No Need to Bootstrap with UNO? Better for threading?

[groverblue]

This is a two question post. Currently, all the development I do with Open Office relies on bootstrapping OOo before working with documents/services. From what I understand, UNO/URE allow for development without having to bootstrap (soffice.exe). Is that correct? Below is sample code from:
http://www.openoffice.org/source/browse ... iew=markup

Code: Select all

package com.sun.star.demo;

import java.io.IOException;
import com.sun.star.beans.PropertyValue;
import com.sun.star.beans.PropertyState;
import com.sun.star.bridge.XUnoUrlResolver;
import com.sun.star.io.BufferSizeExceededException;
import com.sun.star.io.NotConnectedException;
import com.sun.star.io.XInputStream;
import com.sun.star.io.XOutputStream;
import com.sun.star.frame.XComponentLoader;
import com.sun.star.lang.XComponent;
import com.sun.star.lang.XMultiServiceFactory;
import com.sun.star.lang.XServiceInfo;
import com.sun.star.text.XSimpleText;
import com.sun.star.text.XText;
import com.sun.star.text.XTextCursor;
import com.sun.star.text.XTextDocument;
import com.sun.star.text.XTextRange;
import com.sun.star.uno.IBridge;
import com.sun.star.uno.UnoRuntime;
import com.sun.star.uno.XInterface;
import com.sun.star.uno.XNamingService;

public class TestOffice {
	static void testPipe(XMultiServiceFactory rSmgr) throws com.sun.star.uno.Exception {
		XOutputStream rOut = (XOutputStream) rSmgr.createInstance("com.sun.star.io.Pipe");

		{
			byte bytes[] = new byte[10];
			bytes[0] = 42;
			rOut.writeBytes(bytes);
		}
	
		
		{
			byte bytes[][] = new byte[1][];

			XInputStream rIn = (XInputStream)UnoRuntime.queryInterface(XInputStream.class, rOut);
			if(rIn.available() != 10)
				System.err.println("wrong bytes available\n");

			if(rIn.readBytes(bytes, 10) != 10)
				System.err.println("wrong bytes read\n");

			if(42 != bytes[0][0])
				System.err.println("wrong element in sequence\n");
		}
	}


	static void testWriter(XComponent rCmp) throws IOException {
		XTextDocument rTextDoc = (XTextDocument)UnoRuntime.queryInterface(XTextDocument.class, rCmp);

		XText rText = (XText)UnoRuntime.queryInterface(XText.class, rTextDoc.getText());
		XTextCursor rCursor = (XTextCursor)UnoRuntime.queryInterface(XTextCursor.class, rText.createTextCursor());
		XTextRange rRange = (XTextRange)UnoRuntime.queryInterface(XTextRange.class, rCursor);

		byte pcText[] = new byte[1024];
		pcText[0] = 0;
		System.err.println("pleast type any text\n");
		while(true)	{
			System.in.read(pcText);

			String string = new String(pcText);
			if(string.equals("end")) break;

			string += " ";

			rText.insertString(rRange , string, false);
		}
	}

	static void testDocument(XMultiServiceFactory rSmgr) throws com.sun.star.uno.Exception, IOException {
		XComponentLoader rLoader = (XComponentLoader)UnoRuntime.queryInterface(XComponentLoader.class, rSmgr.createInstance("com.sun.star.frame.Desktop"));

		String urls[] = new String[] {
			"private:factory/swriter",
			"private:factory/scalc",
			"private:factory/sdraw",
			"http://www.heise.de",
		};

		String docu[] = new String[] {
			"a new writer document ...\n",
			"a new calc document ...\n",
			"a new draw document ...\n",
			"www.heise.de\n",
		};

		for(int i = 0; i < urls.length; ++ i)	{
			System.err.println("press any key to open "  + docu[i]);

			System.in.read();
			while(System.in.available() > 0)
				System.in.read();

			XComponent rComponent = rLoader.loadComponentFromURL(urls[i], "_blank",	0, new PropertyValue[0]);

//    			testWriter(rComponent);
			System.err.println("press any key to close the document");
			System.in.read();
			while(System.in.available() > 0)
				System.in.read();

			rComponent.dispose();
		}
	}

	static void doSomething(Object r) throws com.sun.star.uno.Exception, IOException {
		XNamingService rName = (XNamingService)UnoRuntime.queryInterface(XNamingService.class, r);

		if(rName != null) {
			System.err.println("got the remote naming service !");
			Object rXsmgr = rName.getRegisteredObject("StarOffice.ServiceManager");
			
			XMultiServiceFactory rSmgr = (XMultiServiceFactory)UnoRuntime.queryInterface(XMultiServiceFactory.class, rXsmgr);
			if(rSmgr != null) {
				System.err.println("got the remote service manager !");
//  				testPipe(rSmgr);
				testDocument(rSmgr);
			}
		}
	}



	static String neededServices[] = new String[] {
		"com.sun.star.comp.servicemanager.ServiceManager",
		"com.sun.star.comp.loader.JavaLoader",
		"com.sun.star.comp.connections.Connector",
		"com.sun.star.comp.bridgefactory.BridgeFactory",
		"com.sun.star.comp.urlresolver.UrlResolver"
	};

	public static void main(String argv[]) throws Exception {
		if(argv.length != 1)	{
			System.err.println("usage : testoffice uno:connection;protocol;objectName");
			System.exit(-1);
		}

		com.sun.star.comp.servicemanager.ServiceManager smgr = new com.sun.star.comp.servicemanager.ServiceManager();
		smgr.addFactories(neededServices);

		Object  resolver  = smgr.createInstance("com.sun.star.bridge.UnoUrlResolver" );
		XUnoUrlResolver resolver_xUnoUrlResolver = (XUnoUrlResolver)UnoRuntime.queryInterface(XUnoUrlResolver.class, resolver);

  		Object rInitialObject = resolver_xUnoUrlResolver.resolve(argv[0]);

		if(rInitialObject != null) {
			System.err.println("got the remote object");
			doSomething(rInitialObject);
		}
	}
}

I'm still a confused on the differences and what UNO actually provides developers. What restrictions are there when working with OOo objects in this way? Can I still grab XPrintable interfaces, or export documents (even to PDF)? Does UNO require an Open Office running (ie, a remote server)? etc, etc.

If soffice in server mode is not a requirement, then how would this play out in a threaded application? Right now Open Office has problems when working with multiple documents from multiple threads. Would this eliminate such problems?