libreoffice - run (python) macro to insert cross reference from Gnu/Linux command line

Question

I have verified that I can run both normal office and python macros from within office but I still haven't figured out how to run one (even the hello world one) from the command line.

I have googled and looked at other answers here but I'm still not entirely clear how to run an open office macro from the command line:

https://forum.openoffice.org/en/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=8232 suggests to use:

office writer.odt "macro://Standard.Module1.Macro1()"

I have also seen:

office "macro://Standard.Module1.Macro1()" writer.odt

Either way around this just opens the document and and neither runs a macro nor reports an error.

Whereas How to call an existing LibreOffice python macro from a python script suggests to run office listening on a port and communicate via that.

If I can get that far I still need to find API documentation that will explain how to insert an anchor (as per my other question asciidoc: is there a way to create an anchor that will be visible in libreoffice writer?)

I'm using RHEL7 for context.

update

oowriter "foo.odt" macro:///Standard.Module1.addXref

works with a office basic macro. I still haven't figured out the python one.

One issue is I can't find any debug information to look at. Are there any log files anywhere?

Another issue is which version of python to use. The RHEL package installs site packages for python 2.7.

>rpm -q --whatprovides /usr/bin/writer
libreoffice-writer-4.3.7.2-5.el7_2.1.x86_64

>rpm -ql libreoffice-pyuno-4.3.7.2-5.el7_2.1
...
/usr/lib64/python2.7/site-packages/uno.py

Libreoffice5.1 includes 3.5 with the distro:

>/opt/libreoffice5.1/program/python --version Python 3.5.0

So to start with I am looking for a hello world python example that pairs a known version of python with a known version of office. Preferably either of the two above (writer 4.3.7 & python 2.7? or writer 5.1 & python 3.5).

update2

Using python3.5 as installed with office5.1 I have a working hello world using the following:

import uno

# get the uno component context from the PyUNO runtime
localContext = uno.getComponentContext()

# create the UnoUrlResolver
resolver = localContext.ServiceManager.createInstanceWithContext(
            "com.sun.star.bridge.UnoUrlResolver", localContext )

# connect to the running office
ctx = resolver.resolve( "uno:socket,host=localhost,port=2002;urp;StarOffice.ComponentContext" )

smgr = ctx.ServiceManager

# get the central desktop object
desktop = smgr.createInstanceWithContext( "com.sun.star.frame.Desktop",ctx)

# access the current writer document
model = desktop.getCurrentComponent()

# access the document's text property
text = model.Text

# create a cursor
cursor = text.createTextCursor()

# insert the text into the document
text.insertString( cursor, "Hello World", 0 )

This works with either version of open office via:

/usr/bin/oowriter --accept="socket,host=localhost,port=2002;urp;StarOffice.ServiceManager"

So the final part is to add the cross reference.

Answer 1

It looks like the command needs an extra slash. This worked for me on Ubuntu:

lowriter "Untitled 1.odt" macro:///Standard.Module1.SayHello

That calls this method in the module named Module1 under My Macros & Dialogs / Standard:

Sub SayHello
    MsgBox("Hello, World!")
End Sub

The above approach only works for Basic macros. For Python macros, the standard command line approach is to connect to a listening instance of Office. Warning: This will be much (perhaps 10x) slower than running from within Office.

The link you suggested shows how to call a Python macro from a different Python script, which is more complex than what we need here. Instead, put the connecting code (starting with localContext = uno.getComponentContext()) and macro code in the same script. For an example of what should go in the script, see "First play with the Python shell to get familiar" at http://christopher5106.github.io/office/2015/12/06/openoffice-libreoffice-automate-your-office-tasks-with-python-macros.html.

As far as creating anchors, there are a number of different objects in LibreOffice that can function as anchors:

• Headings
• Bookmarks - example code to create them
• Tables and Frames
• Sections
• Images and OLE Objects

This list was copied from How do I check for broken internal links in Star Basic?. In your other question you also asked about checking for broken links, so hopefully that question is helpful.

One way to create a hyperlink is to edit the HyperLinkURL property of some text. For example, say there is a bookmark called MyBookmark. Then the following code changes the currently selected text into a hyperlink:

viewcursor = currentController.getViewCursor()
viewcursor.HyperLinkURL = "#MyBookmark"

EDIT:

Regarding which version of python to use, currently LibreOffice uses python 3 and OpenOffice uses python 2.

For debugging information, you can set a checkpoint in the Basic IDE. For python, I use the logging module. OpenOffice also has various log files but I normally do not find them helpful.

Regarding problems with python, did you try the link I posted? If so, how far did you get?

I do not think you will find many RHEL examples. Try to get it working on a desktop distro like Ubuntu first, and then adapt that approach to RHEL.