Where is Base?

pranzar · February 12, 2015, 7:55am

Hello. I just installed 4.4.03 on Windows 7.

I'd like to use Base.

When I click on the LibreOffice icon on my desktop, I see a screen with list
of buttons on the left under Create. I select Base Database but nothing
happens.

The only buttons that work are Writer and Calc.

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks

jorge1 · February 13, 2015, 11:13pm

Hi all:

Would you please open Calc as you can did ? Then in the Menu select
please "Tools-Options". There select "Advance" (Option No. 13), there
automatic appear JAVA Environment that you have installed in your PC
System. Is there nothing appear ... I think is necesary to install JRE 7
or 8 (JAVA Environment) in windows 7 to run BASE of LibreOffice.

I hope this help you,

Regards,

Jorge Rodríguez

pranzar · February 15, 2015, 1:21am

Hello, thanks for the help.

I have Java 8 installed and it's being detected in Tools-Options as you
indicated.

I tried launching it directly (not via the startup screen) and there doesn't
appear to be any executable for it - only scalc.exe and swriter.exe

It seems that Base, Impress, Draw and Math are not installed with the main
installer? Do I need to get them from somewhere else?

M_Henri_Day · February 15, 2015, 12:04pm

In LO 4.4.0.3

on my (64-bit) Linux Mint 17.1 machine, I can open Writer, Calc, Impress,
Draw, and Math with no problem, but klicking on Base does nothing at all ;
the service simply doesn't launch. On my (64-bit) Windows 8.1 machine,
however, Base launches just as it should. How can I get it to do so on my
Linux box, which is the one I generally use ?...

Henri

Tom_Davies1 · February 16, 2015, 10:57am

Hi
On Ubuntu i have to install Base separately. I'm not sure what happened
when i installed the official one from the LibreOffice website. Can't
quite remember that far back tbh. When i use a package-manager to isntall
the default one in the repos i can select all sorts of components and maybe
Extensions and stuff. I thought it was the same for all Linux, especially
for 'Ubuntu clones'? (although i think it's been a loooong time since Mint
could be claimed to be that)

I thought the Windows version had pretty much everything all in one package
(and the the help files in a separate bundle)? Then the Linux, Bsd and Mac
version allowed a bit more finesse?

I still don't know where to get Base from as i was fairly convinced it was
included in the main Windows install automatically.
Regards from
Tom

Stefan_Weigel · February 16, 2015, 11:21am

Hi,

I just installed 4.4.03 on Windows 7.

So did I.

I'd like to use Base.

I am using Base.

When I click on the LibreOffice icon on my desktop, I see a screen with list
of buttons on the left under Create. I select Base Database but nothing
happens.

The only buttons that work are Writer and Calc.

What am I doing wrong?

Did you unselect some components during installation?

http://global.libreoffice.org/assets/Uploads/EN-Project_images/Installation/Windows/435customsetup.png

Hav you tried rerunning the installation and selecting all?

Greetings,
Stefan

M_Henri_Day · February 16, 2015, 11:49am

Hi
On Ubuntu i have to install Base separately. I'm not sure what happened
when i installed the official one from the LibreOffice website. Can't
quite remember that far back tbh. When i use a package-manager to isntall
the default one in the repos i can select all sorts of components and maybe
Extensions and stuff. I thought it was the same for all Linux, especially
for 'Ubuntu clones'? (although i think it's been a loooong time since Mint
could be claimed to be that)

I thought the Windows version had pretty much everything all in one
package (and the the help files in a separate bundle)? Then the Linux, Bsd
and Mac version allowed a bit more finesse?

I still don't know where to get Base from as i was fairly convinced it was
included in the main Windows install automatically.
Regards from
Tom

As you know, Tom, Linux Mint is a fork of Ubuntu, so generally speaking,
that which applies to the latter applies, *ceteribus paribus*, to the
former. Could you tell me just *how* you managed to install Base on Ubuntu
?...

Henri

M_Henri_Day · February 16, 2015, 12:18pm

Hi
On Ubuntu i have to install Base separately. I'm not sure what happened
when i installed the official one from the LibreOffice website. Can't
quite remember that far back tbh. When i use a package-manager to isntall
the default one in the repos i can select all sorts of components and maybe
Extensions and stuff. I thought it was the same for all Linux, especially
for 'Ubuntu clones'? (although i think it's been a loooong time since Mint
could be claimed to be that)

I thought the Windows version had pretty much everything all in one
package (and the the help files in a separate bundle)? Then the Linux, Bsd
and Mac version allowed a bit more finesse?

I still don't know where to get Base from as i was fairly convinced it
was included in the main Windows install automatically.
Regards from
Tom

As you know, Tom, Linux Mint is a fork of Ubuntu, so generally speaking,
that which applies to the latter applies, *ceteribus paribus*, to the
former. Could you tell me just *how* you managed to install Base on
Ubuntu ?...

Henri

Tom, I just took a chance and performed a search for LibreOffice in the
Linux Mint Program Manager
. To my joy, I found that it was possible to install individual LO
programmes, including libreoffice-base via this service. Said and done ; I
installed it and Base now launches as it should with a simple click in the
LibreOffice window. Hallelujah !...

Henri

Tom_Davies1 · February 16, 2015, 12:22pm

Hi
Congrats!! Nicely done!

Yeh, that surprised me too. I had assumed it would work the same way as
the Windows installer 'should' do.
Congrats and regards from
Tom

Tom_Davies1 · February 16, 2015, 12:28pm

Hi
Ahh, i thought it wasn't possible to deselect any of the components in a
Windows install. I still doubt that much space is saved so i don't see any
particular advantage - except that it makes it more like MS Office bundles
that each have different things missing.
Regards from
Tom

M_Henri_Day · February 16, 2015, 12:47pm

Thanks, Tom ! Now it's incumbent upon us to attempt to help the OP,
pranzar, with his problem. From what I've been able to understand, JRE is
required for certain of the programmes in the LO package to be installed in
Windows. Pranzar tells us that he has a version of Java 8

installed ; I wonder if the installed version is the 64 or the 32-bit
version. I have seen claims to the effect that LO - and for that matter OO
- require a 32-bit version of Java to function in Windows ; however, on my
own Windows machine, I currently have a 64-bit Java 8 Update 31 installed
and, as noted previously, all the LO programs work well there. In any event
this is a parameter with which Pranzer might wish to play - if he currently
has a 32-bit version installed he might wish to install a 64-bit version
and *vice versa*....

I wish him the best of luck !

Henri

pranzar · February 16, 2015, 11:19pm

Hello everyone, thanks for the help.

I have both 64 and 32-bit versions of Java installed, but still nothing
happens, no matter which one I select.

For those that have Base working it on Windows 7 64-bit: when you go to the
LibreOffice directory in Explorer - default is

C:\Program Files (x86)\LibreOffice 4\program

Are you able to launch Base from an executable? I only have scalc.exe and
swriter.exe.

Annette1 · February 17, 2015, 5:41am

pranzar wrote (Tuesday, February 17, 2015, 12:19:32 AM):

For those that have Base working it on Windows 7 64-bit: when you go
to the LibreOffice directory in Explorer - default is

C:\Program Files (x86)\LibreOffice 4\program

Are you able to launch Base from an executable? I only have
scalc.exe and swriter.exe.

Win 7 64bit here. Yes, I find an executable sbase.exe, and I can start
it as such. I haven't installed LibreOffice in the default directory,
though.

That is what I would do: uninstall LibreOffice (the whole shebang),
download the newest version from the official (!) site, reinstall it
and see what happens.

Good luck!

pranzar · February 17, 2015, 2:09am

Hello Stefan, sorry, I missed your message.

I do not see an option to select/unselect which components to install.

Here is what the Custom Setup screen looks like for me when I run the
installer.

<http://nabble.documentfoundation.org/file/n4140349/components.png>

M_Henri_Day · February 17, 2015, 7:28am

Sounds like good advice to me, Annette ; I hope that pranzar takes it and
that it leads to success !...

Henri

Brian_Barker · February 17, 2015, 7:58am

As you will see from that panel, this says that you have none (zero) of the eleven subfeatures of Optional Components (currently hidden) selected. So there are eleven things you have chosen not to install.

Either:
o (recommended) Click on the down-arrow to the left of Optional Components and select the option to install all of them.
Or:
o Click on the plus sign to the left of Optional Components to show the menu of those eleven items and then use their down-arrows to make individual choices about what you want to install.

I trust this helps.

Brian Barker

M_Henri_Day · February 19, 2015, 4:46pm

Thanks, Brian, concise and to the point, as always....

Henri

Villeroy · March 1, 2015, 7:04pm

Sigh!
Each and every aspect of OpenOffice, LibreOffice, Java and Base in
particular:

https://forum.openoffice.org/en/forum/viewtopic.php?f=74&t=69896

Linux distros do not install Base because most people do not understand
this drunken cousin of a component anyway. Linux users can install the
missing component within seconds.

Without Base you give up the capability to print serial letters and
labels from lists.The vast majority of Base users are Writer users
creating a serial letter or sheet of labels. These wizards generate Base
documents in the background. In 99% of all these cases the Base
documents constitutes a connection to a spreadsheet.

If you are familiar with your own database stuff, Base is almost fully
functional without any Java. Without any Java being installed, you can
connect to your non-Java database, query meaningful data sets, create
input forms but you can _not_ create embedded reports for pretty output.
Instead of embedded reports you can use Calc as a very powerful report
engine and you can copy (not link) database data into stand-alone Writer
documents.

Hope this helps,
A.S.

planas · March 1, 2015, 9:01pm

What is the current backend for Base?

I remember at one time is HSQL 1.8 but one could install a later
version.

Jay

Villeroy · March 1, 2015, 9:23pm

When you create a new database document without Java support, then you
get a directory of flat dBase files handled by LibreOffice's
insufficient SDBC driver for dBase.

With Java support it will be an embedded HSQL 1.8 database which is more
a caricature of a database because it is slow, unsafe and insecure. The
problem is _not_ HSQL. The problem is the way how the backend is wrapped
into the zip archive which constitutes the "Base document".
It is easy enough to convert an embedded HSQLDB to a normal (external)
database and use it with a recent and more capable version of HSQL.
Current version is 2.3. On the OpenOffice user forum you can find
several tutorials, scripts and macros. But you can also use HSQL 1.8
with an external database if that version fits your needs. Just do not
use a self-contained database in a single file for anything but
educational stuff, demos or small projects for a single user on a local
machine with a sound backup strategy.

Otherwise you can connect a Base document to any database you have a
driver for (ADO, ODBC, JDBC).