API Concepts

From Apache OpenOffice Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search



The Apache OpenOffice API is a language independent approach to specify the functionality of Apache OpenOffice. Its main goals are to provide an API to access the functionality of Apache OpenOffice, to enable users to extend the functionality by their own solutions and new features, and to make the internal implementation of Apache OpenOffice exchangeable.

A long term target on the Apache OpenOffice roadmap is to split the existing Apache OpenOffice into small components which are combined to provide the complete Apache OpenOffice functionality. Such components are manageable, they interact with each other to provide high level features and they are exchangeable with other implementations providing the same functionality, even if these new implementations are implemented in a different programming language. When this target will be reached, the API, the components and the fundamental concepts will provide a construction kit, which makes Apache OpenOffice adaptable to a wide range of specialized solutions and not only an office suite with a predefined and static functionality.

This section provides you with a thorough understanding of the concepts behind the Apache OpenOffice API. In the API reference there are UNOIDL data types which are unknown outside of the API. The reference provides abstract specifications which sometimes can make you wonder how they map to implementations you can actually use.

The data types of the API reference are explained in Data Types. The relationship between API specifications and Apache OpenOffice implementations is treated in Understanding the API Reference.

Content on this page is licensed under the Public Documentation License (PDL).
Personal tools
In other languages