10. LibreOffice Calc

This page provides a guide on how to setup and use LibreOffice Calc for the IAC protocol.

Warning

LibreOffice needs to have the UNO bridge running for it to function properly. Please see the instructions for more details.

10.1. Instructions

1. Install LibreOffice.
2. Make sure that UNO works. Run import uno from the Python interpreter. It requires Python 3+. If it doesn’t raise an ImportError then it works.
3. Run the UNO bridge. The UNO bridge is a server that provides a programming interface to access the internals of a LibreOffice document.
   1. You can run multiple LibreOffice applications by passing them in as switches. If you want to use the current_document() command, then it will only work on the first switch passed, in this case Calc. Here is the command to run UNO for Calc and Writer: libreoffice "--accept=socket,host=localhost,port=18100;urp;StarOffice.ServiceManager" --norestore --nofirststartwizard --nologo --calc --calc
   2. If you want to run the bridge without opening any application, pass in the switch --headless. You cannot use the current_document() command in this mode because no application is running. Here is the command to write UNO for Calc and Writer: libreoffice --headless "--accept=socket,host=localhost,port=18100;urp;StarOffice.ServiceManager" --norestore --nofirststartwizard --nologo --calc --calc
4. Make sure that the LibreOffice applications you want to use are enabled in the interfaces.py file. You can access LibreOffice calc using the localc scope name.
5. Play with the interpreter to learn how the functionality works. Then use the server to create automation scripts!

If you wish to contribute to LibreOffice Calc, try playing around with Python’s library imports for LibreOffice Calc. But the best way is probably to view the UNO API documentation online, available from both LibreOffice and OpenOffice, which are essentially identical APIs. If the functionality is written in Java or another language, please try to change the logic to Python. The same namespace and class names are typically used, so this isn’t usually difficult to do.

Then, clone the project repository from the project’s GitHub page, add your modified application, and submit a pull request to be reviewed. If your additions to the application follow the protocol convention and it doesn’t contain any obvious errors, it will be accepted! See IAC protocol plugin implementation for more details.

10.2. Example

Here is a sample demonstrating LibreOffice Calc’s functionality. First, run the UNO bridge:

libreoffice "--accept=socket,host=localhost,port=18100;urp;StarOffice.ServiceManager" --norestore --nofirststartwizard --nologo --calc

Run the server (iacs) and then run the following Hello, World! shell script:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# Netcat: -u is for UDP, -c closes the connection on EOF

PORT=14733
if [[ $# -eq 3 ]]; then
    echo -e "localc -> doc = new_document()\n" | nc -uc localhost $PORT
    echo -e "localc -> sheet = doc.current_sheet()\n" | nc -uc localhost $PORT
    echo -e "localc -> cell = sheet.fetch_cell($1)\n" | nc -uc localhost $PORT
    echo -e "localc -> cell.set_text('$2')\n" | nc -uc localhost $PORT
    echo -e "localc -> doc.save_as('$3')\n" | nc -uc localhost $PORT
else
    echo "Usage: $0 [cell] [string] [path]"
fi

Or try the interpreter by directing the following as stdin:

localc -> doc = new_document()
localc -> sheet = doc.current_sheet()
localc -> cell = sheet.fetch_cell('A1')
localc -> cell.set_text('Hello, World!')
localc -> doc.save_as('/home/gyeh/hello.ods')

And then run it as something like iaci < hello-localc.txt (assuming it’s saved as that name).

10.3. Commands

localc.current_document()

Selects the currently active document. Doesn't work if UNO is in headless mode.

Example usage:

localc -> doc = current_document()

Returns:A document object. Noindex:

document.current_sheet()

Selects the currently active sheet in the document.

Example usage:

localc -> sheet = document.current_sheet()

Returns:A spreadsheet object. Noindex:

localc.load_document(path)

Example usage:

localc -> doc = load_document(‘/home/gyeh/hello.ods’)

Parameters:path (str) – The path where the document is (must end with .ods) Returns:A document object. Noindex:

localc.new_document()

Example usage:

localc -> doc = new_document()

Returns:A document object. Noindex:

document.save_as(path)

Example usage:

localc -> doc.save_as(‘/home/gyeh/hello.ods’)

Parameters:path (str) – The path to save the document to (must end with .ods) Returns:True on success, False otherwise. Noindex:

sheet.fetch_cell(cell_range)

Selects a cell range.

Example usage:

localc -> sheet.fetch_cell(‘A1’)

Returns:A cell object. Noindex:

cell.set_text(string)

Example usage:

localc -> cell.set_text(“Hello, World!”)

Parameters:string (str) – A string to set the cell contents to. Returns:True on success, False otherwise. Noindex:

cell.get_text()

Example usage:

localc -> cell.get_text()

Returns:The cell’s text. Noindex:

cell.weight('bold')

Example usage:

localc -> cell.weight(‘bold’)

Returns:True on success, False otherwise. Noindex: