtf 
8. Exit out of Word and reopen the .rtf file
9. Repeat step 5

Results: The box for repeat as header . . . is still checked.

Also for grins I decided to test the .rtf file I created using Word on Open Office. 

I opened Open Office 4.1.2 (which previously wouldn't retain the options for .rtf).

I performed these steps:
1. File Open -> .rtf file (created from Microsoft word with repeat header option saved)
2. Insert -> Table Properties -> Text Flow

Result:
The repeat header option is still selected. This leads me to believe that it is an error while saving a .rtf file via Open Office and not with the binary format interpreter.

One final note. I created a .rtf file using Open Office and followed all the steps to create a table and select the repeat header option. I saved the file then reopened it, and the options were not saved. (No surprise there). I then proceeded to open the same file in Microsoft word, and the options were not available there either.

Marked as confirmed. To all that did work on this please subscribe to the QA mailing list and request to be added to the QA team in Bugzilla. This will allow you to mark issues as confirmed that you work on along with other privileges.