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Friday 03rd of September 2010

OpenOffice.org

(OO.o or OOo), commonly known simply as OpenOffice, is a free cross-platform office application software suite for word processing, spreadsheets,presentations,graphics,databases and more.  OpenOffice.org works on all common operating systems like Microsoft Windows, Linux, Solaris, BSD, OpenVMS, OS/2 and IRIX. NeoOffice is an independent fork of OpenOffice, specially adapted for Mac OS X. OpenOffice.org supports the ISO/IEC standard OpenDocument Format (ODF) for data interchange as its default file format, as well as Microsoft Office formats (DOC) among others. As of November 2008, OpenOffice supports over 45 languages.

According to its mission statement, the OpenOffice.org project aims "To create, as a community, the leading international office suite that will run on all major platforms and provide access to all functionality and data through open-component based APIs and an XML-based file format."

OpenOffice.org was originally derived from StarOffice, an office suite developed by StarDivision and acquired by Sun Microsystems in August 1999. The source code of the suite was released in July 2000 with the aim of reducing the dominant market share of Microsoft Office by providing a free, open and high-quality alternative; later versions of StarOffice are based upon OpenOffice.org with additional proprietary components.

Components

OpenOffice.org is a collection of applications that work together closely to provide the features expected from a modern office suite. Many of the components are designed to mirror those available in Microsoft Office. The components available include:

 

  • Writer
    A word processor similar in functionality to Microsoft Word and WordPerfect. It can export Portable Document Format (PDF) files with no additional software, and can function as a basic WYSIWYG editor for creating and editing web pages.
  • Calc
    A spreadsheet similar to Microsoft Excel or Lotus 1-2-3 with a roughly equivalent range of features. Calc provides a number of features not present in Excel, including a system which automatically defines series for graphing, based on the layout of the user’s data. Calc can write spreadsheets in PDF format.
  • Impress
    A presentation program similar to Microsoft PowerPoint. It can export presentations to Adobe Flash (SWF) files, allowing them to be played on any computer with a Flash player installed. It also includes the ability to create PDF files, and the ability to read Microsoft PowerPoint's .ppt format. Impress lacks ready-made presentation designs. However, templates are readily available on the Internet.
  • Base
    A database management program similar to Microsoft Access. Base allows the creation and manipulation of databases, and the building of forms and reports to provide easy access to data for end-users. As with Access, Base may be used as a front-end to a number of different database systems, including Access databases (JET), ODBC data sources and MySQL/PostgreSQL. Base became part of the suite starting with version 2.0. Native to the OpenOffice.org suite is an adaptation of HSQL. While Base can be a front-end for any of the databases listed, there is no need for any of them to be installed.
  • Draw
    A vector graphics editor and diagramming tool, similar to Microsoft Visio and comparable in features to early versions of CorelDRAW. It features versatile "connectors" between shapes, which are available in a range of line styles and facilitate building drawings such as flowcharts. It has similar features to Desktop publishing software such as Scribus and Microsoft Publisher.
  • Math
    A tool for creating and editing mathematical formulae, similar to Microsoft Equation Editor. Formulae can be embedded inside other OpenOffice.org documents, such as those created by Writer. It supports multiple fonts and can export to PDF.

OpenOffice.org Basic

OpenOffice.org Basic is a programming language similar to Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) based on StarOffice Basic. In addition to the macros, the Novell edition of OpenOffice.org has Microsoft VBA macros support since version 2.0, a feature partly incorporated into the mainstream version with version 3.0.

OpenOffice.org Basic is available in the Writer and Calc applications. It is written in functions called subroutines or macros, with each macro performing a different task, such as counting the words in a paragraph. OpenOffice.org Basic is especially useful in doing repetitive tasks that have not been integrated in the program.

As the OpenOffice.org database, called "Base", uses documents created under the Writer application for reports and forms, one could say that Base can also be programmed with OpenOffice.org Basic.

Extensions

Since version 2.0.4, OpenOffice.org has supported extensions in a similar manner to Mozilla Firefox. Extensions make it easy to add new functionality to an existing OpenOffice.org installation. As of November 2008 the OpenOffice.org Extension Repository lists more than 190 extensions. Developers can easily build new extensions for OpenOffice.org, for example by using the OpenOffice.org API Plugin for NetBeans

Microsoft Office interoperability

Microsoft has sponsored the development of a converter from Office Open XML to OpenDocument format and back. Its source code is licensed under a liberal BSD license @ http://odf-converter.sourceforge.net. Novell is distributing builds of that converter (bundled with GNU GPL and LGPL licensed libraries). This allows OOo to read and write Office Open XML documents in OpenOffice.org. As of October 2008 it works only with the latest Novell edition of OpenOffice.org and others that include the same patches.

Sun Microsystems has developed an ODF plugin for Microsoft Office which enables users of Microsoft Office Word, Excel and PowerPoint to read and write ODF documents. The plugin as of October 2008 works with Microsoft Office 2003, Microsoft Office XP and Microsoft Office 2000. Support for Microsoft Office 2007 is only available in combination with Microsoft Office 2007 SP1.

Several software companies (including Microsoft and Novell) are working on an add-in for Microsoft Office that allows reading and writing ODF files. As of October 2008 it works only for Microsoft Word 2007 / XP / 2003.


Currently, there are several derived and/or proprietary works based on OOo, with some of them being:

  • Sun Microsystem's StarOffice, with various complementary add-ons.
  • IBM's Lotus Symphony, with a new interface based on Eclipse (based on OO.o 1.x).
  • OpenOffice.org Novell edition, integrated with Evolution and with an OOXML filter.
  • Beijing Redflag Chinese 2000's RedOffice, fully localized in Chinese characters and with support for English.
  • Planamesa's NeoOffice for Mac OS X with Aqua support via Java.
  • Go-oo, a branch of OpenOffice.org.

OxygenOffice Professional
@  http://sourceforge.net/projects/ooop

An enhancement of OpenOffice.org, providing:

  • Possibility to run Visual Basic for Application (VBA) macros in Calc (for testing)
  • Improved Calc HTML export
  • Enhanced Access support for Base
  • Security fixes
  • Enhanced performance
  • Enhanced color-palette
  • Enhanced help menu, additional User’s Manual, and extended tips for beginners

It provides free of charge for personal and professional use:

  • More than 3,200 graphics, both clip art and photos.
  • Several templates and sample documents.
  • Over 90 fonts.
  • Additional tools such as OOoWikipedia

Download Openoffice.org @ http://download.openoffice.org/

Many Linux distributions now include a version of OpenOffice.org in their own native package manager format (.rpm, .deb, etc.)

 

Using Yum to install openoffice.org

start a terminal and type the following at the shell prompt:

# yum list | grep openoffice

This will produce about eighty lines of output that should start something like this:

openoffice.org.i386                      1.1.5-10.6.0.7.EL4     update          
openoffice.org-i18n.i386                 1.1.5-10.6.0.7.EL4     update          
openoffice.org-kde.i386                  1.1.5-10.6.0.7.EL4     update          
openoffice.org-libs.i386                 1.1.5-10.6.0.7.EL4     update          
openoffice.org2-base.i386                1:2.0.4-5.7.0.6.0      update          
openoffice.org2-calc.i386                1:2.0.4-5.7.0.6.0      update          
openoffice.org2-core.i386                1:2.0.4-5.7.0.6.0      update          
openoffice.org2-draw.i386                1:2.0.4-5.7.0.6.0      update          
....

Then just use yum to install packages

# yum install openoffice.org2-draw openoffice.org2-impress

Using Apt to install openoffice.org

start a terminal and type the following at the shell prompt:

# apt-get install openoffice.org
or 
# sudo apt-get install openoffice.org

Other Open Source Office Suites
 

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