Showing posts with label Apple. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Apple. Show all posts

Sunday, March 30, 2008

OOO: Possible fix for the command timed out error on Leopard

With a change in the way that X11 works on Leopard, the X11 version of OpenOffice.org has been giving an error message on startup saying "command timed out". With previous versions of Mac OS X, OpenOffice.org had to make sure that X11 was running first be trying to start OpenOffice.org.


The following change should work for 2.4, 2.3.1, 2.3, and possibly earlier versions. Open the file OpenOffice.org 2.4.app/Contents/Resources/Scripts/main.scpt in "Script Editor". (You will need to control+click the application icon and choose "Show Package Contents".)

Then replace the code block "on openSoffice(aFile)"...."end openSoffice" with the following:

on openSoffice(aFile)
if (atLeastOSXVersion(10, 5, 0)) then
-- if we have leopard, we don't need to manually start the X server first
set theCmd to "sh " & (quoted form of (POSIX path of getOOProgramPath() & "soffice")) & " "
do shell script theCmd & aFile & shellTerminator()
else
set theDisplay to startXServer()
if (theDisplay is equal to "error") then
return
end if
set theEnv to "DISPLAY=" & theDisplay & " ; export DISPLAY; "
set theCmd to "sh " & (quoted form of (POSIX path of getOOProgramPath() & "soffice")) & " "
do shell script theEnv & theCmd & aFile & shellTerminator()
-- logEvent("open CMD: " & theEnv & theCmd & aFile)
end if
end openSoffice

Please comment on how this works for you.

Thursday, March 06, 2008

Apple's Developer Site has Crashed

With the news that Apple has released the SDK for the iPhone, their developer site is currently unavailable. It seems to be have exceeded Apple's expectations in terms of demand.


I'm currently wondering if there will be access to the Bluetooth in the SDK so that I can connect a bluetooth GPS and produce some nice mapping application for OpenStreetMap. With unlimited data, a fairly large (for a mobile device) touch display, it may well be an idea device to do the mapping in the field.

Hopefully I'll earn a bit more soon, so that I can afford the mobile contract.

Sunday, December 30, 2007

iLife Browser in Leopard's open dialogs

In Leopard, if the developer allows certain types of file to be opened, then you get a free iLife browser in the file open dialog. This applies to OpenOffice.org aqua on Leopard too. As the X11 version of OpenOffice.org doesn't have a native filepicker, this won't be available there.

Find a screenshot below.

 
Those who have played with the latest OpenOffice.org aqua builds, you will find that you get an open dialog like the above one, without any way to select any files. This is a known bug. You simply cancel and open the dialog again to workaround the issue, until the fix is found and integrated.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Edinburgh Leopard Tech Talk

Today I went along to the Leopard Tech Talk in Edinburgh at the posh Caledonian Hilton Hotel.


It was a very interesting event, and might just convince me to start programming in Cocoa and Objective-C 2.0. Objective-C 2.0 is far more like Java when it comes to memory management. This is where I tend to struggle in C. The event was under Apple Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), so I can't publicly discuss anything that isn't publicly available.

In the Cambridge Bar afterwards, one of the things that I tried to fix with the help of and Apple Tech guy was the Finder restarting when trying to change file permissions. This is mentioned in Apple support article 307128. However the instructions there don't quite work. After some tries in the pub I was still getting the crash. Once I got home I had some tried the article again, and the second sudo dscl command seemed to wipe out the group record. In the end I did manage to get the problem fix, and I no longer get the crash.

I also got to play with an iPhone, and the reception on the O2 network is crap. The iPhone was only just, maybe thinking about getting a signal. On the other hand my Sony Ericsson k750i on the Vodafone network could get a full signal. Since I upgraded to Leopard I haven't had my phone working as a bluetooth modem. With the help of the tutorial that I used the last time, and the GPRS network data table, I managed to get it working again.
The tutorial is now out of date of Leopard. On Leopard it is now a lot easier to setup. Once you have paired your phone, head into network preferences, and click Bluetooth in the left column. Then use the "User name" from the afore mentioned data table for the "Account Name" in Network preferences. The "Password" field uses the same name in both the data table and Network preferences. Next you need to click "Advanced...". Select the appropriate vendor and model for your phone, and enter the appropriate APN from the data table. Hit "OK", then "Apply" and you should be ready to connect.

At least now, the next time I go out with my laptop, and don't want to pay for expensive wifi, I can use a little bit of data on my pay as you go phone.

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Clean re-install of Mac OS X

Today I have spent some time re-installing Mac OS X on my MacBook. It has been over a year now since I have bought the MacBook, and have only once done a clean install on it so far


It is now a lot faster as I don't have any junk lying around running in the background. That's one problem of installing various bits of software to see what it does and then not using it again. Maybe I should unsubscribe from the VersionTracker daily mail of new software releases. I've also gained around 20GB on my internal hard drive. 

Of course prior to the clean re-install, I had create a complete bootable backup of my hard drive, thus allowing me to selectively recover anything that I need.

I should now be able to use the OpenOffice.org CWS tools again as I'll setup my local cvs server on a different port than the default port.

Thursday, August 09, 2007

Petition to get Apple to support OpenDocument in iWork

Filip Molcan has just pointed out a new petition to get Apple to support the ISO standard 26300, otherwise known as OpenDocument in iWork 08. iWork 08 already supports the Open Office XML (OOXML) document format, which isn't yet an ISO standard. Wasn't Apple meant to be a supporter of open standards?

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Can launch PPC apps again

Since installing the Quicktime 7.2 and iTunes 7.3.1 updates on my MacBook, I've been unable to launch PPC applications through Rosetta. It appears that having Java 6 installed has caused the prebinding process to crash.


Following the process documented in a comment by Darlene on a blog, I've been able to launch PPC applications through Rosetta again. The process is basically removing Java 6 and then force running the prebinding process. I didn't even need a restart which is nice.

EDIT: I've also had to download and install Java for Mac OS X 10.4 Release 5 to get Java working again.

Monday, June 11, 2007

Safari 3.0 Beta

I'm taking the new Safari 3.0 Beta for a test drive. I have to say, I'm quite impressed with it in many ways. For the past few months I've been using Camino, as it has had a few features that Safari didn't have.


Safari is now a lot faster than before. Buttons are being custom drawn like in other browsers. A new history feature of being able to open the last closed window is quite handy. 

The RSS hasn't changed much, so I'll just keep to Google Reader. It would be nice if there was the Camino option that allows you to open links that are meant to open in a separate window to open in a new tab instead.

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Carbon Apps produce preference files without developers doing anything

This evening I was speaking to Yvan Barthélemy (ybart on IRC) over IRC, when he pointed out something interesting about the preferences for the Aqua port.

Even so the aqua port hasn't specifically done anything to do so, Mac OS X has created the preferences file org.openoffice.script.plist. This contains information such as the last used folder in file open dialogs, and any other Carbon components that have preferences associated with them.

The preferences filename comes from CFBundleIdentifier in the Info.plist file that is in every Application bundle. We came to the conclusion that this isn't a good name for the aqua version. We thought that having a CFBundleIdentifier of org.openoffice would be appropriate since OpenOffice.org doesn't have any other applications of the Mac. (Well as far as I know at the moment).

Saturday, April 28, 2007

Acceptability of applications to Mac users

There has been some online commentary recently on the likely acceptability of applications on the Mac platform. It basically boils down to: all applications that are successful on the Mac are well designed. They all look and behave the same way. Mac users are very fussy about the way that applications look and run. If they are not happy then they will not use the application, they will find an alternative application.
This basically means that OpenOffice.org for the Mac will have to be different from the main OpenOffice.org in a number of respects. Some of these could be integrated as an option for other platform.
Examples that could be used across all platforms include:

  • using palettes instead of dialog boxes for things like the paragraph and character dialogs
  • using native colour chooser dialogs
  • full document indexing/searching (partly implemented already)
  • system address book access
  • Mozilla plugin that doesn't require a full OpenOffice.org installation to work
  • quick view (in various incarnations)
Examples of integration specific to the Mac platform (I don't know if these are available on other platforms):
  • iLife integration
  • .Mac integration
  • Backup integration
  • (Leopard only) iChat for collaboration with documents and sharing presentations
  • (Leopard only) System-wide ToDo integration
If anyone has any other ideas or comments, please add your comments to this blog post.

Example articles:
Why VRML Failed and What That Means for OpenOffice
All I want for Christmas...

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

8 Core MacPro

Apple has released the 3GHz 8 Core MacPro. Apple have just added an extra processor option to the MacPro line.
It is available in the US for an extra $1498 over the base MacPro. It doesn't appear to be available in the UK store just now.
Now all I need to do is learn how to earn enough to afford one.

Sunday, February 04, 2007

How many more varieties of Vista does Microsoft want to produce?

I've come across a very good picture that shows the upgrade options for Windows XP and Mac OS X. Is it any wonder I will try to avoid Vista, it is so complicated. The Mac however is nice an simple.

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Apple posts an FAQ about the X11 for Mac OS X

Apple have released Technical Note TN2165, an FAQ about the X window environment (X11) for Mac OS X.

There are several interesting things in the tech note including:

  • "OpenGL does not support off-screen rendering." Even with OpenGL not being enabled in OpenOffice.org, I get redraw issues with part of the window being off screen. This happens in both when scrolling the document and opening a new dialog that partially appears off screen. When the section of the document or dialog is moved on screen, then it doesn't draw properly. I'm now wondering if this problem is not just with OpenGL, but with X11 in general.
  • XDarwin is no longer recommended.
  • It is technically feasible to make cmd+v work across all X11 applications.
  • "XInputExtension is not yet implemented." Could this be why OpenOffice.org on the mac has some issues with the input of some international characters? (Please correct me in the comments if I'm wrong with this assumption.)
  • OpenGL has the same problem as the command osacompile, in that it won't run/work unless the user is root or the currently logged in user of Mac OS X.

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Change your Mac OS X password from the Command Line

Use the command
passwd
to change your password from the command line under Mac OS X.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

OpenOffice.org now works again with X11 1.1.3

With the newly released X11 update from Apple, which fixes the font problems, OpenOffice.org no longer has an issue with starting. All OpenOffice.org users on the Mac should update to the latest version of X11, to fix any issues that they have with X11.

Monday, November 06, 2006

Workaround for X11 not launching posted on Mac Porting Web Site

With the deluge of people complaining about the X11 update and OpenOffice.org not starting, I posted a news article detailing a quick workaround to get OpenOffice.org running again. It should be noted that the next release of (and current development builds) are not affected by the problematic fonts as there has been a change in the logic which safe guards against the the divide by zero that was happening when the new fonts supplied by Apple were being loaded in. Hopefully Apple are going to re-release the X11 update soon.

Saturday, November 04, 2006

Apple's X11 update

Apple released an X11 update on 1 November 2006. It fixes a but that I commented about, regarding the cmd+tab and the X11 windows not coming forward.

On the other hand there appears to be an issue with the fonts in that build. This seems to affect the current official release of OpenOffice.org on the Mac. I didn't notice it at first because I have been using builds made by my ooobuilbot MacPort1.

The current workaround is to remove the Vera fonts from /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/TTF. For more information please see issue 71096.

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Photos from my trip to France (OpenOffice.org conference and Apple Expo)

Please take a look at http://www.byphotos.com/album/4050544 which contains all the photos from my trip.

I know some of them have not been rotated.

It was the first time I can remember being in London. Over a decade ago I had been round the M25 on the way to Dover, it was so long ago, I can't remember, mind you I would probably have been sleeping at time.

There are some pictures of the trams and trolley buses in Lyon in there, if anyone is interested.

I found it quite good at being able to catch the sunset whilst on the Eurostar on leaving France.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

OOoCon2006 and Apple Expo

It was quite some trip to France, considering my rather minimal French knowledge. I survived even with the communication barrier. I also found it quite a tiresome journey too, especially with getting very little sleep on the coach overnight from Edinburgh to London. I sorted it out for the return by taking a fleece on as hand luggage to lean on.

The best part of the trip was venturing out of the country on my own, and meeting many people that I have only communicated with eletronically before hand. It quite a surprise to me, to come across someone who also lived in my home city of Edinburgh.

For those that are interested, even so I now have a passport, I have never flown in a plane before. For this trip it was cheaper and more flexible to take the overnight coach with National Express from Edinburgh to London, then walk across London to the Eurostar terminal. I then travelled by train all the way to Lyon, with a change in Paris (and a run on the underground). I can now even say I have travelled on a double decker train (they seem to be unique to France, please correct me if I'm wrong).

I then stayed in Lyon for 3 day in the Hotel du Helder. It seemed quite nice, especially when the staff were able to speak English. After the OpenOffice.org conference, I traveled with Eric Bachard to his house to stay the night, and then set off in the morning to Paris for the Apple Expo which was quite impressive. Mind you the random shutdowns of my MacBook didn't help.

On the Friday afternoon, I returned to pick up my stuff from the hotel, and get off to Paris Nord to catch the Eurostar home. Arrived about 35 minutes before departure to a long queue, and still got on the train and it left on time too. I doubt you would be able to manage that one if I was travelling by plane. I then had another wander through London to the Victoria Coach Station for the over night coach back into Edinburgh.

OK, door-to-door it does take longer, but I sure it used less fuel that an aeroplane taking off.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Random Shutdown on my MacBook

I've sent my MacBook away to Apple to be repaired as it now has the random shutdown problem. It took nearly 30 minutes on the phone to AppleCare to get the empty box sent out by UPS. The guy from UPS took it away straight away and was happy enough to stand there while I quickly packed it.