Porting notes
Things to watch out for
- The mapping of the vba constants is different. Take for example the xlGuess constant, in VBA it's fully qualified name is Excel.XlYesNoGuess.xlGuess, in the helperapi it's com.sun.star.helper.constant.XlYesNoGuess.xlGuess and in oovbaapi it's org.openoffice.excel.XlYesNoGuess.xlGuess
- All objects in the helperapi extend HelperInterfaceAdaptor, nothing similar (yet) exists in oovbaapi so this can be ignored in the implementation
- There are a quite few helper classes in the helperapi project e.g. RangeHelper.java they shouldn't be confused with the actual implementation objects we wish to port.
- classes and idl files of the same name can exist in multiple namespaces and this can be confusing. Because the helperapi was written with both the word and excel api(s) in mind there can be classes that share a common implementation and interfaces e.g.
- com/sun/star/helper/calc/XShape.idl
- com/sun/star/helper/common/XShape.idl
- com/sun/star/helper/writer/XShape.idl
- Collections, these are handled differently see implementing a vba Collection in oovbaapi
- Every helperapi idl method defines BasicErrorException which allows and api method to transfer an error code and associated string paramater to basic.
Hints for porting idl
Objects with Default Properties
This is something not handled by the helperapi but something you should be aware of when implementing a vba compatibility object. What is a default property, an example probably explains the concept better.
Range("a1") = "text"
is a short cut for
Range("a1").Value = "text"
Value is a default property in the example above. We can provide similar behavior in basic with a compatibility api object ensuring the object implements XDefaultProperty.idl
Objects with Default Method
Similar to above some vba objects have a default method e.g. the Collection object
set col = Sheets msgbox col(1).Name
is a short cut for
set col = Sheets msgbox col.Item(1).Name
Item is a default method in the example above. We can provide similar behavior in basic with a compatibility api object ensuring the object implements XDefaultMethod.idl
Porting Collection objects
Generally all collection objects have a Count and an Item method and additionally the behaviour mentioned above. Also Collection objects can be used in a For Each loop. To cater for that a helper implementation object ScVbaCollectionBaseImpl provides the necessary information to the basic runtime to allow it to provide the classic vba Collection class syntax support. It also requires to be initialised by an XIndexAccess implementation. Additionally the class inheriting from ScVbaCollectionBaseImpl must provide the translation between the object iterated ( via XIndexAccess ) and the corrosponding compatibilty object returned to openoffice basic via the the createCollectionObject method.
A example of a ported Collection object can be found in the Porting example section
[possibly incomplete ] List of Calc Objects to port from helperapi
Object | helperapi implementation name | Porting started by | Status | Notes | |
XAreas.idl | xxxx | seems complete | |||
XAutoFilter.idl | AutoFilterImpl | hanbo | in progress | there is a partial (untested) implementation in the porting example section, would be nice for some one to finish | |
XFilter.idl | FilterImpl.java | hanbo | in progress | see above. | |
XFilters.idl | FiltersImpl.java | hanbo | in progress | see above. | |
XAxes.idl | AxesImpl.java | npower | in progress | ||
XAxis.idl | AxisImpl.java | npower | in progress | ||
XAxisTitle.idl | AxisTitleImpl.java | npower | complete | not-tested | |
XCharacters.idl | xxxx | complete | |||
XCalc.idl | xxxx | not required for porting see Application Object | This is not a 'real' object but in a collection of global method/attributes that probably should be part of the XApplication.idl interface | ||
XChartObject.idl | ChartObjectImpl.java | npower | complete | not-tested | |
XChartObjects.idl | ChartObjectsImpl.java | npower | complete | not-tested | |
XChart.idl | ChartImpl.java | npower | in progress | ||
XCharts.idl | ChartsImpl.java | npower | in progress | ||
XChartTitle.idl | ChartTitleImpl.java | npower | complete | not-tested | |
XColorFormat.idl | xxxx | ||||
XComment.idl | xxxx | complete | |||
XDataLabel.idl | DataLabelImpl.java | npower | in progress | ||
XDataLabels.idl | DataLabelsImpl.java | npower | in progress | ||
XFont.idl | xxxx | complete | |||
XFormatCondition.idl | xxxx | npower | complete | not tested | |
XFormatConditions.idl | xxxx | npower | complete | not tested | |
XFormat.idl | xxxx | npower | complete | not tested | |
XHPageBreak.idl | xxxx | complete | |||
XHPageBreaks.idl | xxxx | complete | |||
XInterior.idl | xxxx | complete | |||
XName.idl | NameImp.java | sola, Amelia | complete | not-tested | |
XNames.idl | NamesImp.java | sola, Amelia | complete | not-tested | |
XOutline.idl | xxxx | complete | |||
XPageBreak.idl | xxxx | complete | |||
XPageSetup.idl | PageSetupImpl | Fong | complete | ||
XPane.idl | PaneImpl | Jiao.Jianhua | calc complete | ||
XPoint.idl | xxxx | ||||
XPoints.idl | xxxx | ||||
XProtection.idl | xxxx | penghang | in progress | ||
XQueryTable.idl | xxxx | ||||
XQueryTables.idl | xxxx | ||||
XSeriersCollection.idl | xxxx | complete | |||
XSeriers.idl | xxxx | complete | |||
XShape.idl | xxxx | jiao.jianhua | in progress | ||
XShapes.idl | xxxx | jiao.jianhua | calc complete, no full text | ||
XSheet.idl | xxxx | complete | |||
XSheets.idl | xxxx | complete | |||
XStyle.idl | xxxx | npower | complete | not tested | |
XStyles.idl | xxxx | npower | inprogress | ||
XTextFrame.idl | xxxx | ||||
XTitle.idl | xxxx | complete | |||
XVPageBreak.idl | xxxx | wanglibing | in progress | ||
XVPageBreaks.idl | xxxx | wanglibing | in progress | ||
XWindow.idl | xxxx | complete | |||
XWindows.idl | xxxx | complete | |||
XWorkbook.idl | xxxx | complete | |||
XWorkbooks.idl | xxxx | complete | |||
XWorksheetfunction.idl | xxxx | complete |
[possibly incomplete ] List of Writer Objects to port from helperapi
Object | helperapi implementation name | Porting started by | Status | Notes | |
Application | |||||
AutoTextEntry |