Mac patcher released

Download OOo 3.0 Python Patcher

The patcher is really simple to use:

1. You should already have OpenOffice.org installed.
   
2. Download the image file (click on the screenshot above) and mount it.
3. Start OOo 3.0 Python Patcher.
   
4. If the OpenOffice.org application is not in the Applications folder, set the correct location.
5. Push the button.
6. Python support is now fixed. You can proceed to installing our extensions.
   

You need to have the rights to modify the OpenOffice.org application. This is the case if you were the user that installed it.

If you have any questions, please contact us at support@multiracio.com.

Known issues:

• The patcher only works on Leopard. The patch itself however can also be installed on Tiger. Just Control-click (or right-click) the OpenOffice.org application, select Show Package Contents and use the patched uno.py file to replace the one in OpenOffice.org (found at Contents/basis-link/program/uno.py). If you want to revert for some reason, here is the original file.

• If you have tried to install a Python extension before patching OpenOffice.org, it is possible that some pieces of the failed install remain and may cause trouble when trying to install after patching. To make sure this does not happen, you can remove the ~/Library/Application Support/OpenOffice.org directory. (Warning: Removing this directory resets all OpenOffice.org settings to their default values. If you have spent a lot of time setting up OpenOffice.org the way you like it, do not remove this directory.)

Technical discussion of the issue

For more information about the problem see Issue 92661, and this thread on the mac@porting.openoffice.org mailing list.

The problem will have to be fixed in the OpenOffice.org source code, but this will most likely not happen before 3.1 is released, which means months. So for the interim we have created a patch, that works around the problem. The patch does not affect binary files, just a Python file in OpenOffice.org (uno.py), so there are no adverse side-effects to it.

Here is the diff for any interested parties:

--- uno.py.orig	2008-11-18 15:18:20.000000000 +0100
+++ uno.py	2008-11-19 20:31:32.000000000 +0100
@@ -31,5 +31,14 @@
 import sys
 
-import pyuno
+if sys.platform == 'darwin':
+	# make sure libpyuno.dylib is found
+	import os
+	newpath = os.path.split( __file__ )[0]
+	cwd = os.getcwd()
+	os.chdir( newpath )
+	import pyuno
+	os.chdir( cwd )
+else:
+	import pyuno
 import __builtin__

 This makes sure that pyuno.so correctly finds libpyuno.dylib.

Once the binary side is fixed, this patch will not be necessary, but will still be harmless.