Groovy For OpenOffice

Groovy For OpenOffice is an OpenOffice Extension that adds support for scripting OpenOffice Macros in Groovy.

The license is LGPL v2.1 (like the rest of OOo).

Where to get it

Download the "GroovyForOpenOffice-0_6.zip" file from the "GroovyForOpenOffice" package of the IFCX SF.net project and unpack it in a temporary directory. The OpenOffice extension (GroovyScripting.oxt) is there, along with Installation.odt, Groovy_Samples.odt, BUILDING.html, and Wings.odt.

This is a different location than the initial 0.1 release, and should be the permanent home now.

Direct link: http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=199110&package_id=237851

On-Line Update: If you have installed an earlier version of GroovyForOpenOffice and are using OpenOffice 2.2 or later, you should be able to use the "On-Line Update" feature to install the latest version. Choose the "Updates..." button of the Extension Manager dialog (accessed via the "Tools : Extension Manager..." menu item).

Release notes:

Download the full package (.zip) from 
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=199110&package_id=237851 
and unpack it in order to get installation instructions and sample code.  

Also IFCX Wings at http://www.ifcx.org/wiki/Wings.html is the prime 
application of G4OO and is an extensive example.

This is a beta release of this OpenOffice 2.x Extension which adds support for writing macros in Groovy.

Java 1.5 and OpenOffice 2.1 or later is required.

THERE IS NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND FOR THIS FREE SOFTWARE!
THE EXTENSION AND THE MACROS RUN WITHOUT RESTRICTION USING
THE SAME PERMISSIONS AS THE USER THAT LAUNCHED OPENOFFICE!

The version of Groovy bundled with this release is:
1.5.6
http://groovy.codehaus.org/

Also bundled is Apache Ivy 2.0 SVN (r652889) with patches.
http://ant.apache.org/ivy/
Ivy RoundUp BuilderResolver patch.
ivyroundup.googlecode.com/
And my Maven classifier caching fix:
http://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/IVY-803

Groovy JSR-223 Scripting Engine:
http://scripting.java.net/

LiveTribe Open Source JSR-223 Java Scripting API implementation:
http://livetribe.codehaus.org/

To install the extension (GroovyScripting.oxt), use the "Tools : Extension Manager..." menu then choose "Add...".
Beware that if you change the name of the file then you may have a conflict which future installs with the original name.
The Groovy_Samples.odt file is an ODF document with a few sample Groovy macros in it and some getting started help.

A copy of IFCX Wings (G4OO's raison d'etre) is included <http://www.ifcx.org/wiki/Wings.html>.

Change log:

The 0.6 release:
  * Update to Groovy 1.5.6.
  * Full Ivy 2.0-SNAPSHOT with dependencies (including VFS).
  * Add LiveTribe JSR-223 API OSS implementation (2.0.3-SNAPSHOT).
  * Add java.net Scripting Groovy JSR-223 engine.

The 0.5-PRE2 release:
   * Update the Groovy 1.5.5-SNAPSHOT.
   * Update the included Wings to 0.3.  Demonstrates Ivy integration!
   
The 0.5-PRE1 release:
   * Update to Groovy 1.5.5-SNAPSHOT.
   * Add Apache Ivy 2.0beta2 snapshot.

The 0.4 release:
   * Small tweak to fix bug that prevented compiled macros from 
     being cached.

The 0.3 release:

   * Cache compiled macros.
   * Remove non-UNO API dependencies for OpenOffice 2.3 compatibility.
   * First version available via on-line update.

The 0.2 release:

   *  Fix a bug that prevented the extension from working on Windows.

Installation

You can view the installation instructions as a PDF here(info).

How to use it

The best place to look for help is in the extensive documentation and examples for scripting macros in BeanShell.

http://framework.openoffice.org/scripting/

Chapter 17 of Getting Started with OpenOffice.org 2.x

The "Groovy_Samples.odt" file (also available from the "GroovyForOpenOffice" package of the IFCX SF.net project) has some getting started help and a few small examples.

Some additional samples are going up at the OOo wiki. Please add yours!

For a spiffier example (and GroovyForOpenOffice's raison d'etre) check out IFCX Wings.

Support

Please report bugs (and success is welcome too!) to the GroovyForOpenOffice forum.

Writing OpenOffice macros in something other than OOBASIC is somewhat involved and not very well documented. I suggest OpenOffice community sites like http://www.oooforum.org/ as the place to look for more information and commiseration.

If you need professional services, I (JimWhite) am available on an hourly basis.

THERE IS NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND FOR THIS FREE SOFTWARE

Resources

http://www.ooomacros.org/

http://www.oooforum.org/

http://www.pitonyak.com/

http://api.openoffice.org/