Software Development Kit 7.4

Development Tools

unopkg The new UNO package deployment tool. It comes with the office installation and can be found in the program directory of the office installation.
uno Tool to provide a UNO runtime environment and provide configured (deployed) or single components. This tool comes with the office installation and can be found in the program directory of the office installation.
idlc The deprecated UNOIDL compiler, generates a common legacy binary type library format as base for all codemaker tools and the UNO runtime type library.
unoidl-write The new UNOIDL compiler, generates a common binary type library format as base for all codemaker tools and the UNO runtime type library.
unoidl-read Tool to view type library data in a human readable manner.
cppumaker Tool for generating C++ code for the UNOIDL types stored in a type library.
javamaker Tool for generating Java class files for the UNOIDL types stored in a type library.
climaker Tool for generating CLI assemblies for the UNOIDL types stored in a type library (windows only).
uno-skeletonmaker Tool for dumping type definitions on stdout or generating complete code skeletons for Java/C++.
regmerge Deprecated tool to merge several legacy registry (e.g. type libraries) files into one file. Note: Since OpenOffice.org 3 it is no longer part of the SDK but it comes directly with the office as part of the ure.
regview Tool to view the content of a legacy registry file in a human readable manner. Special support for type library nodes. Note: Since OpenOffice.org 3 it is no longer part of the SDK but it comes directly with the office as part of the ure.
unopkg

'unopkg' is a tool for easy deployment of UNO packages in an existing office installation. UNO packages are UNO components (single libraries or Jar files or more complex zip files that contain one or more libraries| Jar files, type libraries and configuration items), scripts and LibreOffice 7.4 Basic libraries as zip package. 'unopkg' is not part of the SDK but comes with the office directly and is a development tool as well as an end user tool to deploy extension into an office installation.

More details concerning deployment and this tool can be found in the Developer's Guide: Extension Manager - unopkg.

Note: This tool works only in the <office>/program directory!

Usage:

unopkg add <options> package-path...
unopkg remove <options> package-name...
unopkg list <options> package-name...
unopkg reinstall <options>
unopkg gui
unopkg -V
unopkg -h

Sub-commands:

add add packages
remove remove packages by name
reinstall expert feature: reinstall all deployed packages
list list information about deployed packages
gui raise Package Manager Graphical User Interface (GUI)

Options:

-h, --help show this help on the command line
-V, --version shows version information
-v, --verbose dump verbose output to stdout
-f, --force force overwriting existing packages
--log-file <file> custom log file; default: <cache-dir>/log.txt.
--shared expert feature: operate on shared installation deployment context; run only when no concurrent Office process(es) are running!
--deployment-context <context> expert feature: explicit deployment context
uno

The UNO-starter is for running a component or service process, and providing a runtime environment. Raising a component might look like this

[c:\] uno.exe -c MyComponent -l mycomp.dll -env:URE_MORE_SERVICES=myservices.rdb -env:URE_MORE_TYPES=mytypes.rdb -- foo bar

or

[c:\] uno.exe -s foo.bar.FooBarService -env:URE_MORE_SERVICES=myservices.rdb -env:URE_MORE_TYPES=mytypes.rdb -- foo bar

The starter loads the component and instantiates it. The component must export the interface com.sun.star.lang.XMain:

interface XMain : com::sun::star::uno::XInterface
{
    /** This method is called to run the component.
       
        @param aArguments command line arguments
        @return process error code to be returned to system
    */
    long run( [in] sequence< string > arguments );
};

Method run() will be called and returns the error code given, back to the system. If the uno starter is executed with the -u (URL) option, then XInitialization is used instead of XMain. The -u option is described later.

Usage:

uno (-c<ComponentImplementationName> -l <LocationUrl> | -s <ServiceName>)
[-u uno:(socket[,host=<HostName>][,port=<nnn>]|pipe[,name=<PipeName>]);iiop|urp;<Name>
[--singleaccept] [--singleinstance]]
[-- <Argument1 Argument2 ...>]

Options:

<HostName> Specifying a host name might be necessary to distinguish the network interface to be used,if a machine is part of two networks.
<PipeName> Name of a named pipe.
<Name> Identifier for demanded called component instances.
--singleaccept The uno starter will accept one connection, provide the component instance and die.
--singleinstance The uno starter will accept any number of connections, but will provide the same single component instance any time instead of creating a new instance for each connection.

Service com.sun.star.bridge.UnoUrlResolver

You can easily connect to a server started with the -u (url) option by using this service, giving the same url to resolve. The service provides you an instance from remote.

idlc

'idlc' is the deprecated UNOIDL compiler. It is a full featured compiler used to check UNODL type definitions and transform valid type definitions into a binary type library format, which is later used by all codemaker tools. It is also used as a dynamic type library for UNO at runtime.
You can find a syntax description for UNOIDL here.

Note: idlc and regmerge are deprecated and produce a legacy binary type library format that is different from the new format that is produced by unoidl-write.

Usage:

idlc [-options] file_1 ... file_n | @<filename>
file_1 ... file_n specifies one or more idl files. Only files with the extension '.idl' are valid.
@<filename> filename specifies the name of a command file.

Options:

-O<path> path describes the output directory. The generated output is a legacy registry file with the same name as the idl input file.
-I<path> path specifies a directory where included files that will be searched by the preprocessor are located. Multiple directories can be combined with ';'.
-D<name> name defines a macro for the preprocessor.
-C generates complete type information, including additional service information and documentation.
-h|? print this help message and exit.
unoidl-write

'unoidl-write' is the new UNOIDL compiler, replacing the former idlc and regmerge tools. It is a full featured compiler used to check UNODL type definitions and transform valid type definitions into a binary type library format, which is later used by all codemaker tools. It is also used as a dynamic type library for UNO at runtime.
You can find a syntax description for UNOIDL here.

Note: unoidl-write produces a new binary type library format that is different from the legacy format that was produced by idlc and regmerge. While recent versions of LibreOffice are still able to read the old format, versions of LibreOffice prior to LibreOffice 4.1 were not able to read the new format. Thus, if you use this SDK to generate a LibreOffice extension that contains a type library file produced by unoidl-write, you should specify a LibreOffice-minimal-version of at least 4.1 for that extension (see “Extension Development: Compatibility notes”).

Usage:

unoidl-write [<registries>] [@<entries file>] <unoidl file>
<registries> each <registry> is either a new- or legacy-format .rdb file, a single .idl file, or a root directory of an .idl file tree.
@<entries file> a UTF-8 encoded file containing zero or more space-separated names of (non-module) entities to include in the output; if omitted, the output defaults to the complete content of the last <registry>, if any.
@<unoidl file> specifies the name of the output file.
unoidl-read

'unoidl-read' is a tool to show the contents of a type library. The tool writes the content in a human readable manner to stdout.

Usage:

unoidl-read [--published] [--summary] <registries>

Options:

--published if specified, only published entities (plus any non-published entities referenced from published via any unpublished optional bases) are written out.
--summary if specified, only a short summary is written, with the type and name of one entity per line.
<registries> one or more <registry> elements, where each is either a new- or legacy-format .rdb file, a single .idl file, or a root directory of an .idl file tree. The content of the last <registry> is written out. The other <registry> elements are only used to look up dependencies.
cppumaker

The 'cppumaker' generates a C++ representation for idl types. The cppumaker works on a typelibrary, which is generated by the UNOIDL compiler ( unoidl-write). It generates the output for all specified types and for all types the specified types depend on.

Usage:

cppumaker [-options] file_1 ... file_n

Options:

-O<path> path describes the root directory for the generated output. The output directory tree is generated under this directory.
-T<name>
|-T<t1>;<t2>...
name specifies a type or a list of types. The output for this type and all dependent types are generated. If no '-T' option is specified, then output for all types is generated. It is also possible to use a wildcard 'xy.*' to generate a complete module inclusive all subdirectories. The use of '-T*' is equivalent to no '-T' option. Example: 'com.sun.star.uno.XInterface' or 'com.sun.star.uno.*' are valid types.
-B<name> name specifies the base node. All types are searched under this node. Default is the root '/' of the registry files.
This option has been removed in LibreOffice 4.1.
-L UNO type functions are generated lightweight, that means only the name and typeclass are given and everything else is retrieved from the type library dynamically. The default is that UNO type functions provides enough type information for bootstrapping C++. '-L' should be the default for external components.
-C UNO type functions are generated comprehensive that means all necessary information is available for bridging the type in UNO.
-G generate only target files which do not exist.
-Gc generate only target files whose content will be changed.
-X<name> extra types, which are not be taken into account for generation.
javamaker

The 'javamaker' generates the appropriate Java class file for each idl type. The javamaker works on a typelibrary which is generated by the UNOIDL compiler ( unoidl-write). It generates the output for all specified types and for all types the specified types depend on.

Usage:

javamaker [-options] file_1 ... file_n -Xfile_n+1 -Xfile_n+2

Options:

-O<path> path describes the root directory for the generated output. The output directory tree is generated under this directory.
-T<name>|-T<t1>;<t2>... name specifies a type or a list of types. The output for this type and all dependent types are generated. If no '-T' option is specified, then output for all types is generated. It is also possible to use a wildcard 'xy.*' to generate a complete module inclusive all subdirectories. The use of '-T*' is equivalent to no '-T' option. Example: 'com.sun.star.uno.XInterface' or 'com.sun.star.uno.*' are valid types.
-B<name> name specifies the base node. All types are searched under this node. Default is the root '/' of the registry files.
This option has been removed in LibreOffice 4.1.
-nD no dependent types are generated.
-G generate only target files which do not exist.
-Gc generate only target files whose content will be changed.
-X<name> extra types, which will not be taken into account for generation.
climaker

The 'climaker' (windows only) generates the appropriate CLI assemblies file for each idl type. The climaker works on a typelibrary which is generated by the UNOIDL compiler ( unoidl-write). It generates the output for all specified types and for all types the specified types depend on.

Usage:

climaker <switches> [registry-file-1 registry-file-2 ...]

Options:

-O, --out <output_file> output assembly file;
defaults to cli_unotypes.dll if more than one registry-file is given, else <registry-file>.dll
-T, --types <type1[;type2;...]> types to be generated (if none is given, then all types of given registries are emitted
-X, --extra <rdb-file>> additional rdb to saturate referenced types in given registry file(s); these types will not be emitted into the output assembly file
-r, --reference <assembly-file> reference metadata from assembly file
-k, --keyfile keyfile needed for strong name
--assembly-version <version> sets assembly version
--assembly-description <text> sets assembly description text
--assembly-product <text> sets assembly product name
--assembly-company <text> sets assembly company
--assembly-copyright <text> sets assembly copyright
--assembly-trademark <text> sets assembly trademark
-v, --verbose verbose output to stdout
-h, --help this message

Example: climaker --out cli_mytypes.dll --reference cli_uretypes.dll --extra types.rdb mytypes.rdb

uno-skeletonmaker

The 'uno-skeletonmaker' is a tool to simplify the UNO component development. It has different modes, from simply dumping code definitions for different languages on stdout up to generating complete code skeletons. The generation of code skeletons support common component skeletons as well as specialized skeletons for special service provider interfaces.

Usage:

uno-skeletonmaker (-env:INIFILENAME=<url>) dump [<options>] -t <type> ...
uno-skeletonmaker (-env:INIFILENAME=<url>) component [<options>] -n <name> -t <type> ...
uno-skeletonmaker (-env:INIFILENAME=<url>) calc-add-in [<options>] -n <name> -t <add-in_service>
uno-skeletonmaker (-env:INIFILENAME=<url>) add-on [<options>] -n <name> -p <protocol_name:command,...> uno-skeletonmaker -V, --version
uno-skeletonmaker -h, --help

Sub-commands:

dump dump declarations on stdout (e.g. constructors, methods, type mapping for properties) or complete method bodies with method forwarding.
component generates language specific code skeleton files using the implementation name as the file and class name
calc-add-in generates a language specific code skeleton for a Calc Add-Ins using the implementation name as the file and class name. A service type is necessary, referencing an interface which defines the new add-in functions.
add-on generates a language specific code skeleton for an add-on component using the implementation name as the file and class name. The protocol name(s) and the corresponding command(s) have to be specified with the '-p' option.

Options:

-env:INIFILENAME=<url> url specifies a URL to a UNO ini|rc file of an existing UNO environment (URE, office installation).
-a, --all list all interface methods, not only the direct ones
--(java5|cpp) select the target language
--java5 generate output for Java 1.5 or later (is currently the default)
--cpp generate output for C++
-sn, --shortnames using namespace abbreviation 'css:': for '::com::sun::star::', only valid for sub-command 'dump' and target language 'cpp'. It is default for the sub-command 'component'.
--propertysetmixin the generated skeleton implements the cppu::PropertySetMixin helper if a referenced new style service specifies an interface which provides attributes (directly or inherited).
-lh, --licenseheader generates a default LibreOffice MPLv2 license header at the beginning of a component source file. This option is taken into account in 'component' mode only and if -o is unequal 'stdout'.
-bc,
--backward-compatible
specifies that the generated calc add-in is backward compatible to older office versions and implement the former required add-in interfaces where the implementation is mapped on the new add-in configuration. In this case the config schema needs to be bundled with the extension add-in as well. Default is a minimal add-in component skeleton based on the add-in configuration coming with the office since OO.org 2.0.4.
-o <path> path specifies an existing directory where the output files are generated to, only valid for sub-command 'component'. If path=stdout the generated code is generated on standard out instead of a file.
-l <file> specifies a binary type library (can be used more than once). The type library is integrated as an additional type provider in the bootstrapped type system.
-n <name> specifies an implementation name for the component (used as classname, filename and package|namespace name). In 'dump' mode it is used as classname (e.g. "MyBase::", C++ only) to generate method bodies not inline.
-d <name> specifies a base classname or a delegator. In 'dump' mode it is used as a delegator to forward methods. It can be used as '<name>::' for base forwarding, or '<name>->|.' for composition. Using "_" means that a default bodies with default return values are dumped.
-t <name> specifies a UNOIDL type name, e.g. com.sun.star.text.XText (can be used more than once).
-p <protocol:cmd(s)> specifies an add-on protocol name and the corresponding command names, where the commands are a ',' separated list of unique commands. This option is only valid for add-ons.
-V, --version print version number and exit.
-h, --help print this help and exit.
regmerge

The deprecated 'regmerge' is a small tool to merge different legacy registry files under a specified key into another legacy registry file. If a value already exists in the target file the value is overwritten by the value of the source file.

Note: idlc and regmerge are deprecated and produce a legacy binary type library format that is different from the new format that is produced by unoidl-write.

Usage:

regmerge [-v|--verbose] <mergefile> <mergeKeyName> <regfile_1> ... <regfile_n>

Options:

-v|--verbose verbose output on stdout.
<mergefile> specifies the merged registry file. If this file doesn't exist, it is created.
<mergeKeyName> specifies the merge key, everything is merged under this key. If this key doesn't exist, it is created.
<regfile_1> ... <regfile_n> specifies one or more registry files that are merged.
regview

'regview' is a tool to show the contents of a legacy registry file. The tool dumps the hierarchical structure and the values of the nodes in a human readable manner to stdout.

Usage:

regview <registryfile> [<keyName>]

Options:

-br<registryfile> the name of the registry whose contents should be viewed.
<keyName> the name of a registry key. The name must be fully qualified; for example, '/' means the root key and '/UCR/com/sun/star/uno/XInterface' shows the type specification of the XInterface type. If no key is specified, the tool dumps the whole content of the registry file.
autodoc

The legacy 'autodoc' tool was used for creating javadoc-like documentation from C++ and UNO IDL source code in previous versions of the SDK.

Because this tool was buggy and unmaintained it has been removed from the SDK. Users are advised to use Doxygen instead, which supports UNO IDL since April 2013.