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Can Impress open a PowerPoint .pptm file and run the macros?

Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2017 10:16 pm
by Dondean
Hi all.
I'm a total newbie to Apache OpenOffice and just downloaded and installed OO 4.1.3 (Actually, I installed only the Impress module).
I have created a PowerPoint (MS Office 2010) presentation containing macros (.pptm file) and want people who do not have PP to be able to run the presentation with the macros.
So I wanted to try and use Impress as a free alternative for them.
When I open the .pptm file in Impress, I do not see the macros and they do not run when I run the presentation.

So my questions are:
1. Does Impress support the opening of a PowerPoint .pptm macro file and allow editing of the macros?
2. If so, how does one see and edit the macros in Impress (Possibly there is a setting that I do not have right.)
3. And if (1) and (2) can be done, then will I need to make changes to the macro code in Inpress, in order for the presentation to work properly?

Thanks.
Don

Re: Can Impress open a PowerPoint .pptm file and run the mac

Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2017 10:22 pm
by RoryOF
OpenOffice may open the PowerPoint slides for display, but will _NOT_ run the macros as the underlying engine is different. OO macro programming is complex.

Re: Can Impress open a PowerPoint .pptm file and run the mac

Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2017 2:59 am
by Dondean
Thanks RoryOF.
Isn't the macro programming in OO based on Visual Basic, like MS Office macros are?
So wouldn't coding in both be very similar?
I'm curious as to why I can't see the PP macros in OO.

Don

Re: Can Impress open a PowerPoint .pptm file and run the mac

Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2017 3:11 am
by robleyd
Dondean wrote:Isn't the macro programming in OO based on Visual Basic, like MS Office macros are?
No, it is a completely different basic
So wouldn't coding in both be very similar?
Hence, No.

Re: Can Impress open a PowerPoint .pptm file and run the mac

Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2017 7:27 am
by Zizi64
The Basic (StarBasic) of the Apache OpenOffice _is_ a simple, pure programming language only. The AOO and the LibreOffice has a Basic IDE (Integrated Development Environment) for easy usage the Basic programming language.
The API of the AOO/LO is a function library. (API = Application Programming Interface). You can control the AOO/LO applications by usage the API functions.

The MS VBA of the MS Office suite is a combined 'IDE and API' for _one_operating system (Windows).

The AOO and the LO are multiplatform office suites. Therefore the API is a platform-independent, programming language-independent programming interface.
You can use the API functions on every supported operation systems, and you can use the API functions with various programming languages and environments.

Re: Can Impress open a PowerPoint .pptm file and run the mac

Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2017 4:41 pm
by Dondean
Thanks for the added explanation Zizi64.
Would you say that AOO Impress can do pretty much anything that can be done in MS PP?

One other thing I'm curious about.
While I'm still getting familiar with the setup of Impress and how it works, I kept getting a message that I needed to install Java.
So I did, and now I'm wondering if Java is only needed when writing macros for Impress, or
will a Java environment also be required for anyone who runs an Impress presentation that contains macros?.

Thanks.
Don

Re: Can Impress open a PowerPoint .pptm file and run the mac

Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2017 4:48 pm
by Zizi64
Would you say that AOO Impress can do pretty much anything that can be done in MS PP?
Try it. I do not know, what you want to achieve in AOO Impress, and I never used the PowerPoint. (I used only the Excel and the Word in the far past.)