
Most users interact with OpenOffice.org on the desktop. But what if you need to do a selective restore on the files that store custom gradients or colors? Troubleshoot why an extension won’t install? Share resources with other users? For these kinds of tasks, you need to know a bit about where OpenOffice.org stores its files, and what you can do with them.
OpenOffice.org’s file structure is simple, but it is deceptive. What you see on the desktop (for instance, when you choose a template to base a new file upon) may not be an actual directory, but a virtual one. Just as when you upload photos, the contents of all memory cards in your camera display together instead of separately, so OpenOffice.org displays many of its resources in a single view on the desktop.
Usually, the directories that make up this single view come from your personal files in /home/~/.openoffice.org/3/user, and from public resources installed with OpenOffice.org, most of which are in /usr/lib/openoffice/basis3.2/share. The numbers in the path differ with the OpenOffice.org versions, and the public resources may be installed elsewhere in some distributions, but you can find which are being used in your system by looking at Tools -> Options -> OpenOffice.org -> Paths.
If you choose, you can also edit the path to resources for the current account, adding other directories as you choose. However, the order does matter — you’ll notice that the default paths are set to look at your local resources first.
Read the rest of this entry »
Popularity: 16% [?]