Easy Way for Sharing OpenOffice.org Documents?

rekrutacja asks: "I'm trying to find easy way for reading OpenOffice.org documents in places where you can't (or don't want to) install the full OOo suite. I found an on-line reader, but I would like something for offline viewing. There is a Java-based standalone program that you can download from here, but I can't seem to get it running to my liking. OOo Lite/Reader/Viewer should be easy to install (especially for Windows) and I'd like it to be small enough to fit my 16MB pen-drive. Even a Firefox/IE plugin is better than nothing. Does anyone know of such a beast?"

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Re:Since you are focusing on reading and not editi

[Creepy Crawler]

Well, why not instead export PS and include WinGhostscript ?

Re:Since you are focusing on reading and not editi

[Creepy Crawler]

Wow.. Talk about moronic moderation... I reccomend a solution that actually would fit on the 16 MB memstick (my god, get a bigger one doofus).

And for a reccomendation, Im a "troll". This is why K5 is getting better.

Re:Since you are focusing on reading and not editi

[ZosX]

Wow.. Talk about moronic moderation...

You must be new around here. :)

Re:Since you are focusing on reading and not editi

[magefile]

This is why K5 is getting better

Why, because you're here, not there? Too many trolling articles and diaries on K5. I still read it, but ... not as often as I used to.

Re:Since you are focusing on reading and not editi

[damiam]

You recommended a solution that is pretty much inferior to the parent in every way. That's why you were modded down. Since there's no "-1, Stupid" mod, the moderator had to settle for the next best thing.

Re:Since you are focusing on reading and not editi

[Creepy Crawler]

Well, you can print PS'es instantly just by sending the ps file to the printer (assuming standard networked laser). HP printers have ftp enabled by default. Just PUT and PRINT ;-)

Re:Since you are focusing on reading and not editi

[Vo0k]

Sorry, OpenOffice's PDF implementation is still buggy. It may work well for pure english texts but all the native characters of other languages turn out as garbage.

Re:Since you are focusing on reading and not editi

[saintp]

Or RTF, (no, that doesn't mean "Read the Fucking Comma") if you need to edit.

Re:Since you are focusing on reading and not editi

[Enrico Pulatzo]

How is this a funny comment? It makes sense to me. Most people have pdf-viewing capability already on their computer. If that doesn't work, export to freakin' rtf or something like that.

Re:Since you are focusing on reading and not editi

[maxume]

because it is obvious to the point of humor.

Re:Since you are focusing on reading and not editi

[dalutong]

I think it is rated something-other-than insightful because the benefit of such a reader would be considerable.

If I could send someone a OO.o dock and not have to worry about whether they had it because I included a link to an official and small reader I would be happy. I also think that it would make OO.o considerably more successful.

People don't understand technology that well. If some group was given an OO.o document and said "can't open it? download openoffice.org/reader" they would just think it was

Re:Since you are focusing on reading and not editi

[Enrico Pulatzo]

Why should an end user that doesn't need editing capabilities need to view an OO.o document when PDF is the right tool for the job?

Who should care what program generates a document as long as the results are correct?

I understand the desire to make OO.o more ubiquitous, but should that desire take precedence over getting work done?

Re:Since you are focusing on reading and not editi

[dalutong]

why? a couple of reasons:

1) pdf export doesn't work for many people. OO.o has it but as I understand it worthwhile PDFs require you to purchase some sort of pdf maker.

2) from OO.o's point of view PDFs aren't necessarily the right tool for the job. My last post was something I hadn't thought of before. I now am wondering why OO.o doesn't make an OO.o reader. I think it would be a great idea. Then you don't have to worry about supporting a format (PDF) that a) might look incorrect and b) is controlled by so

Re:Since you are focusing on reading and not editi

[Enrico Pulatzo]

Those still aren't terribly compelling reasons to re-invent the portable document format. You can view the spec for the PDF online at Adobe's site [adobe.com]. It's terms of use are quite reasonable.

Point 2a makes me think that you should contribute to OO.o in the form making PDF output better. However, point 2b is a little bit too tin-foil hatty for my tastes. There are reasons that PDF has version numbers: feature freeze.

Re:Since you are focusing on reading and not editi

[Rysc]

A PDF makes a bad slideshow. A OOo reader would read all OOo formats, just not re-save them. You could do your slideshow on boxen without OOo.

Is that compelling enough? For me the "it would be cool" thing is reason enough.

Re:Since you are focusing on reading and not editi

[prefect42]

Seeing as you're educated in making presentations in PDF format, I wonder if you could expand on them making poor slideshows. You can embed all sorts of media, you can have page transitions, links to other pages. Just look at tools like prosper (http://prosper.sourceforge.net/), which make very servicable slideshows with very little effort.

Re:Since you are focusing on reading and not editi

[Theatetus]

A PDF makes a bad slideshow.

Maybe that's why OOo exports slideshows to flash, not to pdf?

Re:Since you are focusing on reading and not editi

[Bishop]

If you setup a ps2pdf "printer" I believe you can script this from the command line. With make and an hourly cron or some other trigger you can easily keep you pdf files up to date.

Because it's about reading, not editing!

[rekrutacja]

I need an easy way for reading already existing .sxw documents. It's a default format of OOo - and people use it. If you work on-the-move, on other people's computers, you don't want to install full OOo everywhere. Small reader which i can download quick even on modem connection or take on my pen-drive is much better than reformatting every single document i deal with.

Re:Because it's about reading, not editing!

[La Camiseta]

Yeah, but you just have to click one button on the toolbar to export to a PDF. Open up the files that you routinely take around with you and export them, then whenever you update them, just re-export them. Doesn't seem to be too challenging to me. Everybody has Acrobat reader, or at least the ability to view PDFs (ghostscript, Apple Preview, etc.)

Get an older copy of Acrobat Reader (something like 5.0), so that it doesn't have all of that extra e-book reading cruft in it, and you'll have more than enough f

Re:Because it's about reading, not editing!

[rekrutacja]

You miss the point - to click that button you have to install OOo first, because file already exist. I don't create the files - i read them. Do you read me?

Re:Because it's about reading, not editing!

[La Camiseta]

If you're looking for something that's pretty small, AbiWord is really lightweight and can read .sxw files, among dozens of others.

Re:Since you are focusing on reading and not editi

[Short Circuit]

That's what I did for a presentation in front of class last night...unfortunately, I couldn't find a way to make it fullscreen in Adobe Acrobat. So I used the PowerPoint presentation I'd saved. (From within OOo on my Linux box at home, mind you.)

Better yet, work in HTML

[leonbrooks]

For ordinary letters and even complex documents up to and including magazine articles, HTML is more than flexible enough to do what I want. OOo is a pretty reasonable HTML editor, and as well as it exporting stuff on demand, many programs will read and even edit or import HTML quite well. And web browsers are of course ubiquitous.

If you're writing a PhD thesis on maths or physics, or trying to lay out a business card (people even do this using spreadsheets, a printing shop I do business with has special epithets reserved for them) forget I ever set hand to keyboard, but for everyday stuff HTML is fine, almost overkill.

Re:Better yet, work in HTML

[MrResistor]

Why do I never have mod points when I see comments like these?

CSS paged media?

[tepples]

Problem is that HTML doesn't let the author of the document easily set the margins for printing. Which popular web browser supports the paged media extensions to CSS in a meaningful way?

Re:Just use Microsoft Office

[Dink Paisy]

I guess I let my irritation with OO.o show too much. I've had to deal way too much with documents in the past few months, and after some technical difficulties with LaTeX, I found that of OO.o Writer, KWord, AbiWord, ThinkFree Office and Microsoft Word, Microsoft Word was by far the best.

I'm fortunate enough to fall under a volume licensing plan for MS Office, so I got it for about CDN $90. If you can get one of the heavily discounted versions it's a worthwhile purchase, but otherwise it's too expensive f

I hate to sound like a broken record...

[Theatetus]

A better solution is probably to distribute presentations as PDF format, and use Adobe Reader as the small viewer program.

Judging by the comments, am I the only person who uses OOo's feature of exporting slideshows as flash movies? Everyone else seems to do it as a pdf, which seems perverse to me.

Horrors!

[VernonNemitz]

I'm sure this counts as heresy or worse, but if it works...?

Microsoft has a stand-alone "Word Viewer" program for at least reading .doc files. Since Open Office has the goal of creating compatible files, it seems to me that this program [microsoft.com] should be able to at least partly fit your need.

Re:Horrors!

[12dec0de]

Your recomendation ist not heresy, but it doesn't work right (the Word Viewer never really did)

The document will never look like it did on your own Desktop (regardless of whether OpenOffice or MS-Office was used), since Fonts, Paper-Formats and a thousand others things are never set quite right.

So, IMHO and IME (in my experience) if you can do without the edit, allways go the PDF way. And if was never easier than with the PDF-Export right on the toolbar of OpenOffice.

Re:Horrors!

[BlueLightning]

Yes, they are most certainly horrors. Not only have Microsoft's viewers not been updated for some time (thus no support for the newer Office formats), but the Excel viewer often seems to take up to 100% CPU time even with no file loaded. Not to mention that neither the Excel nor Word viewers provide any way to lock them down appropriately for use in a terminal server environment. Admittedly the latter only affects people wishing to run them in TS environments, but it is a problem for some.

The Word/Excel vi

Re:Horrors!

[ottothecow]

I've found that the powerpoint viewer is...acceptable.

It would be awesome if OO.o had a better viewer for slideshows that wasn't just acceptable but was actually usefull.

Re:The simple answer

[TheWanderingHermit]

Yep, it's a simple answer. Simple for simpletons, that is.

I know this is a troll, but I'd rather respond as if it were legit, since there are MANY good reasons for NOT using MS products (other than irrational fear of monopolies).

There are a large number of reasons for using OOo. MS Office is WAY overpriced, for one. I started my business by spending less than $100 on software (and later, just before final release of 1.0, a copy of Win2k for testing). If I had used Windows and Office, along with other MS tools, I would have had to spend thousands of dollars when I didn't have it. I found using Linux and OOo saved me a LOT of money when I didn't have any extra.

There's also safety. There are a host of virii for Word, but none for OOo (and OOo will not auto-execute macros, like Word).

And availability and licensing. A lot of my clients are lawyers, and that is one place where Word Perfect is still heavily in use. If I based my software on Office, I'd have to either supply each client with a copy, or force them to buy one. Instead, I based it on OOo, and install OOo on the client's computer with my system. They like getting a free office suite, and it doesn't cost them what they'd have to pay if I based my system on Office. I've even had several lawyers that were using Word tell me they were so impressed with OOo, they're switching. The biggest bankruptcy lawyer in Northern Virginia, for instance, tried OOo when I recommended it, and has decided he'd rather use it for free than pay several hundred for each copy he needs in all of his offices.

And there's the cross platform thing. My system is designed for Linux, Mac, and Windows. (I've had to work with several lawyers who have servers running on Linux, and they like having my system automated on a server as opposed to having to run on an employee's desktop unit.) I wrote it in Java, so it ports easily, with OOo, to all 3 operating systems I mentioned. That's not possible with Office.

So before you go trashing a program and say just do what everyone else does, think. Also think about the old line from your elementary school teacher: "If everyone jumped off the Empire State Building, would you?" Just because everyone does it doesn't mean it's right or a good thing. That would mean that since both Clinton and G.W. Bush won elections, that they both must be the best, and I doubt you'll find anyone who things both were/are excellent presidents.

Re:The simple answer

[bhtooefr]

I can sorta see what the troll hsa to say, though. OOo is... lacking in some areas (primarily MS Office compatibility, but UI and speed (esp. on Linux, where it's the only complete game in town) suck too). I'll admit, I just switched to (a not-so-legal copy of) Office 2003 (yeah, yeah, I know) from OOo 1.1.2.

There are areas where OOo just BLOWS MS Office away - open file format, open code, little to no security risks, smaller size, legally free, etc., etc. However, it's also lacking whole apps that Office

Re:The simple answer

[TheWanderingHermit]

Yeah, I forgot the open format thing. That's a HUGE reason I used OOo. I was able to get into the files and edit them MY way, not by having to use the interface. It sped my program up (I forgot the exact numbers, but it was at least 1/3 faster, in part for not having to load a program like OOo or Word).

I've never used Office, at least seriously. I've never needed publisher and, when I used Word Perfect, found it could handle all my desktop publishing needs (I used to edit a newsletter and ran my own ma

Re:The simple answer

[DaveJay]

You're right about the open format thing being huge. I once wrote a piece of music using sequencing software that (unbeknownst to me, because I was not knowledgeable at the time) used a proprietary protocol. Years later, when I attempted to resurrect the file (the only copy of that particular song I could find was the original file backup) I couldn't find the sequencer program disk, nor could I purchase another (the company was out of business).

Ultimately, I was able to open it by begging random strangers via usenet, one of whom had the program and was kind enough to open it and save it as a MIDI file for me -- but it's not good policy to rely on the kindness of strangers (insert Blanche DuBois joke here).

Re:The simple answer

[DispassionateObserve]

As for Access, there are MANY choices for databases in FOSS. I prefer MySQl.

Except for that little part of Access that designs queries, forms, reports, and makes databases generally usable by everyone from secretaries to executives to geeks. Nothing in FOSS-land comes close yet (except the very-beta OOo2.0). - Mike

Re:The simple answer

[0racle]

No there is no OSS equivalent to Access. If all you were using was a database then yes, MySQL would be, but you don't use Access just to store data. With MySQL you have to create the front end, with Access its all there. There is no query builder, table designer or report generator for MySQL, thats all extra. Those are the reasons that you use Access, MySQL wouldn't just be overkill for those applications, but it would be a pain in the ass to set up.

All of those tools are available...

[leonbrooks]

...in a sheaf of different choices. Think of those interfaces as being like unto MS-Access and add a real SQL backend to replace MS-SQL-Server.

As to setup: what's so hard about clicking on an installer, saying "Yes" or "Next" to everything, and choosing a password?

I use Mandrake Linux, so installing's even easier than that, I can either click on an icon in RPMdrake or issue a one-liner on the command-line and let URPMI worry about where to get the package and what else it might need to work. MySQL, Postgr

Re:All of those tools are available...

[tepples]

Think of those interfaces as being like unto MS-Access and add a real SQL backend to replace MS-SQL-Server.

Which Access-clone frontends do you recommend, or which Google keywords should I use?

Access vs. MySQL

[tepples]

As for Access, there are MANY choices for databases in FOSS. I prefer MySQl.

MySQL or PostgreSQL could probably replace the Jet backend of Microsoft Access, but what would replace the Access frontend? No, a custom PHP solution isn't the answer, because many people who point-and-click in Access can't be anused to learn PHP.

What bit of MS-Publisher are you missing?

[leonbrooks]

oowriter does the linked frames and text-art, the only mainstream MS-Publisher thing it doesn't do is automatically add and link the frames for a new page.

MS-Publisher has a special place in printing companies' lives - on the dart-board, usually. Getting Publisher documents to look exactly the same on paper as they do on the customer's screen can be more than a bit dodgy.

As to reverse-engineering the file format, I think I should quote Pro Hart's cleaner [wetcanvas.com]: "Oh, meester 'Art! What a mess!"

Re:What bit of MS-Publisher are you missing?

[bhtooefr]

Ah, well, I need file-format compatibility for my journalism class.

Re:The simple answer

[Snaller]

There are areas where OOo just BLOWS MS Office away - open file format, open code, little to no security risks, smaller size, legally free, etc., etc.

Which to most the population matters very little...

Look at the file structure...

[(H)elix1]

Been a while, but it is not too hard to open a Open Office doc and do an XSTL on it into a format you want. I was parsing the (compressed) XML to pull out data for a program, but I'm sure there are style sheets out there that do just that... (if not within OO itself for that matter)

Dude, buy a bigger pen drive!

[benpharr]

Dude, buy a bigger pen drive! :)

Not enough information

[DaoudaW]

The submitter didn't really explain his situation well enough, but I'm guessing that the problem is that she is receiving the occasional OO doc and wants to be able to read it without a full install of OO.

If this is the case then exporting to PDF, or converting to DOC, makes no sense at all. If he could do that then she'd just read the frickin' doc. Duh...

My question is: Why the aversion to just installing OO? My answer is that he roams to different computers and uses his USB key as her personal drive and is unable to install OO on all the various computer he might use.

The best solution probably is the larger USB key.

Re:Not enough information

[rekrutacja]

What a wonderfull example of social reverse engineering :-)))
And yes, you are right.

No admin privileges perhaps?

[the_truk_stop]

Why the aversion to just installing OO?

I know that at Northwestern [northwestern.edu], students don't have admin privileges to install software. However, we're able to download programs in zip format, so long as they don't have to be installed. Whenever I go to my school's computer labs I download a Firefox zip and run it from there. I assume it's a similar restriction that prevents just installing the full version of OO.o.

Sign up and help me get an LCD monitor! [freeflatscreens.com]

Moderate this comment
Negative: Offtopic [mithuro.com] Flamebait [mithuro.com]

Re:Not enough information

[Anonymous Coward]

his...she...he...she...he...his...her...he

So, uh, is this a guy or a girl we're talking about, or a transsexual?

.txt?

[Tetravus]

or PDF if you're into that stuff.

save as...

[GiantMonkey]

save as .txt, .doc or .pdf or any of the other files. Almost everyone would be able to open one of those.

AbiWord

[Arivia]

Why not use AbiWord? The Windows port is about as small as what you're looking for, and it has full compatibility with OOo with the import/output plugins(when the new document standard is implemented in OOo, I don't think even those wil be needed.)

Re:AbiWord

[rekrutacja]

Thank's, that is almost exactly what i was looking for. Small, easy to use and GPL-ed.

Re:AbiWord

[booch]

Interesting. The only answer that the original poster found satisfactory only has a score of 1. Come on, moderators! (Just double-checked to make sure I don't have moderator capabilities at the moment.)

Re:AbiWord

[booch]

Now that (after several days) the answer has been moderated up to 5, my comment isn't so insightful any more. Maybe it was an anti-self-fulfilling prophecy.

Re:AbiWord

[Craigweb]

One more thing to try: AbiWord for Thumb Drives [sourceforge.net]

AbiWord for Thumb Drives is an UNOFFICIAL version designed for use on USB Thumb/Pen Drives. It was created by Craigweb [craigweb.net] (Me).

To import OpenOffice documents you will need to also download the ImportExport-2.2.1 plugins.

Re:AbiWord

[pete-classic]

I've stripped down AbiWord as much as I can and added the OO.o .sxw import/export plugin. It also opens word files.

Got it down to 3.9 megs. You can grab a tarball at http://hutnick.com/littleabi/ [hutnick.com].

If someone wants to make this a zip (since tar can be a bit tricky for windows users) send me a link and I will upload it. My email address is above.

-Peter

zip + notepad?

[Xtifr]

Since Openoffice files are simply zipped directory trees containing XML files, I'm not sure you need anything more than zip (pkzip, winzip, infozip, whatever) and something that can handle plain text (i.e. notepad).

Heck, I got by for years with nothing but the Unix strings(1) command for access to MSOffice files. Your options are a whole lot more open and flexible than that. :)

The official support community, and google, know.

[dan_bethe]

There should be a note on the submitter page for Slashdot reminding people to first use google [google.com] and go to the canonical source of information [openoffice.org] on a given subject, before posting.

Anyhow, there is the solution the google link above. "Ask Slashdot" to the rescue, clicking on google for you 24/7!

Re:The official support community, and google, kno

[MrResistor]

There should be a note on the submitter page for Slashdot reminding people to first read the question [slashdot.org] they're responding to and checking the top links google turns up [oooforum.org], before claiming google has the answer.

Anyhow, the solution you point out has already been addressed as inadequate. "Ask Slashdot" fails again, responding without reading the question 24/7.

Re:The official support community, and google, kno

[dan_bethe]

What? "Checking the top links google turns up?" That was exactly my whole point, and exactly what I linked to! It was indeed my entire purpose for having posted. The solution I pointed to is exactly the same you point to now, was never previously addressed, and is the correct solution. I'm afraid you're totally inverted somewhere. :)

Re:The official support community, and google, kno

[MrResistor]

WRONG!

The "solution" linked to in the discussion you pointed to through google is already linked in the origional question, immediately followed by "but I can't seem to get it running to my liking." Indeed, had you actually read the discussion you pointed to, you might have noticed that it's described as "not a full solution".

So, it HAS already been looked at and declared inadequate.

Re:The official support community, and google, kno

[NewStarRising]

>> responding without reading the question 24/7.

Why would anyone want to read the question ALL DAY?
A few minutes would be enough to get the general idea, wouldn't it?

Not that good

[fok]

The problem with the java viewer and the PDF export is the final user will not fully enjoy, say, an OOo presentation with effects and stuff... I ran through this exact same problem when tryin' to make an "autoplay" CD for a presentation (MS didn't helped eather, as you have to install ppviewer).

Re:Not that good

[knisa]

Try using the pack-and-go wizard. That makes the presentation self-executing.

URL OOOOOOOO

[Refrozen]

http://www.oooconv.de/engine/OOOconv.php
There are way too many o's in that URL.

Easy way?

[cuteseal]

"Easy Way for Sharing OpenOffice.org Documents?"

1. File -> Print
2. Take printout from printer
3. Hand print out to recipient

*sigh* Techno-geeks these days... :D

I'm shocked.

[FreeLinux]

I have never before had need for such a viewer so, I didn't know that it didn't exist yet. But, I am shocked that it doesn't exist! How hard would it be for a competent programmer to rip out the rendering component from Open Office and create a standalone viewer? I can't imaging that it would be difficult, relatively speaking. Open Office is open source after all, and the rendering code is freely available for copying.

From my viewpoint, there definitely needs to be such a viewer. It should be cross platform, or versions for each platform, and a browser plug-in would be a good idea too. If the viewers are available, you can then start distributing the documents and everyone can read them, not just Open Office users. Acrobat and Word have both been succesful with this scheme and I'm sure that Open Office could achieve greater penetration if it followed suit.

Re:I'm shocked.

[Nutria]

I have never before had need for such a viewer so, I didn't know that it didn't exist yet. But, I am shocked that it doesn't exist! How hard would it be for a competent programmer to rip out the rendering component from Open Office and create a standalone viewer? I can't imaging that it would be difficult, relatively speaking. Open Office is open source after all, and the rendering code is freely available for copying.

Thanks for volunteering yourself!

When can we see some alpha code?