Environment Variables

OpenOffice.org runtime environment variables

This page documents environment variables you can export in your environment to change the OpenOffice.org behaviour at runtime. It does not include variables used by the configuration system, or by the build system in general.

What's an environment variable, Where do I find them and how do I edit them?

Environment variables are key-value pairs stored on your system. The operating system / the shell is responsible for managing and make them visible for all applications.

The user can change values of those variables, completely undefine or define new variables.

In the following, managing variables is explained on different operating systems:

• Linux Bash Shell
  • Display all set variables with 'export'
  • Set value: 'export varname="new value of variable"' Embrace the new value with inverted commas if they contain spaces.
  • Refer to value: 'echo $varname' Echo prints out the variable contents of varname. Referring is indicated by a preceeding dollar sign.

• Windows XP
  • Display all set variables with 'set'
  • Set value: 'set varname="new value of variable"
  • Refer to value: 'echo %varname%'
  • Set variable through the GUI Interface:
    • Start - Settings - Control Panel - System - Advanced - Environment Variables
    • You can manage your user and system variables independently.

Environment variables for users

Variables that users could use, or should know about.

"Users" includes people developping applications based on OOo (macros, UNO applications).

Name	OS	Belongs to	Description
AVOID_BURN_IN_FOR_GALLERY_THEME	all	gallery	When putting shapes into the gallery, normally style-governed attributes are converted to hard attributes and stored at the gallery object. If you want to create your own custom gallery, whose objects should adapt to style changes, use this variable.
DISPLAY	unx	system	X11 display string (ex "localhost:0")
GALLERY_ENABLE_ID_DIALOG	all	gallery	Adds a new menu elemet to the Gallery context menu to assing themes with IDs. IDs are added in the source when you want to create localized gallery in build time.
GALLERY_SHOW_HIDDEN_THEMES	all	gallery	Show the hidden gallery element like AutoShape, Web, Fontwork gallery. You can add more element by selecting the object, press CTRL + click and drag it into gallery.
GALLERY_SHOW_PRIVATE_TITLE	all	gallery	Shows the internal gallery title, instead of the translated UI name.
HOME	unx	system	User's personal directory
LANG	unx	system	This variable determines the locale category for native language, local customs and coded character set in the absence of the LC_ALL and other LC_* (LC_COLLATE, LC_CTYPE, LC_MESSAGES, ...) environment variables. This can be used by applications to determine the language to use for error messages and instructions, collating sequences, date formats, and so forth. See environ(5) for details.
LC_ALL	unx	system	This variable determines the values for all locale categories. The value of the LC_ALL environment variable has precedence over any of the other environment variables starting with LC_ (LC_COLLATE, LC_CTYPE, LC_MESSAGES, ...) and the LANG environment variable. See environ(5) for details.
LC_COLLATE	unx	system	This variable determines the locale category for character collation. It determines collation information for regular expressions and sorting, including equivalence classes and multi-character collating elements. See environ(5) for details.
LC_CTYPE	unx	system	This variable determines the locale category for character handling functions, such as tolower(), toupper() and isalpha(). This environment variable determines the interpretation of sequences of bytes of text data as characters (for example, single- as opposed to multi-byte characters), the classification of characters (for example, alpha, digit, graph) and the behaviour of character classes. See environ(5) for details.
LC_MESSAGES	unx	system	This variable determines the locale category for processing affirmative and negative responses and the language and cultural conventions in which messages should be written. See environ(5) for details.
MOZILLA_CERTIFICATE_FOLDER	unx	system	Speicify where digital certificates detection should look for, override auto detection in mozilla/firefox/thunderbird's user profile path.
OOO_FORCE_DESKTOP	unx	ooo	Override the desktop detection (also implies usage of the appropriate plugin, see SAL_USE_VCLPLUGIN). Possible values: "kde" (KDE), "gnome" (Gnome), "none" (other)
SAL_ACCESSIBILITY_ENABLED	all	ooo	Set to nonempty value enforce accessibility bridging.
SAL_ENABLE_NATIVE_XFONTS	unx	ooo	0 will disable OOo's use of native X11 fonts
SAL_USE_VCLPLUGIN	unx	ooo	The VCL plugin to use. Possible values: "kde" (KDE) or "gtk" (Gnome) or "gen" (generic X11)
SAL_DISABLE_NATIVE_ALPHA	all	ooo	When set, disables usage of the new system-level alpha rendering. Use this if e.g. your Xrender implementation is flaky.
SAL_DECIMALSEP_ENABLED	all	ooo	Set to any value to force localized decimal separator in vcl settings.
SAL_VISUAL	unx	ooo	Explicitly set the X11 visual id to use. See xdpyinfo(1) for information on available X11 visuals and the current default visual. There are only some very rare cases where an X11 server would offer multiple visuals and the default visual would not be suitable for use with OOo. But in these cases this variable provides a method to override the default visual for OOo.
SAL_WHEELLINES	unx	ooo	Specifies the number of lines a wheel mouse event will scroll. Default is 3 lines. Setting this to something larger than 10 results in page-wise scrolling.
SystemRoot	win	system	OS specific variable pointing to OS System Directory. If not set external UNO communication to the OOo process will not work. This is relevant when using OOo as component in other applications, for example.
USE_XOPENIM	Solaris	ooo	Force use of XOpenIM instead of XvaOpenIM. Changes behaviour of X11 input method.

Environment variables for OOo developers

For testing, debugging, getting system information, etc.

Name	OS	Belongs to	Description
CFG_LOGFILE	all	ooo	Is used by the sample configuration logger implementation from configmgr/source/workben/logger. This logger service can be used to get diagnostic output from the configuration services. By default that logger logs to stderr. If CFG_LOGFILE is set to a file name or path, the log output is redirected there.
CFG_LOGLEVEL	all	ooo	Is used by the sample configuration logger implementation (see CFG_LOGFILE) to control how much detail should be logged. See API documentation for com.sun.star.util.logging.LogLevel [1] for available values. Only numeric values are accepted. Default is to log messages from WARNING(=900) and up. Use lower numbers for more detail.
DISABLE_SAL_DBGBOX	all	ooo	Disable the OSL assertion dialogs for the non-product builds
ENVCFGFLAGS	all	ooo	Will be deprecated or obsoleted soon! Controls an older trace output facility in configmgr that is active only in non-product builds or debug versions of the library. Has a rather obscure syntax.
help_debug	all	ooo	Enables additional debug facilities of the help system. In particular, if you press Shift-F1 and hover over an element in the OOo UI, the tooltip will now show you the help id of the element, and the help module where its help text is looked up.
OOO_CALC_GENPARCLASSDOC	all	ooo	If Calc's sc/source/core/tool/parclass.cxx was compiled with OSL_DEBUG_LEVEL defined > 1 and this variable is set, generate Calc's parameter classification documentation to stdout, similar to what's available at http://specs.openoffice.org/calc/compatibility/cac/parameter_classification.txt Available since SRC680_m67.
OOO_DISABLE_RECOVERY	all	ooo-build	If set this stops the recovery dialog prompting you as OO.o starts up - instead the recovery files are just silently accumulated.
OOO_ENABLE_LOCALE_DATA_CHECKS	all	ooo	Check locale data in product builds. For a full description see comment in i18npool/source/localedata/data/locale.dtd Available since SRC680_m109.
OOO_FORCE_SYSALLOC	all	ooo-build	If set this disables the internal OO.o allocators, in favour of the system allocators - this means it is possible to get useful valgrind data out of a production build.
PROT_REMOTE	all	ooo	Set the file name prefix for logging in bridges/remote modules
PROT_REMOTE_FAST	all	ooo	Keep the logging file always open for logging in bridges/remote modules
PROT_REMOTE_ACTIVATE	all	ooo	If existing in env activate logging in bridges/remote modules
U_RBBIDEBUG	all	ooo	For testing the "rule based break iterator" for ICU
SAL_ANTIALIAS_DISABLE	unx	ooo	Disables all AA - useful for debugging
SAL_DISABLE_BITMAPS_OPTS	all	ooo	Disables a relatively new templatized fast-path for outputting bitmaps (setting the variable reverts to the old, slow method)
SAL_FLOATWIN_NOAPPFOCUSCLOSE	all	ooo	Set to nonempty value to prevent floating windows from closing if the application loses focus.
SAL_NO_NWF	all	ooo	Set to nonempty value to disable native widget rendering. Widgets will be painted with the generic vcl methods.
SAL_RTL_ENABLED	all	ooo	Unconditionally enable Right-To-Left layout of UI elements independently from language/script used.
SAL_SYNCHRONIZE	unx	ooo	Reports X server errors on the calls that made them rather than asynchronously - vital for X debugging.
STAR_RESOURCEPATH	all	ooo	resource files are searched in ${STAR_RESOURCEPATH} instead of the "resource" subdirectory next to the tools library
STAROFFICE_USERTYPE	all	ooo	Used in crash report handling. Valid values are "qa", "developer" and "internal". Will be included in crash report if set and marks the report as belonging to a certain usertype group. The only usage of that setting is that the crash report database can be asked afterwards how many reports there where of those groups as opposed to normal users.
XLSDUMPER	all	ooo	Path to the configuration file of the XLS file dumper. The XLS file dumper is built into debug versions of OOo Calc and allows to create text dumps of every MS Excel file loaded into OOo Calc. The configuration file is part of the sc module and can be found in the CVS repository: /sc/sc/source/filter/excel/xldumper.dat. If this environment variable is set and points to an existing configuration file, the file dumper is enabled (also dependent from the settings in the configuration file). Effective from SRC680m164.

Environment variables not classified yet

Remaining to be done

An authoritative version of this list can easily be generated from LXR by searching for 'getenv'.

Name	OS	Belongs to	Description
all_proxy
ALL_PROXY
AUDIODEV
AUDIOHOST
AUDIOSERVER
BMP_COLLECT_FILE
BMP_FSYS_RESOURCES
BOOST_PRG_MON_CONFIRM
BOOST_TEST_CATCH_SYSTEM_ERRORS
CHARSET
C_INCLUDE_PATH
CLASSPATH	all	java	Path with Diretories and jar files to search for .class files.
COLUMNS
COMMAND_SHELL
COMP_ENV
COMSPEC	win	system	Path to the batch file command interpreter eg. command.com or 4nt.exe.
CPLD_ACCESSPATH
CURL_CA_BUNDLE
CURL_DEBUG_NETRC
CURL_MEMDEBUG
CURL_MEMLIMIT
CURL_TRACE
CURL_TRACE
DBGSV_INIT		ooo
DBGSV_LOG		ooo	debugging logfile (can be used within debug versions of OOo)
DB_HOME
DEBUG
DESKTOP_LAUNCH
DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH
EMXSHELL
EPMLIST
ERRORREPORT_PROXYPORT
ERRORREPORT_PROXYSERVER
ERRORREPORT_SENDERADDRESS
FT2_ALLOC_COUNT_MAX
FT2_ALLOC_TOTAL_MAX
FT2_DEBUG
FT2_DEBUG_MEMORY
FTP_PROXY	unix	system
ftp_proxy_password
ftp_proxy_user
GAI
GNOME_DESKTOP_SESSION_ID
GTK_MODULES
GUISTDIO_KEEPRUNNING
HelpEx
http_proxy	unix	system
HTTP_PROXY	unix	system
ICU_DATA		OOo	libicu related
INCLUDE
JAVA_HOME	all	java	Path to java installation.
JPEGMEM
KDE_FULL_SESSION
LANGUAGE
LC_PAPER	unix	system
LD_LIBRARY_PATH	unix	system	usage of LD_LIBRARY_PATH is a bad idea
LIBRARY_PATH	unix	system
LOCALINI
LOCPATH
MAKE
MALLOC_CKCHAIN
MALLOC_ERRFILE
MALLOC_FATAL
MALLOC_WARN
MIXERDEV
NAS_EMPTY_SIZE
NETPATH
no_proxy
NO_PROXY
NPX_PLUGIN_PATH
OLDSLOTHANDLING
OOO_PRINT_PS_DIRECTLY
OPENOFFICE_MOZILLA_FIVE_HOME
PA_LATENCY_ENV_NAME
PA_MIN_LATENCY_MSEC
PA_MIN_LATEWNCY_MSEC
PATH	all	system	Directories searched for finding programs and depending on OS also shared libraries.
POSIXLY_CORRECT
PRODUCTNAME		ooo
PRODUCTVERSION		ooo
ProgramFiles
PSPRINT_ENABLE_TTF_COPYRIGHTAWARENESS
PYTHONCASEOK
PYTHONDEBUG
PYTHONDUMPREFS
PYTHONEXECUTABLE
PYTHONHOME
PYTHONINSPECT
PYTHONMALLOCSTATS
PYTHONOPTIMIZE
PYTHONPATH
PYTHONSTARTUP
PYTHONUNBUFFERED
PYTHONVERBOSE
PYTHONY2K
RESOURCE_NAME
RPMDIR
RSC_LANG_ISO
SAL_ACCESSIBILITY_ENABLE_MENU_SELECTED		ooo
SAL_ANTIALIAS_DISABLE	unx	ooo	font related debugging feature
SAL_AUTOHINTING_PRIORITY	unx	ooo	font related debugging feature (prefer hinted scan-converted glyph shapes)
SAL_EMBEDDED_BITMAP_PRIORITY	unx	ooo	font related debugging feature (prefer embedded glyph bitmaps if available)
SAL_ANTIALIASED_TEXT_PRIORITY	unx	ooo	font related debugging feature (allows embedded glyph bitmap for monochrome text, hinted glyph for grayscaled text)
SAL_CHANGENOTIFIER_UPDATEINTERVAL		ooo
SAL_DEBUG_UPDATES		ooo
SAL_DISABLE_CUPS	unx	ooo	Disable CUPS printing support
SAL_DISABLE_FLOATGRAB	unx	ooo	Prevent grabbing the X pointer and keyboard when showing a float window (e.g. a menu)
SAL_DISABLE_OWN_IM_STATUS		ooo	input method related setting
SAL_DISABLE_STACKING_CHECK		ooo
SAL_DO_NOT_USE_INVERT50	unx	ooo	Graphics card related (maybe S3 Virge) workaround for a bug triggered by card drivers, do not use the 50 percent pattern used to show docking window positions
SAL_ENABLE_FILE_LOCKING		ooo	file locking related (a lockd must be running)
SAL_ENABLE_GLX_XFREE4	unx	ooo
SAL_FONTPATH	unix	ooo	the SAL_FONTPATH is added to X fontpath at application start. This allows the usage of private fonts
SAL_HIGHPRIORITY_REPAINT		ooo
SAL_IGNOREXERRORS	unix	ooo	if set X window system errors are ignored by soffice.bin (Use only if you know what you do. Handle with care!)
SAL_MAXFONTHEIGHT		ooo	some X11 servers have problems with huge native X11 fonts. Setting this environment variable can prevent the problems.
SAL_MOUNT_MOUNTPROG		ooo
SAL_MOUNT_SU_DO		ooo
SAL_MOUNT_UMOUNTPROG		ooo
SAL_NOEXPANDFPICKER		ooo
SAL_NOOPENGL		ooo
SAL_NOSEGV		ooo
SAL_PROPERTIES		ooo
SAL_TRANSPARENT_FLOATS		ooo
SAL_USEINPUTMETHOD		ooo
SAL_WM		ooo
SAL_XKEYBOARDGROUP		ooo
SESSION_MANAGER
SGML_CATALOG_FILES
SHELL	unix	system	Command shell to use
SOLAR_JAVA		ooo
SOLARSRC		ooo
SOLAR_USER_RTL_TEXTENCODING		ooo
SRC_ROOT
STAR_BSERVERROOT		ooo
STAR_ENABLE_FILE_LOCKING		ooo	file locking related
STAR_INIROOT		ooo
STAR_INIROOTOLD		ooo
STAR_OVERRIDE_DOMAINNAME		ooo
STAR_PROFILE_LOCKING_DISABLED		ooo	file locking related
STAR_RESOURCE_LOGGING		ooo
STAR_SSCOMMON		ooo
STAR_SSOLARINI		ooo
STAR_STANDLST		ooo
SWITCHAR
SW_NOBEEP
SYSTEM_REGISTRY_NAME_ENV
TCP_DEVICE
TCP_SERVER
temp
TEMP	win	system	A pathname of a directory made available for programs that need a place to create temporary files.
TempFolder
TERM	unix	system	The kind of terminal for which output is to be prepared.
THREADDEBUG
tmp
TMP	unx	system	A pathname of a directory made available for programs that need a place to create temporary files.
TMPDIR	unx	system	A pathname of a directory made available for programs that need a place to create temporary files
UPDATER		ooo
USER
USER_REGISTRY_NAME_ENV
UTAUDIODEV
VERBOSE_RUNTESTS
XENVIRONMENT
XLOCAL
XML_CATALOG_FILES
XML_DEBUG_CATALOG
XMLLINT_INDENT
XML_MEM_BREAKPOINT
XML_MEM_TRACE
XMODIFIERS
XPDISPLAY
XPRINTER

Deprecated environment variables

Were used, but should not be used anymore.

Name	OS	Belongs to	Description

Feedback and Explanation

This list is under construction. If you have information about the role of some environment variable(s), please modify this page (using "Edit" tab at the very top of this page).

To add information about some environment variable that is listed here, please move it from the "not classified yet" table to the "user" or "developer" table (use cut and paste). Try respecting the alphabetical order. Do not hesitate to add missing environment variables nor to remove any "variable" that appears here by mistake.

Reminder: these are runtime environment variables. Not build system ones.

Categories tables are:

• #Environment variables for users = users could use them or should know about them
• #Environment variables for OOo developpers = for developpers only (testing, debugging, getting system information, ...)
• #Environment variables not classified yet = remaining to be done
• #Deprecated environment variables = were used, but should not be used anymore

Operating System ("OS") field is:

• (empty) = not known yet
• linux = GNU/Linux
• mac = Mac OS X
• solaris = Solaris
• other = other UNIX-like system
• win = Microsoft Windows
• unx = linux + mac + solaris + other
• all = unx + win

"Belongs to" field is:

• (empty) = not known yet
• ooo = introduced by OOo
• system = belongs to the underlying operating system(s)

The original list of the environment variables was extracted from the OOo sources.