OpenOffice.org Macros Explained

On more than one occasion, I knew what I needed to use to solve a problem, but I just couldn't figure out the details. This is where a working example is invaluable. There are numerous sources for help on the Internet; more become available all the time. Here is a list of sites that may help you:

Reference Material

• http://api.openoffice.org/ is the site where I spend most of my time. This site lists most interfaces and services and contains the primary Developer's Guide. The guide has a reputation for being difficult to understand, but the authors are working to make the content more accessible to less technical readers.

• http://docs.sun.com/db/coll/999.2?q=star+office contains Sun Microsystems' StarOffice documentation.

• http://docs.sun.com/db/doc/817-1826-10: Sun wrote a book on macro programming. This book contains some of the same errors as the included help files, but it is an excellent document. It's very well written and laid out, and Sun is working hard to eliminate the errors.

Macro Examples

• http://www.pitonyak.org/oo.php is my personal Web site, created before I decided to write a book. This site contains my macro document, which contains numerous working examples but is short on explanations . This document is frequently updated as I add new examples. The direct link to my macro document is http://www.pitonyak.org/AndrewMacro.sxw .

• http://disemia.com/software/openoffice/ contains some nice examples.

• http://kienlein.com/pages/oo.html contains some excellent macros, with short descriptions of the macros in German.

• http://www.darwinwars.com/lunatic/ bugs /oo_macros.html is a good first stop when looking for Writer macros. The author of this site is a professional writer who uses the macros-so they work!

• http://www.ooomacros.org/ contains some nice code snippets and other links.

Miscellaneous

• http://www.openoffice.org/ is the main OOo link. This site contains a lot of information, such as links to mailing lists that you can search, and the OOo bug-tracking system IssueZilla. You can join the site (it's free) to gain more capabilities, such as entering bug reports and subscribing to mailing lists.

• http://development.openoffice.org/index.html is the developer project link from the main OOo Web page. Numerous links and resources are available from this page.

• http://www.oooforum.org/ contains numerous help forums. This site includes help for the different components of OOo-including macro programming. I frequently visit the oooforum site.

• http://ooodocs. sourceforge .net/ contains many help files separated into categories, including a section on macro programming.

• http://dba.openoffice.org/downloads/index.html contains database- related scripts and information.

• http://scripting.openoffice.org/ is the OpenOffice.org scripting Web site.

• http://udk . openoffice.org/ is a rather advanced site containing answers to many questions that you probably didn't think to ask. Serious developers of all types will find useful information here. There are links to specific information about handling UNO objects from Basic, and even a good tutorial on how to perform office automation from other programming languages ( http://udk.openoffice.org/common/man/tutorial/office_automation.html ).

• http://documentation.openoffice.org/ is the home page for the documentation project. This site contains documentation on numerous topics. The How-To link references a document that discusses how to embed controls that call macros into documents. This is an excellent interactive document. http://documentation.openoffice.org/HOW_TO/various_topics/How_to_use_basic_macros.sxw

• http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=43716 contains numerous templates and examples.