[Tutorial] Introduction into object inspection with MRI
Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 1:22 am
Download and Install
MRI is an extension and can be downloaded from the OpenOffice Extension Site: http://extensions.services.openoffice.o ... roject/MRI. Install it as any other extension with the help of the extension manager. See the online Help (F1) for detailed information:
Common Help Topics -> Configuring OpenOffice.org -> Extension Manager
Note, that the Python UNO-Bridge needs to be installed for the MRI to work. The Python UNO-Bridge is installed by default. So unless you explicitly deselected it during a custom install, your OpenOffice is ready for MRI.
You can start MRI from the Tools -> Add-ons Menu. There you have the choice to either run it without referencing anything (in this case initial target is the current document) or with referencing the current selection. Then the initial target is the object that matches with the selection.
One thing that you surely want to do when you have opened the MRI dialog for the first time is to go to its options (that's the Tools menu in the MRI window/frame and from that drop down menu the last item "Configuration...") and specify the location of the API documentation (in most cases you should leave the default http://api.openoffice.org/ unless you don't have a permanent internet connection and want to use a SDK that you installed on your local hard drive) and, probably more important, the browser that you want to use to visit the API pages. The path to the browser needs to be in the generic URI form with file:// as protocol specifier in the front. Up to today most of us are still thinking of C:\Program Files\Firefox\firefox.exe or /usr/local/bin/firefox as a path. I don't want to cure you from old habits, even if they are bad habits, so simply click on the [Select] button and navigate to the browser's executable file.
Documentation
MRI comes with an extensive help system that is integrated into the normal OpenOffice online help during its installation. Unfortunately this is often overlooked, because many people simply don't expect an extension to behave in such a nice way. They typically think: "It's an extension for free. There is probably no documentation apart from the Readme file on its website."
MRI is an extension and can be downloaded from the OpenOffice Extension Site: http://extensions.services.openoffice.o ... roject/MRI. Install it as any other extension with the help of the extension manager. See the online Help (F1) for detailed information:
Common Help Topics -> Configuring OpenOffice.org -> Extension Manager
Note, that the Python UNO-Bridge needs to be installed for the MRI to work. The Python UNO-Bridge is installed by default. So unless you explicitly deselected it during a custom install, your OpenOffice is ready for MRI.
You can start MRI from the Tools -> Add-ons Menu. There you have the choice to either run it without referencing anything (in this case initial target is the current document) or with referencing the current selection. Then the initial target is the object that matches with the selection.
One thing that you surely want to do when you have opened the MRI dialog for the first time is to go to its options (that's the Tools menu in the MRI window/frame and from that drop down menu the last item "Configuration...") and specify the location of the API documentation (in most cases you should leave the default http://api.openoffice.org/ unless you don't have a permanent internet connection and want to use a SDK that you installed on your local hard drive) and, probably more important, the browser that you want to use to visit the API pages. The path to the browser needs to be in the generic URI form with file:// as protocol specifier in the front. Up to today most of us are still thinking of C:\Program Files\Firefox\firefox.exe or /usr/local/bin/firefox as a path. I don't want to cure you from old habits, even if they are bad habits, so simply click on the [Select] button and navigate to the browser's executable file.
Documentation
MRI comes with an extensive help system that is integrated into the normal OpenOffice online help during its installation. Unfortunately this is often overlooked, because many people simply don't expect an extension to behave in such a nice way. They typically think: "It's an extension for free. There is probably no documentation apart from the Readme file on its website."