StarOffice-FAQ Version 1.61, Date: 2000-10-09 (English)

Newsgroup: de.comp.office-pakete.staroffice

Will be posted every other week.

URL: http://www.wernerroth.de/en/staroffice/faq/faq.html

Beware of line breaks in the URLs!

Deutsche Version unter http://www.wernerroth.de/staroffice/faq/faq.html erhältlich.

See footer for the license and check http://www.wernerroth.de/legal/legalnotice.html for Legal Notice.

/1. Common issues/

/--------------/

/Couldn't you add this or that to the FAQ?/

/StarOffice is Sun's office suite!/

/What about StarOffice 5.2?/

/What about the StarOffice SDK (StarOffice API former StarOne)?/

/What about StarOffice 6.0?/

/What is OpenOffice?/

/What is the difference between StarOffice and OpenOffice?/

/What about StarOffice source code?/

/Will this FAQ just pay attention on this 5.2 stuff?/

/What has changed in StarOffice 5.2 since 5.1(a)?/

/I have got StarOffice 5.1(a). Is it worthwhile for me to update to StarOffice 5.2?/

/I have got StarOffice 5.1(a). Is there anywhere an upgrade to 5.2?/

/Is there a difference between the CD version and the download Version?/

/Is StarOffice 5.2 available on CDs attached to computer magazines?/

/Is there a FTP-Server where StarOffice is to be found?/

/Am I allowed to re-distribute StarOffice?/

/Where can I download the StarOffice Schedule-Server?/

/Where can I find Patches for StarOffice?/

/What about these Patch-IDs?/

/Which patches exist for StarOffice 5.2?/

/Which patches exist for StarOffice 5.1a?/

/Help! I need a Installation-Key for StarOffice 5.x!/

/Can I get rid of the registration process from StarOffice 5.1?/

/What hardware does StarOffice need?/

/How to speed up StarOffice?/

/How do I install StarOffice?/

/What do I do if it is not possible to install StarOffice directly from the CD even if I have root privileges (Linux)?/

/How do I install fonts for StarOffice (Linux)?/

/How can I enter accented characters and special symbols (©, ç etc.) (Linux)/?

/Why does the installation of StarOffice freeze on NFS mount points? (Linux)/

/Which Java for StarOffice 5.2 (Linux)?/

/StarOffice 5.2 doesn't find (some) Java classes (Linux)/

/What are native threads (Linux)?/

/Why doesn't SO run with Java even if everything seems to be installed correctly? (Linux)/

/Is it possible to install Java afterwards? (Linux)/

/How do I upgrade StarOffice?/

/How do I install StarOffice from scratch?/

/How do I contact Sun?/

/What platforms are supported by StarOffice?/

/Will there be an OS/2 version of StarOffice 5.2?/

/Where is the Apple Macintosh version?/

/Is there a Windows(TM) 3.1 Version?/

/Where can I get older StarOffice Versions i.e. for Mac or DOS?/

/Does StarOffice 5.2 support the new German spelling?/

/How do I get custom quotation marks, especially at the bottom of a line under X?/

/How do I get the build number of an installed StarOffice?/

/Is there StarOffice Basic documentation in PDF?/

/2. Questions and problems on StarOffice issues/

/----------------------------------/

/What are the recommended StarOffice Documents Mime Types (Linux/Solaris)?/

/Can I remote control StarOffice 5.2?/

/StarOffice 5.1a and 5.2 are wasting main memory during runtime (Windows)!/

/StarOffice 5.2 won't start with my User Account (Windows (TM) NT/2000)!/

/StarOffice 5.2 can't register DLLs (Windows (TM) NT/2000)!/

/After closing StarOffice 5.2 the task soffice.exe is still running (Windows2000)!/

/What do I do if StarOffice doesn't start anymore (Windows)?/

/What do I do if StarOffice doesn't start anymore (Linux)?/

/StarOffice for Linux used to work for all users, but now it only works for root! (Linux)/

/After StarOffice installation another application won't start anymore (Windows)!/

/I've Problems printing on my Network Printer with StarOffice 5.2 (Windows)/

/StarOffice 5.1 crashes or hangs while opening a document (Linux/Solaris)/

/StarOffice 5.2 accesses my disk drive all the time (Windows)/

/It's impossible to create new documents (Windows)!/

/Which document types are supported in StarOffice 5.1a?/

/Where are the import filters for Word Perfect, Win Word 2.x ...?/

/Where is the import filter for "Product X"?/

/Is there a "Word Pro(TM)" import filter?/

/Is there a WordPerfect 8 or 9 filter?/

/How to import MS Office(TM) macros?/

/How can I open a password-protected MS Office(TM) document?/

/Why are graphics, icons or other stuff displayed improperly?/

/Are there known Problems with Matrox(TM) G200 or G400?/

/Are there known Problems with ATI(TM)-Graphic Adaptors (Windows)?/

/Why do I have 6 or even 10 StarOffice-processes (Linux)?/

/Why are graphics not printed in colour (Linux)?/

/Pure white in included pictures becomes slightly grey on the printout (Linux)!/

/Why are my hyperlinks not relative?/

/How can I clear documents off the start menu or URL field?/

/File menu shows the last four edited files! I want more!/

/I just printed my document and then it was altered?/

/How to convert addresses from my old mail client?/

/3. Individual Applications/

/------------------/

/Hyphenation: Wrong line breaks in-between words (Linux)/

/How to make Netscape Navigator my StarOffice Web Browser?/

/Where can I turn off StarOffice Desktop?/

/Where do I switch off the automatic corrections and formation in StarOffice Writer?/

/How do I insert a single page in landscape into a document?/

/How to start with different page numbers in the middle of a document?/

/How to start a document with page number 42?/

/How to search and replace soft hyphens <Ctrl>+<->?/

/Text in my StarOffice Writer table is missing after import!/

/I want the MS Word(TM) .DOC-format as my default text-document-format!/

/How can I use an Excel or StarOffice Calc spreadsheet with the Mail Merge function?/

/Does StarOffice Writer/Web offer HTTPS-Support?/

/StarOffice Mail is not willing to send my E-Mails/

/How can I open a space, comma or tab delimited plain text file in StarOffice Calc?/

/I have problems importing numbers with leading zeros from a plain text file into StarOffice Calc!/

/How to print the Address Book or another Database?/

/My hyperlinks are not functioning anymore!/

/StarOffice Writer shows just one huge page of my document!/

/StarOffice Mail opens StarOffice Writer instead of a plain text editor!/

/Why is this StarOffice Basic stuff password protected?/

/Why do I see an "A" instead of a "+" in the Formula editor (Windows)?/

/How to align Formulas at the equal sign?

/Printing Labels loses some Addresses!/

/PalmPilot HotSync with Linux works only when I am 'root'/

/Is there a support for synchronising StarOffice Schedule with a Psion or Windows CE machine?/

/Why can't I change the data of my database anymore?/

/4. Other Support Sources/

/------------------------/

/Overview/

/Other FAQs and Knowledge-Bases/

/1. Common issues/

/--------------/

/Couldn't you add this or that to the FAQ?/

If you have new Answers to a common question, sent it to my E-Mail-Account Werner Roth <werner@wernerroth.de>. I'd like to have the following stuff:

- Your Name and E-Mail-Account (for the Credits at the end of this FAQ).

- You want to be added to the credits: Yes/No

- You accept the "GNU Free Documentation License"

- Question (English)

- Answer (English)

- Question (German)

- Answer (German)

It's not necessary to add a German translation, then it could last a bit longer to add your item to the FAQ.

IMPORTANT! You have to add a note, that you offer this text under the "GNU Free Documentation License". Check footer of this document.

Be so kind and don't give me just an (obscure) Hint to something. Please, give me your hind as a complete question and answer. Copy the old answer an write your addition into it. Sorry but in most cases I know less than the guys with new hints think.

Simply suggest something for this FAQ is OK, but will not help too much. If you have a proposal regarding to the form of this FAQ: I try to find time to transfer this FAQ into XML. SO items like versioning, what's new or support for different file formats can simply be added. Finding time for such a huge job is quite difficult for me. To spend a quarter of an hour to add a question is easier ;-)

/StarOffice is Sun's office suite!/

StarOffice now is available free for private and commercial use.

The homepage of StarOffice now is

http://www.sun.com/products/staroffice

The download can be started directly from

http://www.sun.com/products/staroffice/5.2/get.html

/What about StarOffice 5.2?/

StarOffice 5.2 is available since 2000-06-20 under the following URL:

http://www.sun.com/products/staroffice

After registration you can download

StarOffice 5.2 itself approx. 80-105 MB

Adabas D Database for StarOffice 5.2 approx. 13-17 MB

StarOffice 5.2 Player approx. 6-16 MB

You can't download the StarOffice Schedule Server Software. StarOffice 5.2 (incl. Schedule Server) is available on CD from Sun (and other companies). It should be available on Computer magazine CDs in your near most of them include the Schedule Server.

New Features at a glance:

- Improved MS Office (TM) filters

- Improved stability

- New dictionaries to support the new german spelling

- Literature managing

- StarOffice Impress-Player

- ADABAS database on all plattforms

- PGP encryption on all plattforms

or a (more) complete list:

http://www.sun.com/products/staroffice/5.2/whatsnew/

Sun offers an FAQ for StarOffice 5.2

http://www.sun.com/products/staroffice/5.2/faqs-general.html

/What about the StarOffice SDK (StarOffice API former StarOne)?/

Sun offers an StarOffice Software Development Kit in order to use StarOffice API functions out of external programs i.e. written in Java or used inside of StarOffice.

You'll find the SDK and many other API relevant material at http://api.openoffice.org/ (SDK approx. 6 MB)

/What about StarOffice 6.0?/

Since October 2001 Sun offers a public Beta for download at http://www.sun.com/staroffice/6.0beta/

What's new: Improved MS Office(TM) filters, standardized XML document format, Unicode support, asian language versions, improved Help, Quickstart option (Windows(tm)), improved Font Support, and other. An detailed Version can be found at http://www.sun.com/software/star/staroffice/6.0beta/whatsnew.html

What's missing: StarOffice Desktop is gone and replaced by better system integration e.g. usage of systems file dialog is optional, StarOffice Mail and Discussion is replaced by integration of external Mail programs (like Outlook(tm) or Netscape(tm)). The calendar Schedule is gone without substitution.

Bug Reports and Feedback: Sun offers special staroffice.com.betatest.* groups on their News server news://starnews.sun.com. Please check the staroffice.com.betatest.announce group for FAQs, hints and guidelines before you post your suggestion or bloopers. http://www.sun.com/software/star/staroffice/6.0beta/feedback/index.html

/What is OpenOffice?/

The StarOffice 6.0 sources are maintained by an Open Source project called OpenOffice.org (OOo) http://www.openoffice.org/. As an Open Source project work within the public community, everyone is encouraged to participate. Not only programmers, we need "normal" users as well.

As this is an end user's FAQ, here are the new rules for them:

You'll be able to download installation ready binaries for Solaris(tm), Linux(tm), Windows(tm) and in future maybe more platforms for free.

Like Linux or Mozilla there'll be different flavours of binaries, very hot ones, quite stable ones and for sure very reliably ones. Maybe more stable than any other office suites, because OpenOffice is an open source software (OSS). A hole community is testing this software. If you like, this could be your entry point to an open source community. We need users who find bugs, reproduce them and report them. And who knows, maybe in the future you'll fix an annoying bug yourself.

Expect a couple distributions of final versions OpenOffice on CD, like Linux distributions we know today. But don't expect a final version in October. Check http://www.openoffice.org/ from time to time for a roadmap.

Please, use the StarOffice newsgroups to ask questions, how to work with StarOffice and how to fix Problems with a final version of OpenOffice. Don't use OpenOffice mailing lists for support reasons. They are reserved for the OpenOffice guys.

Join the community and participate. Give us a bit and expect a lot.

BTW: In the actual OpenOffice there are some modules missing, because Sun licensed them from other companies. Sun is simply not allowed to give them away. The open source project is now looking for replacements. Please give them some months to find proper solutions, that we have a complete office suite again.

/What is the difference between StarOffice and OpenOffice?/

StarOffice is Sun's trademark. OpenOffice is a open source project that develops new versions of an office suite. StarOffice should further be a software, that is easy to use, easy to install, that has a high proved quality and that will be supported by Sun. Therefore not everyone who uses OpenOffice source code can call his product "StarOffice".

So to say, Sun will offer a distribution called "StarOffice". Out of the sight of a ordinary user, this distribution will not be different from older StarOffice versions. If you like buy a CD with printed manual or buy enterprise support. Even the additional stuff not available in OpenOffice sources could be added by Sun.

/What about StarOffice source code?/

Sun released the StarOffice 6.0 source code October 13 at http://www.openoffice.org code through the OpenSource licence GPL (GNU General Public License), LGPL (GNU Lesser General Public License) and the SISSL (Sun Industry Standard Source Licence). For further information check:

http://www.openoffice.org/

http://www.sun.com/staroffice/openoffice

/StarOffice as open source is this the End?//

No, it's on the contrary. Sun publishes the StarOffice sources and allows further development for everyone. Don't expect a messed up pile of different StarOffice versions that have pertinence for the consumer market. Sun provides a high commitment developing mayor releases of StarOffice and offers compatibility testing for alien software producers. Because of development powered by Sun and quality assurance the ordinary consumer will get well tested reliable versions. The disclosure of the sources will help to find bugs and to solve problems.

Sun is still allowed to distribute StarOffice CDs, sell a printed manual, to offer support and so on. So everything on this distributional side will be the same. With this licensing step Sun allows everyone to develop with the StarOffice sources not regarding if this will meet a commercial product under the SISSL or an open source software under *GPL. In my opinion the main impact for the end user is, Sun has nearly no chance to chance the mind and convert StarOffice into a commercial product liable for costs. Just to make it clear, you or they can earn money with StarOffice distributions, training, support etc.

Sun founded the OpenOffice.org project, to offer the StarOffice code and to be the contact point for open source projects around StarOffice. Further OpenOffice.org shall promote XML-based document standards and the framework that lies beneath StarOffice to make it platform independent.

I can't find any information on http://www.openoffice.org/ if Sun Webtop (formerly StarPortal), the Server based StarOffice will also be open source or not. I don't think there is any truth in the rumour Sun likes to get rid of StarOffice development to concentrate on Sun Webtop, because Sun Webtop should be based on StarOffice's functionality.

A lot of information about this topic can be found, at this places:

http://www.openoffice.org/project/www/faq.html

http://www.openoffice.org/project/www/white_papers.html

http://www.sun.com/developers/openoffice/faqs.html

/Will this FAQ just pay attention on this 5.2 stuff?/

Yes and no, 5.2 is the actual version, all articles in this FAQ will refer StarOffice 5.2, but should be valid for 5.1 (5.1a), too. Questions and Answers about special versions will be marked.

/What has changed in StarOffice 5.2 since 5.1(a)?/

http://www.sun.com/products/staroffice/5.2/whatsnew/

/I have got StarOffice 5.1(a). Is it worthwhile for me to update to StarOffice 5.2?/

I can't answer this question in general. The improved MS Office(TM) filters are worth mentioning, 5.2 seems to be very stable and 5.2 offers a lot of new features it would be reasonable to name it 6.0. But who know if you really need it ;-)

/I have got StarOffice 5.1(a). Is there anywhere an upgrade to 5.2?/

No. Users need to download the full package in case of a new release - about 80-105 MB.

/Is there a difference between the CD version and the download Version?/

There is no difference in functionality of StarOffice 5.2. On my (german) CD you can find StarOffice for Linux, Solaris(TM) and Windows32(TM) each with StarOffice, Adabas D, StarOffice Player and StarOffice Schedule Server. There are additional language modules on the CD, too: Afrikaans, Brazilian, Catalan, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (UK), English (US), Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Swedish. There are no additional fonts or cliparts as on the 5.1 CD.

/Is StarOffice 5.2 available on CDs attached to computer magazines?/

You can be sure that you'll find it in computer magazines in your country soon.

/Is there a FTP-Server where StarOffice is to be found?/

At the moment officially no. If you want to distribute StarOffice 5.2 to third parties check the StarOffice NOW pages http://www.sun.com/products/staroffice/starofficenow/

/Am I allowed to re-distribute StarOffice?/

Since version 5.1a StarOffice is distributed under a slightly changed Standard Sun BCL (binary code license). In Sections 1 and 2 you will find these statements:

<Begin excerpt Software License>

1. License to Use.

[...]

You have no right to distribute the Software.

2. Restrictions.

[...]

You may make copies of Software only for your internal use provided that you reproduce all notices in and on Software, including this Agreement.

[...]

<End excerpt Software Licence>

If you are a distributor check the StarOffice NOW pages http://www.sun.com/products/staroffice/starofficenow/

/Where can I download the StarOffice Schedule Server?/

You will find the StarOffice Schedule Server on the CD version only. Check whether the StarOffice Schedule Server is included in CDs attached to computer magazines.

/Where can I find Patches for StarOffice?/

Sun offers all patches on http://sunsolve.sun.com/. Search for "StarOffice". Please download the patch just in case you have the specified problem. You also find an overview on all StarOffice patches at http://supportforum.sun.com. Or use this direct link http://supportforum.sun.com/staroffice/patches.html

/What about these Patch-IDs?/

Go to the following web site and type the Patch-ID into the field "Patch Finder":

http://sunsolve.sun.com/pub-cgi/show.pl?target=patches/patch-access

Click on the button "Find Patch" and you'll get a page with a desciption of the problems solved by this patch. On top of this page you'll find links to start the download:

[ Download Patch (<size> bytes) HTTP FTP EXE ]

If offered prefer the .EXE file. If not available use FTP (for a minimum of downloaded bytes) or HTTP. In case of FTP or HTTP download the name of the file can end with ".tar.Z". This is an archive of files connected with the Unix-Program "tar" and compressed with compress or GNU-Zip. On a Windows(TM) system you can decompress it with the freeware program UltimateZip http://www.ultimatezip.de/download.htm. If you get an .ZIP file for the Windows(TM) version, decompress it with UltimateZip, too.

/Which patches exist for StarOffice 5.2?/

See also /What about these Patch-IDs?/

Sun offers a StarOffice 5.2 product patch that corrects a lot of issues and includes all prior patches. The files are not language specific; they can be used with every version of StarOffice 5.2. A description of the related problems will be displayed on the patch download page.

ID Linux : 109939-02 (ca. 30 MB)

ID Solaris x86 : 109941-02 (ca. 27 MB)

ID Solaris Sparc: 109943-02 (ca. 25,5 MB)

ID Windows : 109945-02 (ca. 14 MB)

Procedure (Windows): Shut down StarOffice, extract the files by running Update.exe, back up the files in the \Office52\program directory and copy the extracted files into this folder.

/Which patches exist for StarOffice 5.1a?/

See also /What about these Patch-IDs?/

Sun compiled all prior patches for Version 5.1a to a single "Product Patch".

Caution: Use patch files with StarOffice 5.1a (Sun version) only. Don't use them with StarOffice 5.1 (Star Division version). The files are not language specific; they can be used with every version of StarOffice 5.1a.

Patch-ID 109261-01 (Windows(TM), approx. 7,5 MB)

Patch-ID 109257-01 (Linux, approx. 16 MB)

Patch-ID 109258-01 (OS/2(TM), approx. 12 MB)

Patch-ID 109260-01 (Solaris(TM), approx. 14,5 MB )

Patch-ID 109259-01 (Solaris x86(TM), approx. 17,5 MB )

Solved problems (check Sun documentation for details):

- Database (incl. address book) causes losses of data when you try to edit dBase Tables in a StarOffice Base Query.

- Newsbug StarDiscussion didn't allow to send Newspostings to different Newsservers. It's just possible to send to the Newserver that was given in the properties of your Outbox.

- Problems with some IMAP operations

- Problems with StarImpress especially loading files

- Palm-Sync-Bug (OS/2 only) it is not possible to sync with your PalmPilot(TM).

- Some printer problems on Solaris(TM)/Linux-Systems

Procedure (Windows): Shut down StarOffice, extract the files by running Update.exe, back up the files in the \Office51 directory and copy the extracted files into this folder.

/Help! I need a Installation-Key for StarOffice 5.x!/

If you have bought StarOffice (e. g. attached to a Linux-distribution) there will be the installation key somewhere in the documentation. The real registration is still working. From version 5.1a on you do not need any registration anymore.

Since for some reason still some people are downloading the "former" StarOffice 5.1 from mirrors on the Internet Sun decided to publish a common install key. Here a quote from what has been posted in staroffice.com.suppport.announce:

---------------Begin quote from staroffice.com.support.announce-----------

1) Users commit to registering on the Sun website,

www.sun.com/staroffice.

2) Users understand that any fixes, patches, or service packs will be provided for the Sun release only. All Star Division subscriptions and support contracts will be honored, and the new CD is on the way now to these customers now, enabling them to continue to get high quality support into the future.

You must enter the following string:

Sun Free Download Version

as the company name on the registration page exactly as spelled here with all capitalization correct

Then for the key, enter

680A-0JH7-M60MVR-CQPD-147K

exactly as written.

----------------End quote from staroffice.com.support.announce------------

/Can I get rid of the registration process from StarOffice 5.1?/

If you are using StarOffice 5.1 (Star Division version), this version falls back to a 30-day trial version every time you change your user data. Sun offers a patch for removing this registration process (See also /What about these Patch-IDs?/):

Patch-ID 109673-01 (Windows(TM))

Patch-ID 109677-01 (Linux)

Patch-ID 109674-01 (OS/2(TM))

Patch-ID 109675-01 (Solaris(TM))

Patch-ID 109676-01 (Solaris x86(TM))

If you are running an network installation of StarOffice 5.1, new clients can't be installed afterwards.

This patch is for StarOffice 5.1 only; the Sun-Version StarOffice 5.1a doesn't need to be registered.

/What hardware does StarOffice need?/

StarOffice is platform independent and programmed in C++. Due to this it needs approximately 24 MB main memory just for the start. Thankfully that's it. A start of another module like StarOffice Writer doesn't need much more memory; it's not worth mentioning. Further StarOffice likes to write in container files on your hard disk if you are using internet services.

The complete installation of StarOffice occupies about 130 MB on your hard disk. Be aware that the container files in \Office52\User\Store need extra space, especially if you are using StarOffice Mail and StarDiscusion. A Client/Server installation needs about 130 MB for the server and 5 MB for each user.

This takes us to a minimal configuration:

- CPU don't care

- 24 MB free physical memory

For Example

- Pentium(TM) (I) or AMD K6(TM) CPU with 100 MHz

- 32 MB memory

- MS Windows95(TM) without(!) MS Internet Explorer(TM) 4 or 5

With MS Windows98(TM) or MS Internet Explorer(TM) 4 or 5 you need at least 40 MB memory.

Another example of a minimal system is a Linux computer with 64 MB memory. You can't work with less memory than that unless you are resigned to use a desktop like KDE or Gnome.

An ideal system for StarOffice is:

- Don't care about the CPU. You can save a lot of money here.

- 64 MB memory for normal use. You need more if you want to run other applications simultaneously or want to edit really huge documents.

- Fast hard disk. Take care about the average access time.

- Printer with a good device driver. This means a high quality printer or a well-known older model.

- A graphics adapter with good device driver software. A graphics adapter from the "office" lines of the manufacturers. Cheap adapters for games are not suitable; often they don't work properly with the WYSIWYG-feature of StarOffice. I think this will change when StarOffice is as important to graphics adapter manufacturers as MS Word(TM)...

/How to speed up StarOffice?/

You can't improve too much playing around with StarOffice's options. Reducing the amount of undo steps in Tools|Options|General|Save will increase performance. Removing the splash screen under Tools|Options|General|View will speed up the start procedure of StarOffice a bit. If you use the Web functions of StarOffice just from time to time reduce the hard disk cache and/or the memory cache Tools|Options|Browser|Cache.

If you really want to increase the speed of StarOffice buy a fast hard disk and additional memory. If you don't have the chance to build in some extra memory in a Windows9x(TM) system, you can get a nice extra portion of memory removing the MS Internet Explorer(TM) (version 4.0 and higher) http://www.98lite.net/ieradicator.html

/How do I install StarOffice?/

Under MS Windows(TM) the self-extracting archive will create a installation directory and a documentation directory.Please read the supplied manual dealing with installation issues. You should consider a multi-user installation since it brings some advantages even on a single-user system (take a look at <installation_directory>\documentation\SETUP.PDF).

ZIP tools like Zip Magic or WinZip and some memory resistant virus scanners can cause problems. Try to run as less programs and system services during installation as you can.

If setup will refuse starting, try to install in VGA mode and take a look at the graphic adaptor problems in this FAQ.

Under Linux/Solaris you have to start the installation in an xterm, Eterm or whatever terminal you prefer under X. Note that it will only be possible to install StarOffice if an X-Server is running. Using "cd," enter the directory containing "setup". Then execute './setup'. If you want to do a multi-user installation do './setup -net'. For the dedicated user, do '<Office>/bin/setup' in order to copy a few files in the home directory. '<Office>' stands for the central install directory as specified during the multi-user installation.

/What do I do if it is not possible to install StarOffice directly from the CD even if I have root privileges (Linux)?/

First reason for that might be that "." is not in your path variable. In that case you will get the error message "command not found". Just do './setup'.

The second possibility for not being able to run setup might be that the CD-ROM is not mounted with the "exec" permission. The error message will be "Permission denied". In that case unmount your CD-ROM drive and mount it with the command:

mount -o exec /dev/cdrom /cdrom

or add in the file /etc/fstab "exec" for the CD.

/How do I install fonts for StarOffice (Linux)?/

Read the following text written by Frank Becker <fb@alien8.de>:

Type1 and True Type fonts installation for StarOffice 4/5

http://www.alien8.de/Fonts.html

/How can I enter accented characters and special symbols (©, ç etc.) (Linux)/?

Symbols missing on your keyboard can be entered by typing a "compose sequence". This means that you have to press three keys in sequence, the first one being the "compose key". Examples:

Compose + c + o = ©

Compose + c + , = ç

Compose + c + / = ø

Linux' compose key is often defined as Shift+AltGr (press Shift and hold it down, then press AltGr and release both keys). If you are not sure, use

xmodmap -pk | grep Multi_key

Analogously, you can use xmodmap to define any key you want to act as a compose key. To use the "scroll lock" key, for example, you'd use

xmodmap -e "keysym Scroll_Lock = Multi_key"

Additional information can be found in the Linux-HOWTOs for the particular languages, e.g. the German-HOWTO. These HOWTOs are located at www.linuxdoc.org

/Why does the installation of StarOffice freeze on NFS mountpoints? (Linux)/

After a successful multi-user installation of StarOffice using './setup -net' I would like to do the user installation on home directories mounted by NFS. Unfortunately, the setup program freezes after the selection of the Java environment and blocks the system. Users having mounted their home directories not by NFS don't experience any trouble.

This happens if your NFS installation does not support file locking. If NFS file locking is activated on both server and client (basically by running the locking daemon) then installation to NFS mounted /home directories will work correctly.

You can use

/etc/rc.d/init.d/nfslock start

to activate NFS locking under RedHat. For a SuSE system, use

/etc/rc.d/init.d/nfs start

/Which Java for StarOffice 5.2 (Linux)?/

The README for SO 5.2 explains that at least JDK 1.1.8 is required. The following table summarizes experiences with some of the JDKs available for Linux

Version "Company" Result

1.1.7_v1a Blackdown Error message, does not work

1.1.8_v1 Blackdown works

1.1.8 IBM crash

1.3.0beta Sun works with modifications

Apparently, only two JDKs can be just at present. If you are using 1.3.0 (available in beta from Sun), you have to add a definition of LD_PRELOAD to /program/soffice:

export LD_PRELOAD="/usr/local/java/jre/lib/i386/native_threads/libhpi.so"

In the preceding table, "works" means: "Does not crash immediately and worked correctly in the test cases." "works" does *not* mean: "Does certainly not have any bugs."

My Java version is OK, but SO keeps crashing (Linux, SO 5.2)

There seems to be some kind of weird interaction between SO/Java and Netscape plugins. If SO complains like that when it starts the JVM

soffice.bin: mac/java_lang_String.c:738: java_lang_String_intern:

Assertion »!"Forgot to call use_java_lang_String(env)

before calling method intern ()Ljava/lang/String;"« failed.

you should rename

~/.netscape/plugins

to

~/.netscape/noplugins

and restart SO. After that you want be able to use your plugins in Netscape, of course.

Any globally installed plugins for Netscape could be causing the same problem, of course.

/StarOffice 5.2 doesn't find (some) Java classes (Linux)/

SO's Java setup apparently chokes on a user installation. Have a look in

~/office52/user/config/javarc

to figure out, which classpath SO is using. If you find the entry

/home/username/office52/program/classes/classes.jar

you have to change it and all similar entries so that the path is

/program/classes/

To use your own Java classes, you have to set up the user-defined classpath in SO. There is a menu entry for this, but you might edit

~/office52/user/config/javarc

directly.

/What are native threads (Linux)?/

By using threads, Java can do several things in parallel in one process (= program). Threads are something like light-weight processes, let's say "mini-processes". Since not all operating systems that support Java offer threads themselves, Java at first contained "green threads" which emulated the needed functions. Starting with Java 1.1.7, it did not support native threads under Linux. And StarOffice works only with that version of Java.

/Why doesn't SO run with Java even if everything seem to be installed correctly? (Linux)/

Is the JDK/JRE-version correct? (See "What Java-version do I need for StarOffice (Linux)?"). Did you decompress and compress the /lib/classes.zip? StarOffice doesn't work with the classes.zip offered on www.blackdown.org. First you have to decompress that file using unzip and to compress it again using zip. You will find it useful to decompress classes.zip in a separate directory.

If you are using Linux 2.2.13 or later, JDK117 v1a might not work properly. You find a Kernel patch on:

http://home.germany.net/100-261485/patches/

(Thanks to Stefan Litke). SuSE 6.3 includes this patch. You can check this by starting the applet viewer of your JDK. If it works, everything is fine.

/Is it possible to install Java afterwards? (Linux)/

During user installation, StarOffice looks for a usable Java installation (JDK/JRE). If the user installation is already done, you still can install Java (JDK/JRE) and tell StarOffice, where it should look for Java. The necessary files are in

~/Office51/sofficerc

and have to contain something like:

[Java]

Home=/usr/local/jdk117_v1a

Version=1.1.7

RuntimeLib=/usr/local/java/lib/i386/native_threads/libjava.so

SystemClasspath=/usr/local/java/lib/classes.zip:/usr/local/java/lib:

Java=1

UserClassPath=/usr2/adabas/lib/adabasd.jar

Please note that the path might be different on your system.

/How do I upgrade StarOffice?/

In general, a new version of StarOffice cannot be installed in the directory of an older StarOffice version. If you want to use old files you should install the new version in a new directory and afterward copy the old files one by one.

The StarOffice migration guides document this files or

http://www.wernerroth.de/staroffice/dokus/verzeichnisstruktur_so51.html

http://www.wernerroth.de/staroffice/dokus/verzeichnisstruktur_so52.html

(Sorry, so far available only in German. Volunteers to translate desperately wanted!!)

For example, if you want to install Personal Edition Deluxe (CD-version) over a Personal Edition (download version) it may be possible to do what is described under

/How do I install StarOffice from scratch?/

Windows:

In any case, before installing a new version you should first deinstall any version which is already installed. Never install a new version over an old one since StarOffice might use an old configuration, which might make the new installation pointless. After the deinstallation the \Office52 directory will contain all files changed since the last installation. Rename that directory; for example, to \Office52_old, and install StarOffice into the new directory. Your old data can be copied from the old directory.

If StarOffice is already installed on a computer, its location is stored in the file sversion.ini somewhere in the c:\windows tree. The content of this file looks somewhat like:

[Versions]

StarOffice 5.2=C:\Office52

If the installation program drops the message "StarOffice is already installed", locate the file sversion.ini and delete it.

Linux:

For a network wide new installation it is sufficient to adjust a new directory in the appropriate dialogue (if you have enough disk space ;-).

New installations for single users are possible only if there is no entry in ~/.sversionrc for the version to be installed. Thus, it is possible for a user to install StarOffice 5.0, 5.1 and 5.2 locally at the same time but not version 5.1 and Version 5.1 with a Fix Pack.

/StarOffice Schedule Server 5.2 can't be installed (Windows)!/

The problem is a faulty "setup.inf"-file. At the moment you can find corrected versions just in the newsgroups. If you can't find them, go there and post a friendly request.

/How do I contact Sun?/

For support questions not found in the Knowledge Database

http://www.sun.com/staroffice/knowledgedatabase/ click here:

mailto:starofficesupport@sun.com

For all other StarOffice questions (about orders, broken CDs, double billing, distribution of StarOffice, etc.) click here:

mailto: csr-customer-service@sun.com

/What platforms are supported by StarOffice?/

You can download StarOffice 5.2 for Windows(tm) 32 bit (means 95, 98, Me, NT 4.0 and 2000), for Solaris (Sparc(tm) and Intel) and for Linux (Intel). There are some porting activities on http://porting.openoffice.org/ maybe you find your favorite OS there.

If you look for OS/2, Mac, DOS or Win 3.1 versions of StarOffice read the following sections.

/Will there be an OS/2 version of StarOffice 5.2?/

No. On CeBIT 2000 Sun announced that the OS/2 version is discontinued. As Sun's general FAQ says the support for OS/2 customers will continue for five years following the february 2000 end-of-life (EOL) announcement.

You can use the OpenSource project ODIN to run the Windows(tm) version of StarOffice 5.2 under OS/2. ODIN is not an emulator, your StarOffice will be as fast as under an Windows environment on your machine.

Check http://odin.netlabs.org for futher information about ODIN. Important! At the moment you need the latest "Daily-Build" ftp://ftp.os2.org/odin/daily/, futher WarpIn (Warp Installer), in order to install the .WPI file of ODIN . Go to ftp://ftp.os2.org/xworkplace/ anf get the latest WarpIn archive.

/Where is the Apple Macintosh version?/

Sun's General StarOffice FAQ says Sun is targeting summer 2001 as publishing date for StarOffice 5.2 Mac.

http://www.sun.com/products/staroffice/5.2/faqs-general.html

The last Versions for Apple Macintosh where AFAIK StarOffice 3.1 and 4.0 beta. You can't get them anymore.

/Is there a Windows(TM) 3.1 Version?/

Yes and no. The last Version for Windows(TM) 3.1 was StarOffice 4.0. AFAIK German only. If your Windows(TM) 3.1 computer has a network connection (intranet is enough) it should be possible to run an Sun Webtop server (formerly StarPortal) with Windows(TM) 3.1 clients.

/Where can I get older StarOffice Versions i.e. for Mac or DOS?/

Sorry, I don't know. Don't ask me for copies. Be aware that these old version are not free!

/Does StarOffice 5.2 support the new German spelling?/

Yes, it supports old and new spelling. For StarOffice 4.0, 5.0, 5.1 and 5.1a you have to use a work-around. A useful one may be:

http://www.wernerroth.de/staroffice/tips/neurecht.html

If you are a user looking for a tool to convert plain text spelling dictionaries to the StarOffice format and back you might find Werner's tool very useful. For Linux users: It works under late versions of Wine

(http://www.winehq.org) quite well and under VMware anyway.

/How do I get custom quotation marks, especially at the bottom of a line under X?/

In general you have to adjust Tools/Autocorrect/Autoformat/Custom Quotes to your personal taste.

However, Linux and any other X11 based window system is simply not able to show quotation marks at the bottom of a line. That is caused by a sloppy definition of what is (has to be) contained in the font definitions (iso-8859-[1..15]) by the ISO.

A workaround is to insert as the double quotes the character code 132 and 147. In that case they print well but are not shown on the screen; instead a space appears. That works in StarOffice 5.1a.

Another workaround is to use « and » and filter the printed PostScript file in that way that these characters are replaced by whatever you like.

You do not have to care about all that if you are using the fonts coming with StarOffice or if you use the Font Substitution feature in StarOffice. Use Options/General/FontSubstitution to substitute, for example, Timmons for Times and you are set.

/How do I get the build number of an installed StarOffice?/

A confusing thing about StarOffice is that it exists in different builds even if the version number is the same. That might lead to the situation that there are different bugs in the same version. On top of that comes several Service Packs, hot fixes and so on. Anyway, the internal versions number will be shown like follows

- In the menu Help|Product Information... chose,

- Keep the <Ctrl>-key pressed and

- now press <S>, <D> and <T> one after another.

/Is there StarOffice Basic documentation in PDF?/

StarOffice Basic with StarOffice Objects is dead. StarOffice 5.2 supports it just for compatibility reasons. They now offer the StarOffice SDK. It works with StarOffice Basic, Java, and more... Get the StarOffice SDK manuals and download them from http://soldc.sun.com/staroffice/ (after free online registration).

There was a Star Basic Reference in German for StarOffice Basic 4.0. It consists of 1800(!) pages and has a size of 2.6 MB. It is not useful with StarOffice 5.x. You can't download anymore. AFAIK there was never an english version of this monster document.

In the book "Special Edition Using StarOffice" by Michael Koch, Sarah Murray with Werner Roth; Que; ISBN: 0789719932 I wrote three chapters (~100 pages) about StarOffice Basic. Visit your local dealer to find if this is useful for your work.

/2. Questions and problems on StarOffice issues/

/----------------------------------/

/What are the recommended StarOffice Documents Mime Types (Linux/Solaris)?/

http://www.wernerroth.de/en/staroffice/tips/mimetypes.html

/Can I remote control StarOffice 5.2?/

Use StarOffice SDK (see above question) and Java for this. You'll find SDK and a "Hello World!"-Example on http://soldc.sun.com/staroffice/. StarOffice 5.2 will provide this service just while it's running incl. UI. May be OpenOffice or Sun Webtop (formerly StarPortal) will offer such a service without UI.

/StarOffice 5.1a and 5.2 are wasting main memory during runtime (Windows)!/

I don't know the exact circumstances or system configuration that affect this problem. But the cause is the systray integration. If this system service is running the icons in the Windows(TM) system tray (Windows(TM) task bar where the watch is) will also appear in the StarOffice taskbar. Turn off the systray integration by executing

c:\Office51\sointgr.exe -u

c:\Office52\program\sointgr.exe -u

respectively

C:\Windows\sointgr.exe -u

and rebooting your system. Further reading c:\Office52\readme.txt.

If you don't want the systray integration to be installed, deactivate

Optional Components|System integration|Task tray

/StarOffice 5.2 won't start with my User Account (Windows (TM) NT/2000)!/

or

/StarOffice 5.2 can't register DLLs (Windows (TM) NT/2000)!/

There is a known problem with user names containing special characters like German Umlaute or accents (all chars Ascii-Code greater than 127). The StarOffice 5.2 product patch corrects this problem. See also question /Which patches exist for StarOffice 5.2?/.

If your user names doesn't contain a special character, but will not run on this account, check if you have permissions to read and write in the StarOffice user directories.

/After closing StarOffice 5.2 the task soffice.exe is still running (Windows2000)!/

Seems to be a problem of importing the old user data of StarOffice 5.1(a). Work-around: Deinstall StarOffice, install it again without importing 5.1 user data and copy your 5.1 stuff manually. You can find a list of StarOffice's directory structure (German only) under:

http://www.wernerroth.de/staroffice/dokus/verzeichnisstruktur_so51.html

http://www.wernerroth.de/staroffice/dokus/verzeichnisstruktur_so52.html

Or check out the following hint. I hope to get nearer information about this problem soon.

/What do I do if StarOffice doesn't start anymore (Windows)?/

What to do can be found on

http://www.wernerroth.de/en/staroffice/tips/cfg.html

/What do I do if StarOffice doesn't start anymore (Linux)?/

On a prompt type

ps ax | grep soffice

If you get something like:

4062 ? R 0:05 /opt/Office51/bin/soffice.bin

[...]

4086 ? S 0:00 /opt/Office51/bin/soffice.bin

4096 p2 S 0:00 grep soffice

there are still some threads running even if they might be crashed.

Type

killall -7 soffice.bin

followed by

killall -9 soffice.bin

Now it should be possible to start StarOffice again.

/StarOffice for Linux used to work for all users, but now it only works for root! (Linux)/

If you originally installed using ./setup /net, but now when a non-root user starts StarOffice, an unrecoverable error occurs, try the following: login as root, make sure no users are running soffice, and cd to /tmp. Delete the soffice.tmp directory and all its contents using "rm -rf soffice.tmp". Now try starting soffice as a regular user.

/After StarOffice installation another application won't start anymore (Windows)!/

Because Windows(TM) is not careful about overwriting system files, this could happen after installation of every program. StarOffice saves nearly everything in its directories, so it's very seldom that you have conflicts with system files and StarOffice. One known cause for problems with other applications is the Systray Integration. Turn it off by executing

c:\Office51\sointgr.exe -u

c:\Office52\program\sointgr.exe -u

respectively

C:\Windows\sointgr.exe -u

and rebooting your system. Further reading c:\Office52\readme.txt.

/I've Problems printing on my Network Printer with StarOffice 5.2 (Windows)/

StarOffice ignores temporary settings like page orientation or paper tray. This is a known problem. The path of your network printer must not be longer than 32 characters and must not contain special characters or spaces. The StarOffice 5.2 product patch corrects this problem. See also question /Which patches exist for StarOffice 5.2?/.

/StarOffice 5.1 crashes or hangs while opening a document (Linux/Solaris)/

This could be due to your printer configuration. Try to rename ~/.Xpdefaults (this is a file in your home folder) if you did a network installation of StarOffice. Perhaps you are able to open your document afterwards.

A similar problem occurs by exchanging documents between Solaris and Linux systems: You can't open the document on the destination system. Maybe the following line helps using a Linux computer

ln -s /usr/bin/lpr /usr/bin/lp

Beware: no one has tried above solution until now.

You can be sure transferring the Xpdefaults file (<Office>/xp3/Xpdefaults) from source to target system is a functioning workaround. So you are able to open the file, but sadly - no longer able to print according to the wrong Xpdefaults file.

Another solution is to insert the faulty document into a new one. See

http://www.wernerroth.de/en/staroffice/tips/defekt.html

for further details.

/StarOffice 5.2 accesses my disk drive all the time (Windows)/

This happens when there is a shortcut to your floppy disk on the desktop. Workarounds: Removing the shortcut or switching to another desktop. In order to do so perform a right mouse click on the desktop and select e.g. c:\Office52\User\desktop.

/It's impossible to create new documents (Windows)!/

If you are using Windows(TM) there are two known reasons for this problem: You have Windows95(TM) and URL-Files are not registered as links. Second reason an application or PlugIn has registered for all file-types (e.g. some version of MS Media Player(TM)).

You can solve the first problem by installing the MS Internet Explorer (TM). Due to that this problem will not occur using Windows98 or Me(TM). The second reason can just be solved by deinstalling the program. Or update to StarOffice 5.1, there are no known problems like this with StarOffice 5.1.

/Which document types are supported in StarOffice 5.2?/

http://www.sun.com/products/staroffice/5.2/just-the-filters.html

http://www.sun.com/products/staroffice/5.2/just-the-filters-linux.html

/Where are the import filters for Word Perfect(TM),Win Word 2.x (TM) ...?/

With StarOffice 5.1 additional text import-filter were not available in the download version. Now, since StarOffice 5.1a all filters are part of StarOffice. Due to technical restrictions they are not available in the Linux- and Solaris x86-versions.

/Where is the import filter for "Product X"?/

StarOffice offers Filters for MS Office(TM) documents (RTF, HTML, and such formats). They are written by the Sun developers themselves. It seems MS Office(TM) is too important to work with foreign filters. There are additional text import filters brought from "Word for Word"(TM). StarOffice offers only document formats from this manufacturer.

/Is there a "Word Pro(TM)" import filter?/

No. There is only a Ami Pro(TM) filter.

/Is there a WordPerfect 8 or 9 filter?/

So to say, yes. Users reported that the WordPerfect 7.0 import filter is compatible with newer versions.

/How to import MS Office(TM) macros?/

StarOffice is not able to import MS Office(TM) macros. StarOffice 5.2 can import and export MS Office(TM) macros, but will not translate them into StarOffice Basic. You have to translate your macros manually. AFAIK there is no import program that can do this job. StarOffice Basic is compatible to MS VBA syntax, but StarOffice uses a different object hierarchy, because it is no MS Office(TM) clone and is functioning in an other way.

/How can I open a password-protected MS Office(TM) document?/

Sorry, password protected Word or Excel files can't be opened in StarOffice. If you can use an MS Office installation, open these documents there and save them unprotected. If you can use an MS Windows(TM) machine try to open these documents in a Word or Excel viewer and copy the contents via clipboard to StarOffice. The viewers are available at:

http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/Articles/viewerscvt.htm

/Why are graphics, icons or other stuff displayed improperly?/

In such cases Sun always points to the graphics board driver supplier which, experience tells us, is often the source of these problems. Try a different version of the graphics driver or adjust the screen resolution / colour depth to different values. If you get black icons using draw elements turn the use of Open GL off (Tools|Options|General|Other).

Since StarOffice "asks" the printer driver for the WYSIWYG-appearance on the screen this driver might cause wrong display of graphics.

A good collection of WWW-links for device drivers in to be found here:

http://www.heise.de/ct/treiber/

If you are using Windows(TM) try to edit \windows\system.ini and add the following line to section [display]:

devbmp=0

This seems to turn off bitmap acceleration. (You have to reboot the system!)

/Are there known Problems with Matrox(TM) G200 or G400?/

If you are using Win9x/NT and a Matrox G200 or G400 the following problems could occur: StarOffice chrashes during the first start or StarOffice chrashes while loading the first document or StarOffice chrashes from time to time or some graphic elements are not drawn properly (e.g. edges of rectangles are turn down). The solution of these problems is quite easy. You need a up to date driver and an update of Matrox PowerDesk (z.B. v4.12). Then disable the option "Buffered device bitmaps" in configuration of your graphics driver.

http://www.matrox.com/mga/drivers/latest_drivers/home.htm

/Are there known Problems with ATI(TM)-Graphic Adaptors (Windows)?/

To my experience there is always a bit of trouble, when your computer is fitted with a cheap ATI graphic adapter. Here is what I know: Try to get all drivers offered from:

http://support.atitech.ca/drivers/index.html

http://support.atitech.ca/drivers/previous.html

check them out one after the other. Deinstall old drivers and install a new one. Then take your time. Work with this driver e.g. a week with all the applications you need. As I noticed not the newest driver is the best. If you found a good one, burn it on a CD and put this CD in a safe ;-)

/Why do I have 6 or even 10 StarOffice processes (Linux)?/

StarOffice uses internal threads. The 'ps' command shows these threads, not processes.

Even if it shows about 50 MByte of memory for each of them, it is the memory allocated by all of them.

/Why are graphics not printed in color (Linux)?/

This occurs only in StarOffice 5.0: Colored text occurs in color but graphics are printed B/W. To change that you have to edit the PPD for your used printer to:

DefaultColorSpace: RGB

ColorDevice: True

LanguageLevel: "2"

If you are using a "GENERIC" printer, you need to edit the file <Office50> /xp3/ppds/HPIIP522.PS. For other printers that file also will be found in <Office>/xp3/ppds.

/Pure white in included pictures becomes slightly grey on the printout (Linux)!/

Choose File|Printer Setup...|Properties (or whatever it is called in the English version). Switch the treatment of Bitmaps to COLOUR instead of greyscale, also if your printer is a Black & White one.

/Why are my hyperlinks not relative?/

StarOffice applications can handle hyperlinks, linked graphics and other linked objects relative or absolute. Choose this on dialog Tools|Options|General|Save. If you are working with relative links StarOffice will show only absolute ones but will save them relative. This is a nice feature when you save your document (File|Save As) to another location your links will still work.

/How can I clear documents off the start menu or URL field?/

Sorry, there is no automatic clearance. The file list is stored in \Office52\user\soffice.ini, "[soffice-Picklist]" section.

/File menu shows the last four edited files! I want more!/

Did you noticed Start|Documents? If this doesn't fit your job, you have to manual edit the \Office52\user\soffice.ini file (or sofficerc file on Unix systems). Exit staroffice, backup this file and load it into your favorite ascii text editor. Search the section [soffice-Picklist] and add the line:

Pick=9

Nine is the maximum Number of files.

/I just printed my document and then it was altered?/

StarOffice demands to save the document after printing and closing it. This is because StarOffice logs the date and time of the last print out. You will find this information under File|Properties. This behavior can't be turned off.

/How to convert addresses from my old mail client?/

Export the addresses into a format that can be read with StarOffice e.g. .DBF-dBase or .CSV-plain text data. Open this file with StarOffice Calc (File|Open) also open the StarOffice address file \Office52\user\database\address\address.dbf. Use Window|Horizontal to see both files. Now copy the old data via drag&drop into the StarOffice address book. If you can't open or write \Office52\user\database\address\address.dbf, save your work into a temporary file and restart StarOffice (don't click into the Explorer). Now things should work.

/3. Individual Applications/

/------------------/

/Hyphenation: Wrong line breaks in-between words (Linux)/

In fact the cause of the problem are custom quotes (see Tools|AutoCorrect/AutoFormat) not as assumed hyphenation. If you type constantly there is no problem. When adding characters right behind the quote afterwards, characters will be shifted to the next line. Workaround is highlight at least this amount of text and invoke Format|Standard.

/How to make Netscape Navigator my StarOffice Web Browser?/

StarOffice can use a Internet-Explorer(tm) (4.x and higher) as "External Browser” to render web pages in StarOffice Desktop. Here is a trick to use Netscape Navigator(tm) instead. Beware Netscape will use his own window.

Close StarOffice, replace "iexplorer=1" by "iexplorer=0" in the file "soffice.ini" and add the path to Netscape choosing Tools|Options|Browser|External Browser.

/StarOffice crashes when accessing the Schedule server/

StarOffice always crashes when editing members of a task or event of a calendar stored on a schedule server. The reason for this misbehavior is a problem with name resolution on the network. Check every single network setting, especially the DNS entries, for their correctness.

/Where can I turn off StarOffice Desktop?/

Strictly speaking, this is not possible. StarOffice is an integrated office suite and StarOffice Desktop is an inseparable module. But you can turn off the View|Integrated Desktop and you can start StarOffice with an empty document:

http://www.wernerroth.de/en/staroffice/tips/leertext.html

If you like, turn the Systray-Integration off by executing

c:\Office51\sointgr.exe -u

c:\Office52\program\sointgr.exe -u

respectively

C:\Windows\sointgr.exe -u

and rebooting your system. Further readings c:\Office52\readme.txt.

/Where do I switch off the automatic corrections and formation in StarOffice Writer?/

Automatic word completing (Autocomplete) and re-format of text have to be switched off at several menus. That is laid out in detail here:

http://www.wernerroth.de/en/staroffice/tips/autooff.html

/How do I insert a single "landscape" page into a document?/

You have to use page styles. More to be found here:

http://www.wernerroth.de/staroffice/dokus/diplom.html

(Sorry, so far only available in German. Volunteers to translate desperately wanted!)

/How to start with different page numbers in the middle of a document?/

You have to use page styles. More to be found here:

http://www.wernerroth.de/staroffice/dokus/diplom.html

(Sorry, so far only available in German. Volunteers to translate desperately wanted!)

/How to start a document with page number 42?/

If I alter the offset of the field Page Numbers my changes won't appear in the table of contents! Page breaks in StarOffice are controlled by paragraph styles. Place the cursor in the topmost paragraph of the document. Choose Format|Paragraph Tab: Text Flow activate Break and select a page style and a page number you need.

/How to search and replace soft hyphens <Ctrl>+<->?/

Sadly there is no direct way. The best workaround seems to be:

- Save your text in RTF format

- Open this RTF document using the "Text" filter, or open it with a plain text editor.

- Search and Replace the string "\-"

- Save it (still using the "Text" format)

- Open it again as an RTF file

/Text in my StarOffice Writer table is missing after import!/

There is a problem with StarOffice Writer tables. Cells can't be higher than page height. This problem especially occurs after importing text from MS Word(TM)- or HTML-documents. Your text is not missing, it's just not shown. Workaround: Split the cell or use pages or sections with columns instead of this table.

/I want the MS Word(TM) .DOC-format as my default text-document-format!/

Sorry, StarOffice Writer doesn't support this for good reasons:

First StarOffice Writer is not an MS Word(TM) clone. It has different design principles and other strategies in usage. The concepts of StarOffice Writer are so to say nearer to DTP programs than MS Word(TM). Speaking generally this is neither bad nor good, it's just different. This means you will always have losses by converting into the .DOC format, even in future versions.

Second the import and export filters don't support all features of StarOffice Writer or MS Word(TM). If .DOC were the default file format, this would cause losses. An ordinary user wouldn't notice them by saving the document, but on reloading the document, the user can see what's lost. Find out more about the features of these filters at:

http://www.sun.com/products/staroffice/5.1/filters.html

(Sorry, I don't know where to find the feature list of the highly improved StarOffice 5.2 filters)

/How can I use an Excel or StarOffice Calc spreadsheet with the Mail Merge function?/

StarOffice doesn't support Excel or StarOffice Calc Tables in the Mail Merge function. You have to convert them into databases. The steps for StarOffice Calc are as follows:

- Open it in StarOffice Calc

- convert it into the dBase format, ".DBF"

- use New|Database to connect this file to a StarOffice Base database

If you often use such "Spreadsheet-Databases" create a folder for temporary tables, use this folder for a StarOffice Base database and generate your dBase tables into this folder.

/Does StarOffice Writer/Web offer HTTPS-Support?/

In StarOffice 5.0 yes. There where rumors, they took HTTPS support out of the current version due to licensing problems and Sun is fixing this problem. The next version of StarOffice should provide HTTPS support.

/StarOffice Mail is not willing to send my E-Mails/

There is a huge pile of problems causing this result, but there is a most common reason for this called "SMTP after Pop". Due to the fact that E-Mails transferred by SMTP don't need a authentication a lot of e-mail-servers demand to fetch mail via POP3 first. Then they will unlock sending mail for a period of time, e.g. half an hour.

In case you write your e-mails off-line and press the online button afterwards, StarOffice Mail tries to send the mails in the outbox, but this will fail, because you didn't checked your e-mail inbox before.

Here are some solutions:

- Make sure StarOffice is offline, highlight then e-mail inbox, press the right mouse button and choose "Update". Confirm the message box to go online. Now StarOffice Mail checks for new mail first and will send the messages from the outbox thereafter. This procedure will fail on mail-servers that unlock to slow.

- Some Providers offer a small program to unlock SMTP for a defined time slot. Start them before.

- Or simply don't care. Go online, check for new mails when you like. Shortly after this highlight then outbox, press the right mouse button and choose "Update". Now every unsend message will be sent.

/How can I open a space, comma or tab delimited plain text file in StarOffice Calc?/

StarOffice Calc recognizes such files when they have the extension ".CSV". If your file has another extension rename it or select the file type "Text - txt - csv (StarOffice Calc)" in the File|Open dialog.

/I have problems importing numbers with leading zeros from a plain text file into StarOffice Calc!/

After importing a CSV-file numbers with leading zeros are aligned left. It's impossible to calculate these numbers. Editing such a number show a leading single apostrophe '.

The problem occurs, because what you see i not a number, it's text. To transform this numbers, highlight the desired column and choose Edit|Search&Replace:

Search for: ^[0-9]

Replace with: &

"Regular expressions" checked

"Current selection only" checked

now click on the button "Replace all". That's it...

/How to print the Address Book or another Database?/

1. Create a new report by a right mouse click on Address book|Reports located in StarOffice Explorer.

2. Create a new text document. Now drag&drop Address book|Tables|address into this document and look what happens ;-)

/My hyperlinks are not functioning anymore!/

StarOffice Writer or StarOffice Writer/Web is set to Hyperlink Edit mode. Switch it on or off with the third panel from the right in the Status Bar. "SEL" stands for Edit mode on "HYP" for activated hyperlinks.

/StarOffice Writer shows just one huge page of my document!/

Apparently View|Online Layout is switched on.

/StarOffice Mail opens StarOffice Writer instead of a plain text editor!/

You must have just recently edited your mime file types and added a new one. StarOffice seems to like to mess with your file types plain text setting which screws up your message window when you do that.

To fix it you need to do some manual editing of your soffice.ini file (or sofficerc file on Unix systems) in your Office52 directory.

Exit StarOffice and load the soffice.ini (sofficerc) file into your favorite ascii text editor. Make sure you save a copy to the side first just in case you mess it up. Search for the section labeled [Redirects-Filters]. You'll see a number of lines there starting with Override#= where the # is an integer. The first one will probably be for the new type you added and if you look down further in the list you'll see an entry that has *.plaintext in it. Delete that line. It's the one that messed up your plain text message viewing. Save your changes and reload StarOffice and your message viewing should be back to normal.

/Why is this StarOffice Basic stuff password protected?/

You tried to open a build in StarOffice Basic library. StarOffice uses StarOffice Basic macros to implement some functions like Wizards. These libraries are protected to prevent elementary functions from changes.

If you want to take a closer look at this libraries, beacuse you are going to learn StarOffice Basic. It's better to study the StarOffice help or "Special Edition Using StarOffice" by Michael Koch, Sarah Murray with Werner Roth; Que; ISBN: 0789719932. If you are still not satisfied after these introductions, drop me a line and ask for the password. IMHO it's no good idea to broadcast the password. It will cause more errors than it will help people.

/Why do I see an "A" instead of a "+" in the Formula editor (Windows)?/

If the Formula editor shows an "+" and "-" instead of an "A" and "B", enter the directory c:\Windows\Fonts and double click StarOffice Math (StarOffice Math.ttf) and StarBats (starbats.ttf).

More information under:

http://www.wernerroth.de/en/staroffice/tips/starbats.html

/How to align Formulas at the equal sign?/

Use the matrix function of StarOffice Math:

matrix {1+2 # {}={} # {} ## 2+1 # {}={} # 3}

/Printing Labels loses some Addresses!/

The topmost address on every sheet is missing. This is a mistake in some versions of StarOffice's label template or label generator. Solution: Choose View|Fields, go to the last label on the page, delete the field next record. Remeber to switch off View|Fields again.

/PalmPilot HotSync with Linux works only when I am 'root'/

This problem is due to the rights the user has to your serial devices (/dev/ttyS*). Simply add the user to a group that has access rights to these devices (e.g. uucp).

/Is there a support for synchronising StarOffice Schedule with a Psion or Windows CE machine?/

No, at the moment StarOffice Schedule supports just PalmPilots. I don't know if and when there will be a support for other PDAs.

/Why can't I change the data of my database anymore?/

Is the Edit button in the function bar down?

StarOffice Base supports changes in database Tables only if a Primary Key is defined in the actual Table. A Primary Key field is a special kind of field: an "Index". It's used by StarOffice Base to distinguish one record from the others. Due to this a Primary Key field of one record has to have unique data; use an AutoValue field for this. Add a Primary Key field by creating your new Table; it's often not possible to add this later.

Tables in dBase format are an exception. You can change them without a defined Primary Key field .

Databases in "Text" format can not be changed using StarOffice Base. Use StarOffice Calc for this.

/4. Other Support Sources/

/------------------------/

/Overview/

A collection of StarOffice sites and News resources can be found at:

http://www.wernerroth.de/en/staroffice/info/solinks.html

/Other FAQs and Knowledge-Bases/

FAQ focusing on databases and forms maintained by Dietrich Schulten:

http://home.nikocity.de/sysentw/FAQ/SO-FAQ_English_Version/so-faq_english_version.html

Sun offers free and charged support. You'll find an overview at: http://www.sun.com/products/staroffice/support/

The StarOffice support forum http://supportforum.Sun.COM/ offers forums, FAQs, a knowledge base and more.

----------------------------------------------------

This FAQ was build and is maintained by:

Werner Roth <werner@wernerroth.de>

Translation from German to English by

Frank Becker <fb@alien8.de> Comments are welcome.

The Copyright will be assigned to a non-commercial OpenOffice Foundation as soon as there is one.

History

----------------------------------------------------

2000-10-12 First GFDL Version.

Authors:

Christian Kirsch <ck@ix.heise.de>

Daniel Lyddy <daniell@cs.berkeley.edu>

Eike Rathke <er@stardivision.de>

Jan Schulz <janschulz@bigfoot.com>

Jörg "Jogi" Sievers <jogi@warpsite.de>

Lutz Höger <lutz.hoeger@germany.sun.com>

Michael Herger <mherger@jo-sac.ch>

Norbert Promberger <promberg@cip.physik.uni-muenchen.de>

Robert Griesemer Jr. <griesemer@scra.org>

Torgen Foertsch <torgen@foertsch.com>

Original title: "StarOffice-FAQ"

Original site http://www.wernerroth.de/staroffice/

Licence

----------------------------------------------------

Copyright (c) 2001 Werner Roth.

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover Texts.

A copy of the license is included in the section "GNU Free Documentation License".