ScriptForge.UI service

The UI (User Interface) service simplifies the identification and the manipulation of the different windows composing the whole Collabora Office application:

• Windows selection

• Windows moving and resizing

• Statusbar settings

• Display of a floating progress bar

• Creation of new windows

• Access to the underlying "documents"

The UI service is the starting point to open, create or access to the content of new or existing documents from a user script.

Definitions

WindowName

A window can be designated using various ways:

• a full path and file name

• the last component of the full file name or even only the last component without its suffix

• the title of the window

• for new documents, something like "Untitled 1"

• one of the special windows "BASICIDE" and "WELCOMESCREEN"

The window name is case-sensitive.

Document object

The methods CreateDocument, CreateBaseDocument, GetDocument, OpenBaseDocument and OpenDocument, described below, generate document objects. When a window contains a document, an instance of the Document class represents that document. A counterexample the Basic IDE is not a document but is a window in our terminology. Additionally a document has a type: Calc, Impress, Writer, ...

The specific properties and methods applicable on documents are implemented in a document class.

The implementation of the document objects class is done in the SFDocuments associated library. See its "Document" service.

Service invocation

Before using the UI service the ScriptForge library needs to be loaded or imported:

• Basic macros require to load ScriptForge library using the following statement:
GlobalScope.BasicLibraries.loadLibrary("ScriptForge")

• Python scripts require an import from scriptforge module:
from scriptforge import CreateScriptService

    Dim ui As Variant
    GlobalScope.BasicLibraries.LoadLibrary("ScriptForge")
    Set ui = CreateScriptService("UI")
  

    from scriptforge import CreateScriptService
    ui = CreateScriptService("UI")
  

Properties

Constants

The examples below show a MsgBox with the names of all currently open documents.

      Dim openDocs as Object, strDocs as String
     Set openDocs = ui.Documents()
     strDocs = openDocs(0)
     For i = 1 to UBound(openDocs)
         strDocs = strDocs & Chr(10) & openDocs(i)
     Next i
     MsgBox strDocs
   

     ui = CreateScriptService("UI")
     bas = CreateScriptService("Basic")
     openDocs = ui.Documents()
     strDocs = "\n".join(openDocs)
     bas.MsgBox(strDocs)
   

Note, as an exception, that the methods marked (*) are not applicable to Base documents.

Activate

Make the specified window active. The method returns True if the given window is found and can be activated. There is no change in the actual user interface if no window matches the selection.

svc.Activate(windowname: str): bool

windowname: see the definitions above.

      ui.Activate("C:\Documents\My file.odt")
    

      ui.Activate(r"C:\Documents\My file.odt")
    

CreateBaseDocument

Creates and stores a new Collabora Office Base document embedding an empty database of the given type. The method returns a Document service instance.

svc.CreateBaseDocument(filename: str, embeddeddatabase: str = 'HSQLDB', registrationname: str = '', opt calcfilename: str): svc

filename : Identifies the file to create. It must follow the SF_FileSystem.FileNaming notation. If the file already exists, it is overwritten without warning

embeddeddatabase : Either "HSQLDB" (default), "FIREBIRD" or "CALC".

registrationname : The name used to store the new database in the databases register. When = "" (default), no registration takes place. If the name already exists it is overwritten without warning.

calcfilename : Only when embeddeddatabase = "CALC", calcfilename represents the file containing the tables as Calc sheets. The file must exist or an error is raised.

      Dim myBase As Object, myCalcBase As Object
      Set myBase = ui.CreateBaseDocument("C:\Databases\MyBaseFile.odb", "FIREBIRD")
      Set myCalcBase = ui.CreateBaseDocument("C:\Databases\MyCalcBaseFile.odb", _
          "CALC", , "C:\Databases\MyCalcFile.ods")
   

     myBase = ui.CreateBaseDocument(r"C:\Databases\MyBaseFile.odb", "FIREBIRD")
     myCalcBase = ui.CreateBaseDocument(r"C:\Databases\MyCalcBaseFile.odb", \
         "CALC", calcfilename = r"C:\Databases\MyCalcFile.ods")
   

CreateDocument (*)

Create a new Collabora Office document of a given type or based on a given template. The method returns a document object.

svc.CreateDocument(documenttype: str = '', templatefile: str = '', hidden: bool = False): svc

documenttype : "Calc", "Writer", etc. If absent, the templatefile argument must be present.

templatefile : The full FileName of the template to build the new document on. If the file does not exist, the argument is ignored. The FileSystem service provides the TemplatesFolder and UserTemplatesFolder properties to help to build the argument.

hidden: if True, open the new document in the background (default = False). To use with caution: activation or closure afterwards can only happen programmatically.

In both examples below, the first call to CreateDocument method creates a blank Calc document, whereas the second creates a document from a template file.

      Dim myDoc1 As Object, myDoc2 As Object, FSO As Object
      Set myDoc1 = ui.CreateDocument("Calc")
      Set FSO = CreateScriptService("FileSystem")
      Set myDoc2 = ui.CreateDocument(, FSO.BuildPath(FSO.TemplatesFolder, "personal/CV.ott"))
   

     myDoc1 = ui.CreateDocument("Calc")
     fs = CreateScriptService("FileSystem")
     myDoc2 = ui.CreateDocument(templatefile = fs.BuildPath(fs.TemplatesFolder, "personal/CV.ott"))
   

GetDocument

Returns an open document object referring to either the active window, a given window or the active document.

svc.GetDocument(windowname: str = ''): svc

svc.GetDocument(windowname: uno): svc

windowname: See the definitions above. If this argument is absent, the active window is used. UNO objects of types com.sun.star.lang.XComponent or com.sun.star.comp.dba.ODatabaseDocument are also accepted. Thus passing ThisComponent or ThisDatabaseDocument as argument creates a new SFDocuments.Document, Base or Calc service.

      Dim myDoc As Object
      Set myDoc = ui.GetDocument("C:\Documents\My file.odt")
      Set myBase = ui.GetDocument(ThisDatabaseDocument)
   

     from scriptforge import CreateScriptService
     bas = CreateScriptService("Basic")
     myDoc = ui.GetDocument(r"C:\Documents\My file.odt")
     myDoc = ui.GetDocument(bas.ThisComponent)
   

To access the name of the currently active window, refer to the ActiveWindow property.

Maximize

Maximizes the active window or the given window.

svc.Maximize(windowname: str)

windowname: see the definitions above. If this argument is absent, the active window is maximized.

      ui.Maximize("Untitled 1")
   

     ui.Maximize("Untitled 1")
   

Minimize

Minimizes the active window or the given window.

svc.Minimize(windowname: str)

windowname: see the definitions above. If this argument is absent, the active window is minimized.

     ui.Minimize()
   

     ui.Minimize()
   

OpenBaseDocument

Open an existing Collabora Office Base document. The method returns a document object.

svc.OpenBaseDocument(filename: str = '', registrationname: str = '', macroexecution: int = 0): svc

filename: Identifies the file to open. It must follow the SF_FileSystem.FileNaming notation.

registrationname: The name to use to find the database in the databases register. It is ignored if FileName <> "".

macroexecution: 0 = behaviour is defined by the user configuration, 1 = macros are not executable, 2 = macros are executable.

      Dim myBase As Object
      Set myBase = ui.OpenBaseDocument("C:\Documents\myDB.odb", MacroExecution := ui.MACROEXECALWAYS)
   

     ui.OpenBaseDocument(r"C:\Documents\myDB.odb", macroexecution = ui.MACROEXECALWAYS)
   

To improve code readability you can use predefined constants for the macroexecution argument, as in the examples above.

OpenDocument (*)

Opens an existing Collabora Office document with the given options. Returns a document object or one of its subclasses. The method returns Nothing (in BASIC) or None (in Python) if the opening failed, even when the failure is caused by a user decision.

svc.Opendocument(filename: str, password: str = '', readonly: bool = False, hidden: bool = False, macroexecution: int = 0, filtername: str = '', filteroptions: str = ''): svc

filename: Identifies the file to open. It must follow the FileNaming notation of the FileSystem service.

password: To use when the document is protected. If wrong or absent while the document is protected, the user will be prompted to enter a password.

readonly: Default = False.

hidden: if True, open the new document in the background (default = False). To use with caution: activation or closure afterwards can only happen programmatically.

macroexecution: 0 = behaviour is defined by the user configuration, 1 = macros are not executable, 2 = macros are executable.

filtername: The name of a filter that should be used for loading the document. If present, the filter must exist.

filteroptions: An optional string of options associated with the filter.

      Dim myDoc As Object, FSO As Object
      Set myDoc = ui.OpenDocument("C:\Documents\myFile.odt", ReadOnly := True)
   

     ui.OpenDocument(r"C:\Documents\myFile.odt", readonly = True)
   

Resize

Resizes and/or moves the active window. Absent and negative arguments are ignored. If the window is minimized or maximized, calling Resize without arguments restores it.

svc.Resize(left: int = -1, top: int = -1, width: int = -1, height: int = -1)

left, top: Distances of the top-left corner from top and left edges of the screen, in pixels.

width, height: New dimensions of the window, in pixels.

In the following examples, the width and height of the window are changed while top and left are left unchanged.

      ui.Resize(, ,500, 500)
   

     ui.Resize(width = 500, height = 500)
   

To resize a window that is not active, first activate it using the Activate method.

RunCommand

Runs a UNO command on the current window. A few typical commands are: Save, SaveAs, ExportToPDF, Undo, Copy, Paste, etc.

Commands can be run with or without arguments. Arguments are not validated before running the command. If the command or its arguments are invalid, then nothing will happen.

For a complete list of UNO commands that can be run in Collabora Office, refer to the Wiki page Development/DispatchCommands.

svc.RunCommand(command: str, [args: any])

command: Case-sensitive string containing the UNO command name. The inclusion of the prefix ".uno:" in the command is optional. The command itself is not checked for correctness. If nothing happens after the command call, then the command is probably wrong.

args: For each argument to be passed to the command, specify a pair containing the argument name and value.

The following example runs the .uno:About command in the current window.

    Set ui = CreateScriptService("UI")
    ui.RunCommand("About")
  

Below is an example that runs the UNO command .uno:BasicIDEAppear and passes the arguments required to open the Basic IDE at a specific line of a module.

    ' Arguments passed to the command:
    ' Document  = "LibreOffice Macros & Dialogs"
    ' LibName = "ScriptForge"
    ' Name = "SF_Session"
    ' Line = 600
    ui.RunCommand(".uno:BasicIDEAppear", "Document", "LibreOffice Macros & Dialogs", _ 
                  "LibName", "ScriptForge", "Name", "SF_Session", "Line", 600)
  

Note that calling the command BasicIDEAppear without arguments will simply open the Basic IDE.

    ui = CreateScriptService("UI")
    ui.RunCommand("About")
  

    ui.RunCommand(".uno:BasicIDEAppear", "Document", "LibreOffice Macros & Dialogs", \
                  "LibName", "ScriptForge", "Name", "SF_Session", "Line", 600)
  

In Python it is also possible to call RunCommand using keyword arguments:

    ui.RunCommand(".uno:BasicIDEAppear", Document = "LibreOffice Macros & Dialogs", \
                  LibName = "ScriptForge", Name = "SF_Session", Line = 600)
  

Each Collabora Office component has its own set of commands available. One easy way to learn commands is going to Tools - Customize - Keyboard. When you position your mouse over a function in the Function list, a tooltip will appear with the corresponding UNO command.

SetStatusbar (*)

Display a text and a progressbar in the status bar of the active window. Any subsequent calls in the same macro run refer to the same status bar of the same window, even if the window is not visible anymore. A call without arguments resets the status bar to its normal state.

svc.SetStatusbar(text: str = '', percentage: int = -1)

text: An optional text to be displayed in front of the progress bar.

percentage: an optional degree of progress between 0 and 100.

      Dim i As Integer
      For i = 0 To 100
          ui.SetStatusbar("Progress ...", i)
          Wait 50
      Next i
      ' Resets the statusbar
      ui.SetStatusbar
   

     from time import sleep
     for i in range(101):
         ui.SetStatusbar("Test:", i)
         sleep(0.05)
     ui.SetStatusbar()
   

ShowProgressBar

Displays a non-modal dialog box. Specify its title, an explicatory text and a percentage of progress to be represented on a progressbar. The dialog will remain visible until a call to the method without arguments or until the user manually closes the dialog.

svc.ShowProgressBar(title: str = '', text: str = '', percentage: str = -1)

title : The title appearing on top of the dialog box. Default = "ScriptForge".

text: An optional text to be displayed above the progress bar.

percentage: an optional degree of progress between 0 and 100.

      Dim i As Integer
      For i = 0 To 100
          ui.ShowProgressBar("Window Title", "Progress ..." & i & "/100", i)
          Wait 50
      Next i
      ' Closes the Progress Bar window
      ui.ShowProgressBar
   

     from time import sleep
     for i in range(101):
         ui.ShowProgressBar("Window Title", "Progress ... " + str(i) + "/100", i)
         sleep(0.05)
     # Closes the Progress Bar window
     ui.ShowProgressBar()
   

WindowExists

Returns True if the given window could be identified.

svc.WindowExists(windowname: str): bool

windowname: see the definitions above.

      If ui.WindowExists("C:\Document\My file.odt") Then
          ' ...
   

     if ui.WindowExists(r"C:\Document\My file.odt"):
         # ...