[dot] KDE integrates OpenOffice.org

[Dot Stories]

URL: http://dot.kde.org/1075705744/

From: Fabrice Mous <fabrice at kde.nl>
Dept: we-like-to-go-OOo
Date: Monday 02/Feb/2004, @08:09

KDE integrates OpenOffice.org
=============================

   In this interview, Jan Holesovsky, author and leader of the
KDE.OpenOffice.org [http://kde.openoffice.org/] project, now employed by
SUSE [http://www.suse.com/],  gives us a glimpse of what to expect in
terms of OpenOffice.org [http://www.openoffice.org/] integration on your
KDE desktop.  The future sure looks bright!

      
[http://static.kdenews.org/content/kde-ooo-interview/www.xs4all.nl/%257Eleintje/stuff/OOo-KDE/2.png]
Please give us some background information about yourself.

     I am 27 years old, living in Prague, the Czech Republic, graduated
from  Charles University [http://www.mff.cuni.cz/toUTF-8.en/], also in
Prague.

     When not sitting in front of the computer keyboard, I am usually in
hills or mountains with my friends---trekking, climbing, mountain biking
or cross-country skiing depending on the season.

     What's the focus of this project and how did it start?

     It began in July 2003 when I read an article
[http://www.root.cz/clanek/1716] about Ximian's work
[http://ooo.ximian.com/] on improving OpenOffice.org. There was also a
note about a (now unmaintained) Bonobo OOo integration project, and I
was wondering, whether anybody had started a similar project for KDE.

     I had just graduated, and I wanted to travel in October, so instead
of searching for a job I was reading the OOo documentation and
programming cuckooo  [http://kde.openoffice.org/cuckooo/index.html]. The
initial version was available in the middle of August, so I still had
some time left before the travelling. I started the "OpenOffice.org Qt
port" [http://kde.openoffice.org/ooo-qt/index.html], now "KDE vclplug",
because I wanted to replace all the OOo GUI toolkit "VCL" with its Qt
implementation. I finished a proof of concept a few days before I left.
When I returned, I wanted to continue my OOo work as an employee.

     I started KDE NWF [http://kde.openoffice.org/nwf/index.html] in
December when I saw the big demand
[http://lists.kde.org/?l=kde-devel&m=107123771419550&w=2] for OOo Native
Widget Framework  on kde-devel at kde.org.

     How many people are working on this?

     Currently, I am the only developer. Lukas Tinkl sent me a patch to
NWF that corrected behavior of combo boxes and introduced tab bars.

     Are you paid to work on this project?

     The search for work resulted in a contract with SUSE
[http://www.suse.com/us/index.html]. I became their employee the last
week, and now I am paid to continue the KDE OpenOffice.org integration.
Here I want to thank Holger Schroeder once more. He donated the money
that covered the first part of my Native Widget Framework development.
All the work on cuckooo and KDE vclplug (OOo Qt port) I did as a
volunteer.

     Is there a website? Is there a CVS repository somewhere?

     kde.openoffice.org [http://kde.openoffice.org/index.html] is the
main page of the integration project. It is an official OOo "Incubator"
project [http://incubator.openoffice.org/], so it has all the possible
support from the OpenOffice.org side.

     There is no separate CVS repository for the project. KDE Native
Widget Framework is already in the OOo CVS repository (branch
cws_srx645_nativewidget1)
[http://gsl.openoffice.org/source/browse/gsl/vcl/?only_with_tag=cws_srx645_nativewidget1];
KDE vclplug (OpenOffice.org Qt port) will hopefully appear in the OOo
CVS repository as well.

     When looking at the website it seems that there are 3 subprojects:
Cuckoo [http://kde.openoffice.org/cuckooo/index.html], OpenOffice.org Qt
port [http://kde.openoffice.org/ooo-qt/index.html] and KDE NWF
[http://kde.openoffice.org/nwf/index.html]. Can you describe the
technical differences between the three projects that are part of
kde.openoffice.org

      
[http://static.kdenews.org/content/kde-ooo-interview/openoffice-et.sourceforge.net/pildid/OOo-1.1/ooo-plastik/ooo-plastik1.png]
The idea of cuckooo is to use the UNO API [http://api.openoffice.org] of
the OpenOffice.org to access its functionality from Konqueror
[http://konqueror.kde.org/] so that people could browse to MS Office
documents which would open directly in the browser's window
[http://static.kdenews.org/content/kde-ooo-interview/artax.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/%257Ekendy/cuckooo/screenshots/doc.jpg].
Cuckooo itself is a KPart which controls an instance of OpenOffice.org
running in the background and displaying to the KPart's window.

     KDE vclplug, formerly known as OOo Qt port, has the goal to get OOo
controlled by Qt events and drawn by Qt painting methods instead of pure
X calls. It is developed for OOo 2.0
[http://development.openoffice.org/releases/q-concept.html] and it is
still quite experimental stuff. It does not support KDE styles, but once
the Qt events are working, it will be possible to use standard KDE
dialogs (e.g. the file dialog).

     OOo NWF uses the Native Widget Framework
[http://gsl.openoffice.org/files/documents/16/1286/vclNativeWidgetProposal.sxw]
to provide OOo with the look
[http://static.kdenews.org/content/kde-ooo-interview/artax.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/%257Ekendy/cuckooo/screenshots/OOo-KDE-NWF-listboxes.jpg]
of
[http://static.kdenews.org/content/kde-ooo-interview/openoffice-et.sourceforge.net/pildid/OOo-1.1/ooo-plastik/ooo-plastik1.png]
the
[http://static.kdenews.org/content/kde-ooo-interview/openoffice-et.sourceforge.net/pildid/OOo-1.1/ooo-plastik/ooo-plastik2.png]
theme
[http://static.kdenews.org/content/kde-ooo-interview/www.xs4all.nl/%257Eleintje/stuff/OOo-KDE/4.png]
that the user chose for his KDE desktop. The framework uses the QStyle
API to draw its widgets the same way KDE/Qt would. OOo with NWF does not
have a Qt event loop. It is developed for OOo 1.1, but it will be used
in 2.0 as well; then it becomes part of the KDE vclplug subproject.

     Is there any other work being done besides these three subprojects?

     You might be interested in "OpenOffice.org 1.1 toolbar icon themes"
[http://www.kde-look.org/content/show.php?content=7131], a script and a
set of KDE icons
[http://www.kde-look.org/content/preview.php?file=7131-3.png&name=OpenOffice.org1.1+toolbar+icon+themes]
for OpenOffice.org by Rohit Kaul. There is also "OOo kfile-plugin"
[http://webcvs.kde.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb.cgi/koffice/tools/kfile-plugins/ooo]
by Pierre Souchay (screenshots 1
[http://static.kdenews.org/content/kde-ooo-interview/souchay.net1.nerim.net/images/screenshot1.png],
2
[http://static.kdenews.org/content/kde-ooo-interview/souchay.net1.nerim.net/images/screenshot2.png],
3)
[http://static.kdenews.org/content/kde-ooo-interview/souchay.net1.nerim.net/images/screenshot5.png].


     What is the current state of KDE integration?

     The current version of cuckooo (0.3) seems to be stable and I am
not going to add new functionality in the near future. KDE NWF is
nearing completion. I expect a fully usable version in February. KDE
vclplug is a long term solution, but it will take quite a lot of time to
finish. I would like it to be a part of OOo 2.0 which is estimated in Q4
of 2004 or in the beginning of 2005.

     Does it seem feasible to ditch the abstract GUI of OOo and work
directly with Qt?

     No, OOo will still have to have its own GUI layer. However there
are plans to define a more abstract OOo GUI toolkit "Toolkit2"
[http://gsl.openoffice.org/files/documents/16/848/Toolkit2.sxw] based on
UNO calls. Services of "Toolkit2" would be implemented in toolkit which
is native for given platform (e.g. Qt for KDE). Unfortunately, due to
the complexity of the rewrite it is planned as an "after 2.0" work. See
these two
[http://gsl.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?msgId=788784&listName=dev]
messages [http://gsl.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=dev&msgNo=766]
for more information.

     Will "integration" include support for important low level KDE
features like the Kiosk framework sometime?

     First of all, the KDE NWF and KDE vclplug have to be stabilized.
Then I can integrate KIO and KDE dialogs to OOo and continue with
further efforts, be it KParts, Kiosk or other KDE features. I am afraid
it won't happen before 2005.

     Will there be a KDE "version" of OOo in such that it looks and ACTS
like a KDE app?

     That is my intention. :) But it will take a lot of time. NWF is the
first iteration, and vclplug will help; Toolkit2 is hopefully the
definitive solution.

     A lot of people that have looked into developing OpenOffice.org
found it very complicated, what is your experience?

     It is really a huge amount of code. Luckily it is quite well
modulized, so once you get used to it, you do not encounter big
problems. And if you do, you still have OpenOffice.org Cross-Reference
[http://ooo.ximian.com/lxr/] handy. If you want to know more about OOo
development, try CPH's excellent CVS digest
[http://development.openoffice.org/digest], mainly the first one with
the introduction.
 [http://development.openoffice.org/digest/2004_w02.html]
     How is it to work with OpenOffice.org people? Does Sun have a big
influence over the development?

     I like the way the OOo people cooperate very much. They are very
supportive and every volunteer is welcome. KDE.OpenOffice.org couldn't
have happened without the support from the OOo side. I can't really say
anything about Sun's influence over the development, as my only contact
with Sun on an official level was when I signed the JCA
[http://www.openoffice.org/contributing.html] (a copyright assignment
system).

     Where do you see KDE.OpenOffice.org going and what are your plans
for it?

     The mission statement of KDE.OpenOffice.org says "The goal is to
provide tight (but optional) integration of the OpenOffice.org to the
KDE environment beginning with KDE look and feel and ending with KDE
data sources." I believe it can be achieved.

     What is the project most in need of now?

     Time. It is the only limiting factor at the moment. :)