libreoffice basic programming guide pdf

The search expression sh.rt therefore can stand for both for, The character ^ marks the start of a paragraph. The example code modifies the content in each of these paragraph portions using the String property of the string. The Basic interpreter first calculates the result of the addition process and then converts this into a string, which, as its result, produces the string 2. The integrated development environment (IDE) which provides an editor for creating and testing macros. The following get methods are available: In all instances, the number of columns should be listed as a parameter whose values should be queried. The minimum value of the Y-axis is fixed to 0 and the maximum value is fixed to 100 so that the resolution of the chart is retained even if the values are changed. OpenOffice.org BASIC Programming Guide 2 OpenOffice. The following methods are provided as presentation objects: The following properties are also available: LibreOffice can display data as a chart, which creates graphical representations of numerical data in the form of bars, pie charts, lines or other elements. A loop executes a code block for the number of passes that are specified. The chart wall is the background of the coordinate system where the data is plotted. The text field is then inserted in the document using the associated text object of the left-hand footer line. However, this may have fatal consequences. The com.sun.star.view.XPrintable interface, which contains the methods for printing documents. The color for the rear wall of the chart is set to white. In this example, the graphics are depicted as 40 percent transparent with no other color conversions do not take place (GraphicColorMode = STANDARD). The example is shown as in-line code, for clarity; in practice, the search would be inside a function, called with the name as a string parameter, and include error processing. This view shows not only the individual values, but also an overview of all the values. LibreOffice Basic predefines several constants. Text tables are available in LibreOffice through the TextTables list of the document object. LibreOffice programming with Java or C++ is a considerably more complex process than programming with LibreOffice Basic. . For Solaris and Linux, an evaluation of the stacksize is performed and the recursion level is calculated. RectangleShape.String = "This is a test" The error sources noted for implicit type conversions can only be avoided by careful programming; for example, by not using the variant data type. The basic object must provide the XEnumerationAccess interface, which contains only a createEnumeration method. VBA: When requested in LibreOffice Basic, the Dir function, using the parameter 16, only returns the sub-directories of a folder. In LibreOffice Basic, this is accomplished with the On Error or Resume commands. The associated com.sun.star.form.FormButtonType group of constants provides the following values: The OK and Cancel button types provided in dialogs are not supported in forms. BASIC Files BASIC Runtime Library BASIC Runtime parameters BASIC Structured Data Types Andrew Pitonyak Latest Macro Guide LibreOffice and OpenOffice.org share the same Basic macro language and API (Application Programming Interface). LibreOffice documents are based on the XML file format. Text frame objects provide a range of properties with which the position and behavior of the frame can be influenced. Working with LibreOffice Basic The Open instruction used to open the file contains the For Input expression in place of the For Output expression and, rather than the Print command for writing data, the Line Input instruction should be used to read the data. If you are familiar with an interface, then you can transfer your knowledge from one service to another. If a corresponding model is found, then a reference to this is saved in the Ctl variable and the search is terminated. When using the CompatibilityMode ( true ) function, LibreOffice Basic behaves like VBA and the Dir function, using parameter 16, returns sub-directories and standard files. If the center of a paragraph, for example, contains a word printed in bold, then it will be represented in LibreOffice by three paragraph portions: the portion before the bold type, then the word in bold, and finally the portion after the bold type, which is again depicted as normal. Basic can handle both methods like a property Name. The preceding Filename and Title properties are of the string type. In addition to the standard properties, the following database-specific properties must also be set in the form: The com.sun.star.sdb.CommandType enumeration covers the following values: The database fields are assigned to the individual control elements through this property: Another control element is provided for work with databases, the table control element. In addition to the properties for characters (com.sun.star.style.CharacterProperties service, refer to #Text Documents) and lines (com.sun.star.drawing.LineStyle service, refer to #Drawings and Presentations), it provides the following properties: For the primary axes grids and sub grids can be displayed, matching to the major and minor intervals. The two functions are handled identically. LibreOffice Basic supports Modules and Libraries. VBA: While the type of a field in VBA is specified by a parameter of the Document.Fields.Add method, the name of the service that is responsible for the field type in question defines it in LibreOffice Basic. In addition to the standard control elements, a table control element is also available for forms, which enables the complete incorporation of database tables. Import and export of spreadsheets in multiple formats, including HTML, CSV, PDF, and Java LibreOffice Programming. The LoadLibrary method performs this task. Whereas the document object in VBA is called a Workbook and its individual pages Worksheets, they are called SpreadsheetDocument and Sheet in LibreOffice Basic. Getting Started Guide | LibreOffice Documentation - LibreOffice User Guides en / English documentation / Getting Started Guide Getting Started Guide Download PDF Guide Source Files Read in your browser Download PDF Buy a printed copy Guide Source Files Read in your browser Download PDF Buy a printed copy Read in your browser Download PDF To make your code easier to read, you should assign meaningful names to these procedures. In the present version of LibreOffice, a visible StarDesktop is no longer used. 257x267px As the number of these words is initially unknown, you need to be able to subsequently change the field limits. Paragraph portions displayed in bold type are marked using a HTML element when exporting. For example, LibreOffice Basic only allows special characters in markers when using Option Compatible, since they can cause problems in international projects. Each cell is defined by its X and Y-position with respect to the top left cell which has the position (0,0). This includes the way in which file names are structured for LibreOffice documents, as well as the format in which files are saved. You can move the data from one list to the other using the buttons between the two list boxes. In VBA, you can also use the keyword ByRef to force a parameter to be passed by reference. The number of elements in an array is not affected if you use Option Base 1, only the start index changes. (When listing the service name of a text field, uppercase and lowercase characters should be used in LibreOffice Basic, as in the previous example.). The assignment. A control element of a form has three aspects: The models of the control elements of a form are available through the GetByName method of the Object form: The example determines the model of the MyListBox control element, which is located in the first form of the text document currently open. For example, if only the C:\SubDir1 directory exists, then a call. Basic Programming Examples Creating a Dialog Handler Creating Event Listeners Getting Session Information Identifying the operating system Monitoring Document Events Opening a Dialog With Basic Programming Examples for Controls in the Dialog Editor Calling Python Scripts from Basic Related Topics LibreOffice Basic Help Please support us! The start index of a data field usually begins with the value 0. This chapter presents the central interfaces and services of text documents. If you assign a floating point number to an integer variable, the number is rounded up or down to the next whole number. Note: If a new page is inserted in a drawing document of several pages, all subsequent pages which have not been renamed will automatically see their default name change, e.g. If there is another line inwards, it marks the transition to a filled area. As a result, LibreOffice Basic enables the creation of a variable through simple usage and without an explicit declaration. Standard file names using this system begin with the prefix file:/// followed by the local path. The inner loop processes the paragraph portions in these paragraphs. The Step property of a dialog defines the current tab page of the dialog whereas the Step property for a control element specifies the tab page where the control element is to be displayed. It only allows iteration to be applied forward, and for values to be interrogated. The LibreOffice Basic programming language can be divided into four components: Note: The structure for hatches has the following properties: The following example demonstrates the use of a hatch structure: This code creates a simple hatch structure (HatchStyle = SINGLE) whose lines are rotated 45 degrees (Angle). The Goto ErrorHandler ensures that LibreOffice Basic exits the current program line and then executes the ErrorHandler: code. These event types can be divided into four groups: When you work with events, make sure that you create the associated dialog in the LibreOffice development environment and that it contains the required control elements or documents (if you apply the events to a form). Information about how to create, open, save and print documents is described in #Working with Documents, because it can be used not only for text documents, but also for other types of documents. Essential parameters must be enclosed in parentheses after the function or procedure names. The expression, is interpreted as 1.43 minus 2, which corresponds to the value -0.57. Note: its spell checker, forms designer, and charting tools). The following example shows a double loop which passes over all paragraphs of a text document and the paragraph portions they contain and applies the replacement processes from the previous example: The example runs through a text document in a double loop. Some DOS-specific file and directory functions are no longer provided in LibreOffice, or their function is only limited. The effect on any particular function is described with that function, below. The first section deals with the anatomy of text documents and concentrates on how a LibreOffice Basic program can be used to take iterative steps through a LibreOffice document. A string consists of a sequence of consecutive individual characters. If assignment is successful, the function returns True. The following example declares a data field that has six integer values and which can be addressed using the indexes 5 to 10: The indexes do not need to be positive values. The following example shows how to create a chart assigned to some cell ranges within a spreadsheet document: Although the code used in the example may appear to be complex, the central processes are limited to three lines. The FileProperties array has two elements, one for each option used. If an error is made during the modifications, this can be undone using the cancelRowUpdates()method. The letter "e" can be lowercase or uppercase with or without a plus sign (+) as a prefix. The compiler uses the qualifiers from the With as though they were written in front of the partly-qualified name. The tables inserted in a text document can be determined using a simple loop. A corresponding source text can be seen in the previous example. To get the most out of this book, you should be familiar with other programming languages. Microsoft based its Windows product on the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) character set, which was gradually extended to include characters that are missing from the ASCII character set. Anyone who is already familiar with LibreOffice Basic programming can find additional information in the Developer's Guide on LibreOffice Basic and LibreOffice programming. The same applies when attempting to assign a string to a Boolean variable: Again, the basic interpreter reports an error. The following properties of an option button are available through its model object: The mechanism for grouping option buttons distinguishes between the control elements for dialogs and forms. Download PDF. The & operator is safer when dealing with strings because it assumes that all arguments should be strings, and converts the arguments to strings if they are not strings. After modification, the values must be transferred into the database using the updateRow()method. The bookmarks of a text are accessed through a list called Bookmarks. If the PushButtonType has the value of 2, the dialog is closed and the Execute method of the dialog returns the value 0 (dialog closed). You cannot modify the objects once they are in the group. Establishing whether a section of a document has been directly or indirectly formatted is not easy. You can use these events to, for example, determine if a user has finished processing a control element so that you can update other elements of a dialog. There is no direct counterpart in LibreOffice Basic for the Characters, Sentences and Words lists provided in VBA. Among the most useful are: LibreOffice Basic understands common mathematical, logical, and comparison operators. In this case, the syntax of the function is: In the previous examples, InStr ignores uppercase and lowercase characters. Note: You can also have loops with an undefined number of passes. Here is an list of the most important properties of the table object: A table consists of a list containing rows. In LibreOffice Basic, you can use the Exit Sub and Exit Function commands to terminate a procedure or function prematurely, for example, for error handling. When working with 3D charts, a Z-axis is also sometimes provided. Even in the standard installation, LibreOffice Basic has all the components needed to create its own Basic macros, including: The components of the LibreOffice API that are discussed in this guide were selected based on their practical benefits for the LibreOffice Basic programmer. The following example is an algorithm that uses two loops to sort a list by names. Styles are named lists containing formatting attributes. Furthermore, the following methods are provided through the view object of the list box: LibreOffice forms can be directly linked to a database. Like bubbles, the variables gradually migrate to the right position. You do that by using the name of the object as a qualifier. The Exit Do command can exit at loop at any point within the loop. placeholders in both VBA and LibreOffice Basic. These error messages can be avoided by checking the program before an assignment, in order to establish whether the content of the variable to be assigned matches the type of the target variable. To assign an explicit string to a string variable, enclose the string in quotation marks ("). This is probably not what you want. The minimum distance between the text edge of the drawing object is set to three millimeters. The selection ranges from simple text fields through list and combo boxes to various buttons. The LibreOffice Developer's Guide describes the LibreOffice API in more detail than this guide, but is primarily intended for Java and C++ programmers. The formatting options that are available depend on the type of drawing object. Note: So Replace("This is a test", " ", "_") yields "This_is_a_test" :D. Warning: You can also define arrays in which the dimension of the data fields dynamically changes. The following values are available: The following example creates a circular slice with a 70 degree angle (produced from difference between start angle of 20 degrees and end angle of 90 degrees). The XIndexAccess and XIndexContainer interfaces are used in objects which contain subordinate objects and which can be addressed using an index. The color intensity of the start and end colors is 150 percent (StartIntensity and EndIntensity) which results in the colors seeming brighter than the values specified in the StartColor and EndColor properties. This example deactivates the cmdNext button in the Dlg dialog with the aid of the model object from cmdNext. The ASCII character set is a set of codes that represent numbers, characters, and special symbols by one byte. Some interfaces of LibreOffice can be found in many parts of the LibreOffice API. VBA: In VBA, the formatting properties of an object are usually spread over a range of sub-objects (for example, Range.Font, Range.Borders, Range.Shading, Range.ParagraphFormat). The Exit For instruction allows you to exit a For loop prematurely. The type declaration symbol for a long integer is &. The following program code shows how the Step value in event handlers of the Next and Prev buttons can be increased or reduced and changes the status of the buttons. In this guide, a table-based document or spreadsheet document is the entire document, whereas a spreadsheet (or sheet for short) is a sheet (table) in the document. They define sets of methods for abstract tasks which can be applied to various problems. This chapter provides an introduction to the macro-controlled creation and editing of drawings and presentations. Integrated Development Environment (IDE) This section describes the Integrated Development Environment for LibreOffice Basic. The type declaration symbol is #. The insertByName line inserts the NewStyle style under the name of the same name in the ParagraphStyles object. At the end, the drawing object is assigned to a page using a Page.add call. Finally, when calling up a text file, the eof instruction is used to check whether the end of the file has been reached: The following example shows how a text file can be read: The individual lines are retrieved in a Do While loop, saved in the Msg variable, and displayed at the end in a message box. However there is one major difference: whereas the command format expects English abbreviations and decimal points or characters as thousands separators, the country-specified abbreviations must be used for the structure of a command format for the NumberFormats object. The ISO 8859 character sets provide an international standard. As a function, CompatibilityMode() returns the Boolean value of the mode. The variable can contain up to 15 numbers before the decimal point. In LibreOffice Writer, standard letters can be created with the assistance of SDBC data sources and these can then be printed out. The origin of the line is specified in the Location property, whereas the coordinates listed in the Size property specify the end point of the line. In addition to simple variables (scalars), LibreOffice Basic also supports arrays (data fields). The same interface provides methods moveByName and copyByName. The example first checks if the error number corresponds to the expected number (as stored in the imaginary ExpectedErrorNo constant) and then handles the error accordingly. You can add custom dialog windows and forms to LibreOffice documents. The Form Functions Toolbar is also used to switch between modes. The structure of the associated event objects is defined in the com.sun.star.awt.MouseEvent structure which provides the following information: The constants defined in com.sun.star.awt.MouseButton for the mouse buttons are: The following example outputs the mouse position as well as the mouse button that was pressed: Note: The SetAttr function permits the properties of a file to be changed. The following example uses a recursive function to calculate the factorial of the numbers 42, -42, and 3.14: The example returns the factorial of the number 42 by recursively calling the CalculateFactorial function until it reaches the base condition of 0! About OpenOffice.org Basic and allows these to be created, saved, modified, and printed. It is therefore a simple alternative to configuring dialogs. Combo boxes (com.sun.star.awt.UnoControlComboBox service) support the following properties: Tree boxes (com.sun.star.awt.tree.TreeControlModel service) support the following properties: In many respects, the structure of LibreOffice forms corresponds to the #dialogs. createUnoService creates an object which can be used universally. The formatting of the previous sections is then lost. For example, headers or footers are added to the page style. When using DBG_properties, note that the function returns all properties that the services offered by the object can theoretically support. The LibreOffice API (Application Programming Interface): Permits access to LibreOffice documents and allows these to be created, saved, modified, and printed. Example declaration of a Boolean variable: Date variables can contain date and time values. If a different chart type is needed, then the bar chart must be explicitly replaced: The first line defines the corresponding chart object. The simplest variant is a single-color fill. In the preceding example, you can also assign the Step value of 0 to the dividing line as well as the Cancel, Prev, Next, and Done buttons to display these elements on all pages. com.sun.star.awt.UnoControlNumericalField, A currency field makes it possible to enter, display and edit currency values. However, as a result, the same character value can represent different characters in different languages. Calculations with long integer variables are very fast and are particularly useful for loop counters. Subs and functions are always contained in modules. creates both the C:\SubDir1\SubDir2 directory and the C:\SubDir1\SubDir2\SubDir3 directory. In the second example, the sheet is accessed by its name and the getByName method. Any existing values in the specified cell range are moved below the range. The following responses, which are defined in the com.sun.star.beans.PropertyState enumeration, are possible: com.sun.star.beans.PropertyState.DIRECT_VALUE, the property is defined directly in the text (direct formatting), com.sun.star.beans.PropertyState.DEFAULT_VALUE, the property is defined by a template (indirect formatting), com.sun.star.beans.PropertyState.AMBIGUOUS_VALUE. As with all TextContent objects, a distinction is also made with text frames between the actual creation and insertion in the document. If you are not sure of the form of a control element, you can use the option for searching through all forms for the control element required: The example uses the HasByName method to check all forms of a text document to determine whether they contain a control element model called MyListBox. An object which supports the com.sun.star.sdb.QueryDefinition service is concealed behind a query. The code used in the example then creates a list containing all charts of the first spreadsheet (Charts line = Doc.Sheets(0).Charts). Here are a few examples: The following example shows how all empty lines in a text document can be removed with the help of the regular expression ^$: So far, this chapter has only dealt with text paragraphs and their portions. All properties form part of the associated model objects. VBA: The path specifications listed in Dir may use the * and? Once the Dlg dialog object has been initialized, you can use the Execute method to display the dialog. The bookmarks can either be accessed by their number or their name. In the second instance, the integer variables are first converted into two strings and then linked with one another by means of the assignment. An A stands for the decimal number 10, while the letter F represents the decimal number 15. Note: The DrawPages container of a drawing document is also used to create and delete individual pages. Multiple modules can be combined to a library. Slide 3 will be changed into Slide 4, etc. A variation of the If statement is the If/Else clause: In this example, the variable B is assigned the value of 2 when A is greater than 3, otherwise B is assigned the value of 0. No programming knowledge is needed to use the corresponding functions. The WaitUntil statement provides a greater degree of compatibility with VBA parameter usage.