[Solved] How do I distribute an OO Calc add-in

[FinancialEngineer]

As the title of my post suggests, I seek a way of distributing an OpenOffice Calc add-in that has been coded using OpenOffice BASIC language

I wrote a test function in OpenOffice Calc document using the Macro editor. I tested the said function in the same document

So far so good

Now if I were to have a large set of functions in this add-in, obviously I can use such functions in the same Calc document but the question I have is if I wanted to distribute this add-in to other OpenOffice Calc users so that they can use all such functions in their OO Calc documents, how would I do so

I looked at my folders but did not find any individual file that contains the add-in code

On a different note, after creating this test add-in in OO Calc, I did an install of LibreOffice. To my surprise I noticed that my add-in code was already present in this installation of LibreOffic Calc without me copying or moving the add-in code from OpenOffice

Thank You

[Villeroy]

Tools>Macros>Organize>Basic ... button [Organizer...], tab [Libraries], button [Export...].
Your library must not be named "Standard" since you do not want to overwrite this library on anybody elses system.

Please remove that spam from your signature. Nobody here is interested in your business.

[FinancialEngineer]

Tools>Macros>Organize>Basic ... button [Organizer...], tab [Libraries], button [Export...].
Your library must not be named "Standard" since you do not want to overwrite this library on anybody elses system.

Please remove that spam from your signature. Nobody here is interested in your business.

Hello and thanks for the guidance

Now that I have created a new library under My Macros and moved the add-in codes from Standard library to this new library, the functions have stopped working and now I am getting a #VALUE error for the same function calls that were initially working when the functions were residing in Standard library

Any hints on what is causing #VALUE errors to creep up

And I have removed the links, I thought it would be allowed to have links since Signature area allowed for URL BB codes

[FinancialEngineer]

Hello and thanks for the guidance
Now that I have created a new library under My Macros and moved the add-in codes from Standard library to this new library, the functions have stopped working and now I am getting a #VALUE error for the same function calls that were initially working when the functions were residing in Standard library

Any hints on what is causing #VALUE errors to creep up
codes

Since I am new to this whole OO and LO stuff, I have now tried several options for the custom functions in the add-in file

After noticing that the functions in Library other than Standard Library (My Macros) was not working I went ahead and created a library for the current document and copied the function code in this

But this did not work either so I deleted both new libraries from under My Macros and from under current document and created the code in the Standard Library under My Macros

This is the only case that I find the functions to be working the other two options for libraries were reporting #VALUE and #NAME errors

Any possible reason for this to not work under non Standard function libraries?

[RoryOF]

Not immediately related to your problems, but possibly a pointer to a solution:

The standard work on OpenOffice macros is that of Andrew Pitonyak, downloadable from his site
http://www.pitonyak.org/oo.php
If I were working with OO macros (which I'm not at present), this would be my starting point.

[karolus]

Hallo
You don't have AddIn - you only have UDFs (UserDefinedFunctions).

Such UDF must be stored in Module inside 'Standard'-Library to made accessible from Calc.

Karolus

[FinancialEngineer]

Hallo
You don't have AddIn - you only have UDFs (UserDefinedFunctions).

Such UDF must be stored in Module inside 'Standard'-Library to made accessible from Calc.

Karolus

Ok then, I need to be clear about the way the Open Source model of OpenOffice, LibreOffice and Symphony works

I know Open does not infer Free

Do the terms of respective organizations (Apache, The Document Foundation) permit 3rd parties to market their own add-in solutions for these products

And not that I write the best of code but still I would like to keep my algos to myself and writing custom functions in Calc BASIC would expose the code (for whatever it is worth). thus is there an example Hello World program available for the OpenOffice SDK using C++ langauge

Thank You

[karolus]

Hallo

See http://www.biochemfusion.com/doc/Calc_addin_howto.html

Karolus

[Hagar Delest]

Do the terms of respective organizations (Apache, The Document Foundation) permit 3rd parties to market their own add-in solutions for these products

Of course. They allow such ecosystem.

Perhaps you should deliver your code as an extension. The only thing that makes me wonder is the comment by karolus about the need to have the functions in the standard library. Not sure it's compatible with an extension that installs in parallel. Personally, I've made an extension with my own macros for work and it's easier to install when I've to change my machine or reset the user profile. Easier to bundle all the macros that are in several libraries (with dialogs) in a same container like an extension.

NB: seeing (quickly) the link from karolus, it seems that the extension is the way to go.

[FinancialEngineer]

Thanks all to those who provided feedback

Much appreciated

Now I will have to sort out my schedule in juggling between different projects at the same time

I am sure there will more questions from me once I read the material that was linked in an earlier reply for creating add-ins with C/C++

Just on a side note, why is there a need for multiple software products based on the same code (referring to OpenOffice, LibreOffice and Symphony) and are there any other products that are based on the standards provided by The Document Foundation

And who are your core users. Is it those like me who haven't got a buck to buy MS Office or is it organizations and companies that are seeking open standard solutions rather than closed ones

[FinancialEngineer]

And one last and important question

I tend to respect other's trademarks and would want to know what is acceptable and what is not when it comes to naming a 3rd party extension or solution for a given product

To help illustrate my point, my current add-in for Microsoft Excel is called tadXL where the abbreviated XL for Excel is accepted as not infringing marks owned by Microsoft. And I have not received any complaints from Microsoft or it's representatives about use of such name

In regards to using a name such as tadOO or tadOOcalc for a 3rd party extension to OpenOffice calc program, would such references to Apache's product be acceptable or would I need to ask for prior permission for use of any abbreviations of Apache's trademarks

[RoryOF]

In regards to using a name such as tadOO or tadOOcalc for a 3rd party extension to OpenOffice calc program, would such references to Apache's product be acceptable or would I need to ask for prior permission for use of any abbreviations of Apache's trademarks

I doubt that there will be any objection to use of such abbreviations, nor, I think, is there need to request permission.

[Villeroy]

If your user-defined Basic functions are specific to one particular spreadsheet document or template, it would be better to wrap the into that document or template. If the functions should be accessible from any spreadsheet document, a true add-in would be the professional approach. An add-in integrates your functions so they are almost indistinguishable from the built-in ones with localized help files, localized names of functions and parameters, appearance in the function wizard. This would require object-oriented code in a true programming language (not Basic) and some configuration in XML.

You may distribute your Basic functions in some office document, e.g. documentation in Writer or a Calc demo having a module "tadOO" in the standard library.
Put the following installation routine in another module and bind it to some push button in that document.

Code: Select all

Sub Main
source = BasicLibraries.getByName("Standard") 'this document's library "Standard"
target = GlobalScope.BasicLibraries.getByName("Standard") ' user's library "Standard"
sCode = source.getByName("tadOO") ' string content of that module
if target.hasByName("tadOO") then target.removeByName("tadOO")
target.insertByName("tadOO", sCode)
End Sub

This inserts or replaces a module "tadOO" into the standard library. Any code modified (replaced) by this routine will not be shown in the Basic editor until you reload the suite.

[FinancialEngineer]

Exactly the help I needed.

I read through that OOo Calc add-in creation tutorial on Bio Chem site and have one question

I am going to use Visual C++ instead of Python or Java
[so does the version number of Visual Studio matters? as I have both Visual Studio 2005 and 2008]

And Does the order of install matter such as

1) Install Visual Studio first
2) Install OpenOffice SDK second

or

1) Install OpenOffice SDK first
2) Install Visual Studio second

And lastly I have only used Windows OS all my life and no knowledge of any other OS such as Linux, Mac so I assume that an OO Calc add-in created with C++ on Windows will only run with OpenOffice on Windows and that if I wanted my add-in to work on other OS such as Linux and Mac it will require source code compilation natively on those operating systems. Is it so?

Thank You

[FinancialEngineer]

I think I found the right help files in Wiki on OOo site and going through the steps needed to compile a c++ based add-in

http://wiki.openoffice.org/wiki/SDKInst ... B_examples

Even though the article is outdated, still the steps for compiling a c++ based add-in hold valid for the latest OpenOffice SDK with some minor changes that one can figure out on their own

Thank you

[hanya]

thus is there an example Hello World program available for the OpenOffice SDK using C++ langauge

How about this: http://wiki.openoffice.org/wiki/CompleteAddIn . This does not adapted to implement with configuration files but it describes well.

so does the version number of Visual Studio matters?

If you have the same version of the VC++ that the office compiled, its better to use it. Apache OpenOffice 3.4 is compiled with VC++2008. And LibreOffice 3.3-3.6 are compiled with 2008 but LO 4.0 is compiled with 2010 (see https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Rel ... PI_Changes).

And Does the order of install matter such as

Nothing important on the order. You have to setup to generate batch file to set environmental variables if you want to build examples with Makefiles contained.
You can compile your extension libraries with VC++ project file if you want. But if you do not familier with the SDK, I suppose you to start with the way described (because IDL based include files should be generated using cppumaker, this is sometimes asked in this forum also). Once you write Makefile for your extension, it can be used to build your code in the other OS (if you take cared to match).

if I wanted my add-in to work on other OS such as Linux and Mac it will require source code compilation natively on those operating systems. Is it so?

If your extension does not have some dependencies to other libraries that provided only specific environment, you can do it easily.

[FinancialEngineer]

I am sorry but marking only one of the many answers as a Solution to the OP will not do justice to all the great help I received

So please accept my apologies if I left this thread Unresolved

Thanks all once again

This is a much better place than the one where I spent 2 years participating 12 hours a day and at the end of the day they told to go screw myself

I won't name them but THEY don't need any introduction. They are like the global mafia that controls this thing called the INTERNET

I guess now I would have to keep an eye on my sites' SERPS as they don't take criticism lightly and are known to take corrective action.

[RoryOF]

By marking the first posting in a thread [Solved] (Go to posting, press Edit button, add [Solved] on Subject line, and check the green tick), that thread is flagged as solved at the top level. This is most useful for other Users with the same (or similar) problems. So please do that.