Difference between revisions of "Documentation/DevGuide/OfficeDev/Properties of a Filter"

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|<code>UIName</code>  
 
|<code>UIName</code>  
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|string. A filter should be able to show a localized name in selection dialogs. All Unicode characters are permitted here.  
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|string. User friendly name of the type. It may be localized using the localization support of the configuration. All Unicode characters are permitted here. Currently this UI name is not used in OOo itself but it is available for e.g. extensions. 
 
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|<code>Type</code>  
 
|<code>Type</code>  
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|string. A filter must register itself for the type it can handle. Multiple assignments are not allowed. Multiple configuration entries must be created, one for every supported type.  
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|string. A filter is registered for the type it can handle. Multiple assignments are not allowed. Use multiple configuration entries to support more than one type with a single filter implementation.
 
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|<code>DocumentService</code>  
 
|<code>DocumentService</code>  
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|string. Describes the component for which the filter operates,For example, "<code>com.sun.star.text.TextDocument</code>", depending upon the use., This is considered the output or goal of the filter process. A UNO service name is expected.
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|string. UNO service name describing the component on which the filter can operate. As an example, "<code>com.sun.star.text.TextDocument</code>" specifies the filter as workin with text documents. An object of this type will be passed to the filter in its <code>setTargetDocument()</code> or <code>setSourceDocument()</code> methods.
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+
−
Note: The implementation name cannot be used here, the generic type of the document is needed.  
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|-
 
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|<code>FilterService</code>  
 
|<code>FilterService</code>  
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|string. This is the UNO implementation name of the filter. It should be clear that this field can not contain the service name of a filter, otherwise {{PRODUCTNAME}} could not distinguish more then one registered filter.  
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|string. This is the UNO service or implementation name of the filter. Of course a service name can be used only if it is not the generic <idl>com.sun.star.document.ImportFilter</idl> or <idl>com.sun.star.document.ExportFilter</idl>.
 
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|<code>UIComponent</code>  
 
|<code>UIComponent</code>  
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|string. Describes an implementation of a UI dialog used by the filter to let the user modify certain properties for filtering. For example, the "<code>Text - txt - csv (StarCalc)</code>" needs information about the used column separators to load data. To distinguish between different implementations, it must be the real UNO implementation name, not a service name.  
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|string. UNO service or implementation name of a UI component (usually a dialog) where users can parameterize the filtering process. As an example, the "<code>Text - txt - csv (StarCalc)</code>" filter needs information about the used column separators to load data. More about that in the chapter about [[Documentation/DevGuide/OfficeDev/Filter_Options|filter options]].
 
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|<code>Flags</code>  
 
|<code>Flags</code>  
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|int. Describes the filter, as shown in the table below. This is where, the organization into import and export filters takes place. Note that external filters must set the <code>ThirdParty</code> flag to be detected.  
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|string list. Some boolean attributes of a filter, see below.
 
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|<code>UserData</code>  
 
|<code>UserData</code>  
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|sequence<string>. Some filters need to store more configuration data than usual. This is realized through this entry. The format of the string list is not restricted.  
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|sequence<string>. Some filters need to store more configuration to work properly. The format of the string list is not restricted.
 
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|<code>FileFormatVersion</code>  
 
|<code>FileFormatVersion</code>  
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|int. Indicates a version number of a document that can be edited by this filter.  
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|int. Indicates that a filter handles only a particular format version of the content type. If a filter implementation can handle several versions of a filter, several configuration entries have to be created. This is not necessary if the filter handles all possible versions and the different versions don't need to appear in the user interface.
 
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|<code>TemplateName</code>  
 
|<code>TemplateName</code>  
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|string. The name of a template file for importing styles. It is a special feature for importing documents only and not useable for export. Every {{PRODUCTNAME}} document service knows default styles. If this <code>TemplateName</code> is set, it merges these default styles with the styles of the template, and the template styles are merged with all styles of a document that is imported by this filter.  
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|string. The name of a template file for styles the target document of an import filter shall use. If this property is set, the document merges the styles of this template with its default styles before the import starts.
 
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Revision as of 08:49, 1 October 2008




Every filter inside OpenOffice.org is specified by the properties shown in the table below. These values are accessible at the previously mentioned service com.sun.star.document.FilterFactory using the interface com.sun.star.container.XNameAccess. Write access is not available here. All types are addressed by their internal names. The property names are identical to the configuration property names.

Documentation caution.png The documentation of the FilterFactory service currently is outdated. In case of conflicting information about the properties this page is right. An update will follow soon.

A filter always is registered for only one type. A single filter implementation can handle several types but then must be registered multiple times. One type may handled by more than one filter.

Property Name Description
Name string. The internal name of the filter. This is only an API property, not a configuration property. In the configuration this is the name of the configuration node containing all the other properties. To avoid name clashes with other node names it should follow the rules outlined for extension identifiers.
UIName string. User friendly name of the type. It may be localized using the localization support of the configuration. All Unicode characters are permitted here. Currently this UI name is not used in OOo itself but it is available for e.g. extensions.
Type string. A filter is registered for the type it can handle. Multiple assignments are not allowed. Use multiple configuration entries to support more than one type with a single filter implementation.
DocumentService string. UNO service name describing the component on which the filter can operate. As an example, "com.sun.star.text.TextDocument" specifies the filter as workin with text documents. An object of this type will be passed to the filter in its setTargetDocument() or setSourceDocument() methods.
FilterService string. This is the UNO service or implementation name of the filter. Of course a service name can be used only if it is not the generic com.sun.star.document.ImportFilter or com.sun.star.document.ExportFilter.
UIComponent string. UNO service or implementation name of a UI component (usually a dialog) where users can parameterize the filtering process. As an example, the "Text - txt - csv (StarCalc)" filter needs information about the used column separators to load data. More about that in the chapter about filter options.
Flags string list. Some boolean attributes of a filter, see below.
UserData sequence<string>. Some filters need to store more configuration to work properly. The format of the string list is not restricted.
FileFormatVersion int. Indicates that a filter handles only a particular format version of the content type. If a filter implementation can handle several versions of a filter, several configuration entries have to be created. This is not necessary if the filter handles all possible versions and the different versions don't need to appear in the user interface.
TemplateName string. The name of a template file for styles the target document of an import filter shall use. If this property is set, the document merges the styles of this template with its default styles before the import starts.

Most functionality of a Filter is listed by its flags. They are necessary to prevent a filter from being displayed in a UI, and to classify import and export, or internal a nd external filters, and prefer some filters to others. Currently supported flags are:

Name Value Description
Import 0x00000001 h This filter supports the specification of a com.sun.star.document.ImportFilter and is used for loading content.
Export 0x00000002 h This filter supports the specification of a com.sun.star.document.ExportFilter and is used for saving content.
Template 0x00000004 h These filters are specialized to handle template formats. By default, a filtered document is used as a template to create a new document .
Internal 0x00000008 h This filter should never be shown on any UI and not be available.
OwnTemplate 0x00000010 h Templates used with the template API of OpenOffice.org and it supports the internal template features. For older versions, it is usable for internal content formats only.
Own 0x00000020 h Tag the intrinsic content formats of OpenOffice.org based on OLE storage or zip packages.
Alien 0x00000040 h A filter with this flag is not fully compatible with the current document format. It is unclear what document features will be lost during saving. This flag decides if a warning box on saving has to be shown.
UsesOptions (deprecated) 0x00000080 h This filter could be customized during processing. Older versions of OpenOffice.org used it to customize the "SaveAs" dialog. Newer versions uses the filter property "UIComponent" to tell if a filter provides filter options.
Default 0x00000100 h Mark a filter as the default filter for saving. Only one filter in an application module, distinguished through the DocumentService property, has this flag set.
NotInFileDialog 0x00001000 h Suppress display of a filter in file open and save dialogs.
NotInChooser 0x00002000 h Suppress display of a filter in UI elements for choosing filters.
ThirdParty 0x00080000 h These filters are developed by external parties. For historical reasons, the filter detection of OpenOffice.org differentiates between old internal and new external ones, because the former are not UNO based and are used differently.
Preferred 0x10000000 h If more than one filter is registered for the same type, this flag prefers one of them at loading time if the user does not select a specific filter. In contrast to the Default flag, it does not depend on the application module, but there can only be one preferred filter for a type.


Documentation caution.png Besides these filter flags there are other flags existing that are used currently, but are not documented here. Use documented flags only.

The service com.sun.star.document.FilterFactory provides these data. It supports read access by using the interface com.sun.star.container.XNameAccess. All items are addressed by their internal names. The return value is represented as a list of type com.sun.star.beans.PropertyValue structures. It uses the filter properties shown above.

Another aspect of this service is the factory interface com.sun.star.lang.XMultiServiceFactory. It creates filter instances using an internal type, or an internal filter name directly. Using a type name searches for a suitable filter and creates, initializes and returns it. Using a filter name directly follows the algorithm shown in the box below. Note that creation of filters is possible for external ones only that have set the FilterService property. Most of the current filters of OpenOffice.org are internal filters, implemented as local code, but not as a UNO service. They can not be created by this FilterFactory. It is possible to ask only for their properties.

Documentation caution.png Direct creation of a filter instance is only possible using a special argument in the createInstanceWithArguments() call of the interface XMultiServiceFactory. To do so, a com.sun.star.beans.PropertyValue FilterName with the internal name of the requested filter as value must be used. Otherwise, the service specifier, that is, the first argument of the create call, is interpreted as an internal type name. It will be used to search a suitable, preferred filter that will be created. It is a combination of searching and creation. Future implementations will split that to make it clearer. In future implementations, a registered filter must be searched through the provided query mechanism and created by using this factory interface.
Content on this page is licensed under the Public Documentation License (PDL).
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