looking for sdw-compatible, Linux version of Libre Office

users
#1

Greetings,
I need to convert some old starwriter files (.sdw, sdd, .sdc extensions)

I understand the solution consists of temporarily installing (or
running off an usb key) the last version of LO that supported those
formats. However, the only such version I have found so far is the one
for Windows at
http://downloadarchive.documentfoundation.org/libreoffice/old/3.3.4.1/portable/

That version only works through wine, which is annoying but bearable
for a one-time task, but above all doesn't work. The document
converter finds the files, then crashes with this error:

Basic Runtime error.
An exception occurred.
Type:com.sun.star.uno.RuntimeException
Message: [msci_uno bridge error] unexpected C++ exception occured!.

any pointer to a linux version of lo 3.3, which hopefully may not have
that problem, and in any case would be easier to work with (editing
macros rendered with wine's idea of libreoffice fonts = terrible) is
very welcome. Ditto for tips on how to fix that macro by hand.

      thanks,
      Marco

#2

Hi :slight_smile:
Does anyone know of an Extension that can add back this support for
the pre-ODF formats?

Is it worth posting a 'big-report' asking the devs if any of them
could make such an Extension?
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#3

an actual extension means taking that old source code and
remaking/maintaining it compatible with all the rest of the current,
ever-evolving LO code. IIUC the wish to NOT have to do that anymore is
exactly the reason why that compatibility was dropped, so that's a dead end.

But it isn't necessary. I'd settle without any second thought for a
stand-alone, single-purpose converter:

take lo 3.3.4.1,

remove EVERYTHING, starting from the complete user interface, except
all and only the code that makes the conversion wizard window and its
buttons/fields/checkboxes, and what's needed to run from the command
line

only keep what's left compilable/installable on Linux, Windows,
whatever.

Marco

#4

Brain fade there. It creates tmp because I have -convert-to tmp:"writer8". If I have -convert-to odt:"writer8" it creates the odt file. That is so I don't overwrite an already converted file that may have been edited.
steve

#5

Strange. Can you please send me one of those sd* files your LO is able
to convert (there was no attachment to this email...)? I'd like to see
what happens of it on my system.

Thanks,
Marco

#6

Hi Marco,

An older Live-CD or Live-DVD Linux distrib would probably do the trick.
My understanding was that the old binary formats were supported up to LO
3.6.

Alex

#7

Hi :slight_smile:
Hah!! Good point! I am on LO 3.5.7 on Ubuntu 12.04 and i have a
feeling that i updated LO on this machine. DistroWatch might be handy
with this. Ubuntu is probably the heaviest Gnu&Linux so i'm sure it's
going to be fairly easy to find something that runs in a VM easily
straight off the iso without even needing to 'burn' anything to Cd.

The "back-pages" in DW list which Office Suite is the default one and
which version of LibreOffice is most easily available. Korora might
be an interesting one to try out as it's written by one of the
previous editors of DW. I've never actually tried it myself and you
would have to go back to their 18 release
http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=korora
Knoppix was designed to be run only as a LiveCd and is often good to
have due to it's awesome hardware detection but you would have to go
back to their 7.0.5
http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=knoppix

Weird! All the ones i looked at, even CentOS, had much more recent
versions of LibreOffice by default so it typically means going back 1
or 2 releases or just digging into the pile of LiveCds that many
Gnu&Linux users seem to have from when they first started
distro-hopping before settling on something.
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#8

Hi :slight_smile:
Weirder, imo, is that while Redhat and CentOS have 4.0.4 but
Scientific has 3.4.5!

Redhat and CentOS pride themselves on being as stable as possible and
have a reputation for sticking with earlier versions of things until
they have been thoroughly experimented with in Fedora. I thought
Scientific tends to stay a bit further ahead and adds a bit extra too.
All 3 try to stay as close to the others as possible. I'm not sure
if they can be run as LiveCds but it's interesting to see how
perception/reputation can often be fairly different from reality.

Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#9

If the file format was supported in a earlier version of LO, here is the archive of the older version of LO.

Maybe try 3.3.4.1, or 3.4.4.1

http://downloadarchive.documentfoundation.org/libreoffice/old/

#10

first, MANY thanks to all who contributed to this discussion, then an
announcement:

eventually I concluded that ANY portable version, even a windows one
on WINE/Linux, may be more efficient to use for one-off conversions,
in which the trickiest part isn't even LO-related. I have described
everything I did and why here:

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/linux-and-open-source/how-to-find-and-convert-staroffice-files/

HTH, and looking forward to your comments (preferably at TechRepublic,
so even non subscribers of this list will follow them)

  Marco

#11

I have the Archive page bookmarked.

I figured that downloading the older version[s] of LO would be easier than looking for an older Live CD/DVD that has the needed LO supported input format.

I remember when OOo did not even have .doc support, in those early days. LO has grown up since its first official release a few years ago. Yet, sometimes it would be nice to have support for all of those old legacy file formats that are rarely used anymore, just in case you find an old file in some archive that needs to be converted from an old format to the newer ones.

Maybe someone would make an extension to give LO users access to reading all of those legacy formats, when that is needed. That way you can disable it when not in use but still have the ability to read all of those old legacy formats. I have a lady who wants me to get her files off from a 5 inch floppy disc. Now I have to find one somewhere, since I do not have one in my parts box. I bet those files will be needing some of those legacy formats.

#12

Wouldn't a better solution be a batch converter you could run on the rare occasion you needed one of those formats?

#13

Hi :slight_smile:
You are a star! I knew there was a simple answer with "/old" in it
but had no idea even where to start looking for it.
Many thanks and regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#14

Hi :slight_smile:
I think that is roughly what people are driving at. In the tech
republic article it shows that LibreOffice has/had one built-in that
had it's own gui-front-end / wizard. It suggested that would be great
if it could be freed-up from the rest of the code and provided as a
stand-alone program/utility/package, perhaps even purely as a
command-line tool only with no gui front-end.

I don't even think such a thing would be possible, or if it was it
sounds to me like it would be incredibly difficult.
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#15

Wow! I was expecting a flurry of posts over there. It's a good
article and very informative..

thanks a lot for the compliments, Tom! And if you like posts that show..

how a few expressions can be combined in different ways to do some
quite awesome things.

I'll dare say you may also like these simple ways to create and
process OpenDocument files automatically:
http://freesoftware.zona-m.net/tags/odf-scripting

HTH, Marco

#16

Hi :slight_smile:
I think that is roughly what people are driving at. In the tech
republic article it shows that LibreOffice has/had one built-in that
had it's own gui-front-end / wizard. It suggested that would be great
if it could be freed-up from the rest of the code and provided as a
stand-alone program/utility/package, perhaps even purely as a
command-line tool only with no gui front-end.

I don't even think such a thing would be possible, or if it was it
sounds to me like it would be incredibly difficult.

I'm pretty sure it would be incredibly easier and more sustainable
than keeping support for old formats in the actual office suite, EVEN
in the form of extensions like this:

#17

Answering both to Alex and "webmaster":

I already knew that download archive. The same link is explicitly
mentioned in my original email to the list. The first reasons why I
took from there a "Windows portable" version instead of a "native"
linux one are already explained in my post:

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/linux-and-open-source/how-to-find-and-convert-staroffice-files/

In addition to that, using old live distros has two problems:

1) you must interrupt your other activities until the whole conversion
   is over, or do other avoidable work (reboot, set up virtual
   machines with access to the partitions where the files are...)

2) in general, old live cds have the SAME problem, or risk, of old
   binary releases for Linux, just at a different level: they may need
   manual tweaking and study of their configuration options to boot on
   newer computers

    Marco