67 lines
3.1 KiB
Markdown
67 lines
3.1 KiB
Markdown
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A quick overview of the LibreOffice code structure.
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## Overview
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You can develop for LibreOffice in one of two ways, one
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recommended and one much less so. First the somewhat less recommended
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way: it is possible to use the SDK, for which you can read the API
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docs [here](http://api.libreoffice.org/). This re-uses the (extremely
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generic) APIs we provide for macro scripting in StarBasic.
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The best way to add a generally useful feature to LibreOffice
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is to work on the code base however. Overall this way makes it easier
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to compile and build your code, it avoids any arbitrary limitations of
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our scripting APIs, and in general is far more simple and intuitive -
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if you are a reasonably able C++ programmer.
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## The important bits of code
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Each module should have a `README` file inside it which has some
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degree of documentation for that module; patches are most welcome to
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improve those. We have those turned into a web page here:
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http://docs.libreoffice.org/
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However, there are two hundred modules, many of them of only
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peripheral interest for a specialist audience. So - where is the
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good stuff, the code that is most useful. Here is a quick overview of
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the most important ones:
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Module | Description
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----------|-------------------------------------------------
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sal/ | this provides a simple System Abstraction Layer
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tools/ | this provides basic internal types: 'Rectangle', 'Color' etc.
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vcl/ | this is the widget toolkit library and one rendering abstraction
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svx/ | graphics related helper code, including much of 'draw' / 'impress'
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sfx2/ | core framework: document model / load/save / signals for actions etc.
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framework | UNO wrappers around the core framework, responsible for building toolbars, menus, status bars, and the chrome around the document using widgets from VCL, and XML descriptions from */uiconfig/ files
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Then applications
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Module | Description
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----------|-------------------------------------------------
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desktop/ | this is where the 'main' for the application lives, init / bootstrap. the name dates back to an ancient StarOffice that also drew a desktop
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sw/ | writer.
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sc/ | calc
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sd/ | draw / impress
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There are several other libraries that are helpful from a graphical perspective:
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Module | Description
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----------|-------------------------------------------------
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basebmp/ | enables a VCL compatible rendering API to render to bitmaps, as used for LibreOffice Online, Android, iOS, etc.
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basegfx/ | algorithms and data-types for graphics as used in the canvas
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canvas/ | new (UNO) canvas rendering model with various backends
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cppcanvas/ | C++ helper classes for using the UNO canvas
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drawinglayer/ | code to render and manage document drawing shapes and break them down into primitives we can render more easily.
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## Finding out more
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Beyond this, you can read the `README` files, send us patches, ask
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on the mailing list libreoffice@lists.freedesktop.org (no subscription
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required) or poke people on IRC `#libreoffice-dev` on irc.freenode.net -
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we're a friendly and generally helpful mob. We know the code can be
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hard to get into at first, and so there are no silly questions.
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