The KOffice Project KOffice FAQ
This FAQ tries to answer some frequently asked questions about KOffice (plus some not so frequently asked ones you might find interesting anyway). Please: if you have a question, take a look into this FAQ first, before asking the developers. They're a handful of programmers who are not being paid for doing this, writing a complete office suite in their spare time - this time they don't want to spend answering certain questions for the umpteenth time. If you have a question that is not being covered by this FAQ, please don't hesitate to mail us.
Disclaimer: We offer no liability for the contents of this FAQ document.
Questions
General Questions
- What is KOffice?
- Who are the developers and how do I contact them?
- Which mailing lists are used for KOffice?
- What applications are part of KOffice?
- I would like to see application XYZ in KOffice?
- What is the current state of KOffice?
- Are you going to implement feature XYZ?
- Which license applies to KOffice?
- Can I use KOffice on Windows?
How to get and install KOffice?
- How do I get and compile the KOffice sources?
- I want to be on the bleeding edge. How can I get my sources up to date?
- How do I install KOffice if I am not root?
- What binary distributions are there and where do I find them?
- Is KOffice available on CD?
Problems compiling KOffice
- What should I do if problems occur?
- Error: "aclocal not found"
- The file configure is missing!
- I have configured with --enable-final but I can only get a compile error
Reporting Bugs And Wishes
KOffice in general
- Does KOffice support scripting?
- Does KOffice support macros?
- How does KOffice print?
- What data format does KOffice read and write natively?
- I am stuck without KOffice. How can I get at least the text out of the KOffice files?
- Can I convert KOffice documents to and from other formats on the command line?
- Wow! The application XYZ writes XML, too! Does that mean I can easily read those documents with KOffice?
- Which international text encodings does KOffice support?
- Does KOffice support languages that write right to left?
- Does KOffice support languages that write top to bottom?
- Does KOffice support Indic scripts?
Problems common to all KOffice applications
- In printout, KOffice replaces some of my fonts with different fonts!
- Why are bitmap fonts not supported?
KWord
- What is KWord?
- Can I write my letter / papers / master thesis with KWord?
- Are there filters for OpenOffice Writer, MS-Word, StarWriter, RTF... ?
KSpread
KPresenter
Karbon14
- What is Karbon14?
- But was the vector graphic application not Kontour?
- Are there filters?
- But then what can I do with my old Kontour files?
Other KOffice Programs
Contributing to KOffice
Answers
General Questions
What is KOffice?
KOffice is an integrated office suite for the KDE (K Desktop Environment) consisting of several applications like for examples a word processor (KWord) and a spread sheet (KSpread). Based on the KParts component model, KOffice offers a lot of interoperability between all its components. For example, you can embed every KOffice component into another component (for example a KSpread table into your KWord document.)
Who are the developers and how do I contact them?
The developers are listed in the people page. If you want to contact the developers, the best is first to email to the koffice mailing list. In case of bugs or wishes, please report them by using KDE Bugs.
Which mailing lists are used for KOffice?
KOffice has two general mailing lists:
The koffice mailing list is mainly for the users of KOffice, the koffice-devel is mainly for the developers. Please note that the write access of the koffice-devel mailing list is restricted.
As KOffice is part of KDE it uses some of KDE's mailing lists, for example the kde-i18n-doc mailing list for the translators.
Please note that for historical reasons, Krita and KPlato have their own mailing lists.
Archives of the mailing lists are available.
What applications are part of KOffice?
The following applications exist and are part of KOffice 1.6:
- KWord - a word processor
- KSpread - a spread sheet
- KPresenter - a presentation program
- Kivio - a flowcharter
- Karbon14 - a vector drawing program
- KFormula - a formel editor
- KChart - a tool for drawing charts and diagrams
- Kugar - a database report creator
- Krita - an image manipulation program
- Kexi - a database management tool
- KPlato - a project management program
I would like to see application XYZ in KOffice?
KOffice may lack some applications that people normally consider to be an Office application. Some of these applications are in other parts of KDE, like for example the email tool KMail is in KDE-PIM (Personal Information Management). Some other applications are only planned for future KOffice releases.
What is the current state of KOffice?
At the time of this writing, KOffice 1.6.0 has been released. KOffice is released separately from the rest of KDE, so KOffice releases are not in sync with those of KDE.
Are you going to implement feature XYZ?
First of all: certainly many features should be implemented. However, KOffice is mainly based on the work of volunteers and thus it often lacks the needed manpower to address many issues. If you are a developer, consider helping us. KOffice developers are always willing to help you if you want to get your hands dirty!
Which license applies to KOffice?
KOffice is an open-source project and completely free. All licences are GPL-compatible, mostly GPL or LGPL version 2. Apart exceptions, libraries and filters are mostly LGPL, while applications are LGPL or GPL.
Can I use KOffice on Windows?
There is on-going work of KDE Cygwin project to port KDE to MS Windows. It is also planned to port KOffice. Just keep in mind that this port is not done by the KOffice developers themselves, so please report bugs to the KDE Cygwin project!
How to get and install KOffice?
How do I get and compile the KOffice sources?
Please see the download page.
I want to be on the bleeding edge. How can I get my sources up to date?
You need to checkout the koffice path of KDE's SVN either by anonymous SVN.
Please keep in mind that the development versions are not supposed to work stable!
How do I install KOffice if I am not root?
You have got to pass some directory where you have got write access (for example in your home directory)
as prefix to configure. So you should type something like: ./configure --prefix=/home/jdoe/foo/bar
plus of course other options you might want to pass to configure. Then of course you
don't have to do su -c "make install", but just make install.
What binary distributions are there and where do I find them?
You can find up-to-date information on available binaries and how to install them here.
Please notice that KOffice only makes the source, binary distributions are made by third persons, even if they are distributed by KDE servers.
Is KOffice available on CD?
Most Linux distributions ship KOffice. So if you have an up-to-date Linux distribution, you probably are lucky. A Live CD of KOffice 1.6 is available for download.
Problems compiling KOffice
What should I do if problems occur?
If problems occur during compiling, please:
- check the problems mentioned in this file
- check whether you are using a recent kdelibs package (last stable KDE or current unstable KDE.)
- check whether you are using the correct versions of all required packages:
- check if you are really compiling with the compiler with which the C++ libraries of your system were compiled (be it by you or by your distributor.)
After you have checked all this but the problems still persist, contact the
koffice mailing list.
Please include information about your system and the tail of the output of make.
Please do not contact the mailing list in case of errors like "internal compiler errors"! This is most likely not a KOffice problem (but a compiler problem, a motherboard problem or a cooling problem.)
Error: "aclocal not found"
I have done make -f Makefile.cvs and got "aclocal not found".
You have probably not installed automake. Install automake (and make sure that its version is recent enough.)
The file configure is missing!
Please start with make -f Makefile.cvs. It will then create the file configure.
I have configured with --enable-final but I can only get a compile error
As the developers cannot really use --enable-final, it gets easily broken. So please try to compile without --enable-final before reporting the problem to the koffice mailing list!
Reporting Bugs And Wishes
Where do I report bugs and wishes?
Like for any KDE application, please report bugs to KDE Bugs.
How do I report bugs?
A good bug report should first have a title. Try to give in a few keywords an overview of the problem! That makes it easier for the developers to find your bug again.
Then, please, we need a good description
of the bug. Please avoid meaningless descriptions like: KOffice does not work!
, KOffice is bad
,
XYZ is much better than your KOffice!
How can the bug be reproduced? Does it always happen? Does something very similar work without any problem?
Then we need to know about the software of your system. If you have only installed the packages of your distribution, then this point is not really important. But if you are using special software, like a non-gcc compiler, or some very new development library, then please tell us in your bug report.
If the bug is a message box that should not happen, then please tell us the exact error message.
If the bug is triggered by the loading of a file, then please add the file to the bug report or, even better, a short example file that triggers the bug.
Please be careful that sending a file to KDE Bugs makes it public, so be careful not to send us files not meant for the public. Especially be careful that the file does not contain for example addresses and phone numbers of third persons.
Of course, if you are able to make a patch to fix the bug, it would be the optimum.
And finally, please, send only one bug per report!
How do I report wishes?
You report wishes as you would do for bugs. Here too it is important to describe correctly the wish to avoid misunderstandings. If your wish comes from another application, please do not assume that the developers know that application! Only one wish per report, please! However you can create as many reports as you want or need. One wish per report helps the developers to manage the bugs and wishes better.
KOffice in general
Does KOffice support scripting?
Yes, KOffice supports scripting. You can script KOffice applications
using the scripting language of your choice thanks to the application's DCOP
interfaces (provided that DCOP-bindings exist for your language). Using a language's
DCOP bindings you can remote control a KOffice application via this interface.
You can find several DCOP bindings in the kdebindings module, be it Perl, Python or even
Java. Furthermore, using the dcop command line utility from kdelibs, you can
control applications from your shell, so you can basically even script KOffice using
bash or whatever shell you prefer. Of course you can also access these interfaces
using a C++ library or its C wrapper.
Support for scripting within applications was introduced in Kexi and Krita in KOffice 1.5.0. Script developers should note that this support is new, and subject to change. As such, large scripting projects are not recommended at this stage.
Does KOffice support macros?
No, we do not support macros in documents to avoid Trojan horses done with such macros. The only feature similar to macros is the DCOP scripting, which has the advantage not to limit you to one programming language.
How does KOffice print?
KOffice prints with KDE's printing system. So you can choose between a few printing systems like for examples CUPS or lpr. KOffice applications print by using Qt's PostScript printing. This can unfortunately lead to limitations (like for printing EPS files.)
What data format does KOffice read and write natively?
As of KOffice 1.5.0, the OASIS OpenDocument file format is the native format. This allows documents to used in other applications that support the OpenDocument format, including those in the OpenOffice.org suite.
Up to KOffice 1.3, KOffice applications used their own file formats. OpenDocument support was introduced for most applications in KOffice 1.4.1, but only became the default format in KOffice 1.5
I am stuck without KOffice. How can I get at least the text out of the KOffice files?
As KOffice files are zipped, you need to unzip them with any program that can handle ZIP files.
Can I convert KOffice documents to and from other formats on the command line?
Yes, the program for this is called koconverter. See koconverter --help for more information.
Wow! The application XYZ writes XML, too! Does that mean I can easily read those documents with KOffice?
No, unfortunately not! You still need a filter. Think of XML as a very basic, general markup language which allows you to "create your own markup language". So it's more precise to say, the KOffice applications use a file format thats based on XML. For the other application, it will be another file format, also based on XML but different.
Which international text encodings does KOffice support?
KOffice uses Unicode everywhere.
Does KOffice support languages that write right to left?
KOffice supports languages written from right to left. Left-to-right text mixed in right-to-left text works too. However none of the main developers can write such languages, so any help is welcome.
Does KOffice support languages that write top to bottom?
No, sorry! Anybody would could help us to write the code for that would be welcomed!
Does KOffice support Indic scripts?
Partially. Support for some Indic scripts (depending on your Qt version, too) was introduced in KOffice 1.4.
Problems common to all KOffice applications
In printout, KOffice replaces some of my fonts with different fonts!
[Thanks to Donovan Rebbechi] To make fonts printable to KOffice, the fonts in question need to be added to the ghostscript fontmap file, so ghostscript can find the fonts. This applies to TrueType as well as Type1 fonts. As KOffice doesn't necessarily use the correct ghostscript font names, it (respectively Qt) tries to guess them and sometimes fails on this task. This problem can be avoided by mapping the font names used by Qt to the correct X11 font names. See the following example how this can be done:
mapping of font names in the ghostscript fontmap:
/ArialBlack-Roman /Arial_Black ;
/Arnoldboecklin-Roman /ArnoldBoecklin-ExtraBold ;
This problem will have to be solved within Qt; until then you will have to modify your fontmap. If you want to do this yourself, the following information might help you:
Donovan Rebbechi has written a perl script to make this task easier. You need have the appropriate fonts in your ghostscriupt fontmap, (see Donovan's Font HOWTO for instructions) then insert the aliases generated by the script. The output of the script might occasionally require a little hand tweaking, but at least the script does most of the work. Note that the aliases must precede the fonts.
Donovan has also provided fontmap entries for the widely used Microsoft Web Fonts. Just append them to your font map and fix the paths.
For more information, please see the Font HOWTO.
Why are bitmap fonts not supported?
Bitmap fonts offer too few data to be printed correctly or to allow WYSIWYG ("What You See Is What You Get".)
KWord
What is KWord?
KWord is the word processor of KOffice. KWord is part of the stable releases of KOffice.
Internally, KWord works with frames and offers two modes: text-oriented and page-oriented.
In the page-oriented mode, KWord handles like a DTP program. You can create frames, position them where you want, connect them together and so on.
In the text-oriented mode, KWord handles like a normal word processor. No need to worry about having to create any frame before typing your text!
Can I write my letter / papers / master thesis with KWord?
Yes, some people have made very large documents with KWord. However KWord is far from being optimized for such a use.
Are there filters for OpenOffice Writer, MS-Word, StarWriter, RTF... ?
Yes, there are filters for KWord. See this page for documentation.
Some filters are not always working well, as implementing a filter depends on the available documentation of the file format.
Please note that in current versions of KOffice, it is recommended to save as RTF (Rich Text Format) to exchange with MS-Word. (PDF can be a good file format too for importing into KWord.)
KSpread
What is KSpread?
KSpread is the spread sheet application of the KOffice. KSpread is part of the stable releases of KOffice.
Are there import filters for OpenOffice Calc, MS Excel... ?
Yes, there are filters for KSpread. See this page for documentation.
Some filters are not always working good, as implementing a filter depends on the available documentation of the file format.
KPresenter
What is KPresenter?
KPresenter is the presentation application of the KOffice. KPresenter is part of the stable releases of KOffice.
You can use it for doing screen presentations or transparencies.
Are there import filters for OpenOffice Impress...?
Yes, there are filters for KPresenter. See this page for documentation.
Some filters are not always working good, as implementing a filter depends on the available documentation of the file format.
Karbon14
What is Karbon14?
Karbon14 is a vector graphics application. Karbon14 is part of the stable releases of KOffice.
But was the vector graphic application not Kontour?
Kontour used to be a vector drawing program in KOffice. This program was not being actively maintained anymore and was finally removed from KOffice in the year 2003. Karbon14 has taken its place.
Are there filters?
Yes, there are filters. See this page for documentation.
Some filters are not always working good, as implementing a filter depends on the available documentation of the file format.
But then what can I do with my old Kontour files?
Karbon14 has an import filter for Kontour files. However Karbon14 has no filter to save in the former Kontour file format.
Other KOffice Programs
What is Kivio?
Kivio is a flowcharting application. Kivio is part of the stable releases of KOffice.
What is Kugar?
Kugar is a template-based business-quality xml report generation tool. Kugar is part of the stable releases of KOffice.
What is Kudesigner?
Kudesigner is a WYSIWYG GUI report template designer for the Kugar report engine. Kudesigner is part of the stable releases of KOffice.
What is KChart?
KChart is a diagram and chart generator. KChart is part of the stable releases of KOffice.
What is KFormula?
KFormula is a formula editor. Kformula is part of the stable releases of KOffice.
What is Krita?
Krita is an image processor for KOffice, which should be suitable for all your image creation and editing needs.
Contributing to KOffice
I like this project! How can I contribute?
Welcome! Please send an email to the koffice mailing list and tell where you would want to help!
Please look also at "Get Involved?"!
Where can I get more developer information?
KOffice Developer Pages are here. The general KDE Developer Pages are here.
