Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2004 1:47 am Post subject: Starting up Neo/J without creating empty doc
Since it saves initial startup time, I've been hunting around for a way to start up Neo/J without it creating a new empty doc, i.e. get it to start up in the 'no docs open' mode.
I've set up Ooo X11 to do this (and I'm now damned if I can remember how, but I know it was easy... I think I just took a line out of initrc), but can't seem to find a way to do this in Neo/J.
As I can't find anything in the copious Tools>Options, I'm assuming that something needs editing deep in the bowels of ~/Library/NeoOfficeJ-1.1/User/ but any pointers would be welcome.
A bunch of us complained about starting to a blank window (and something else related to that) so Patrick "reverted" the OOo behavior to approximate OOo 1.0.x/NeoJ 0.x
Meh (as they say in online comic strips...) that's a drag - as someone who almost exclusively uses Neo/J on slow macs to do spreadsheet stuff, having also to wait for it to draw a redundant Writer doc before I can get going is something I'd like to see user-configurable in the future... oh, wait a minute, all i need is to set up a default empty spreadsheet, and then double-click on that to start Neo/J, and then at least I'd have a fresh spreadsheet to work on instead. Just have to remember to Save As.
all i need is to set up a default empty spreadsheet, and then double-click on that to start Neo/J, and then at least I'd have a fresh spreadsheet to work on instead. Just have to remember to Save As.
Better yet, save it as a template file and you will never edit is inadvertently.
Joined: Sep 18, 2003 Posts: 434 Location: London, UK
Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2004 6:25 am Post subject:
FWIW, IMO, I think it is actually quite important to retain the blank writer doc at launch (assuming that it is too difficult to offer any preference for this, which I'm going to guess that it is) as people new to the app will get awfully confused or put off if all they see is a blank grey window with nothing in it. _________________ PBG4, 1.5GHz, SuperDrive, 1GB RAM, 128MB VRAM, 5400rpm 80GB HD, MacOS X 10.4.5
FWIW, IMO, I think it is actually quite important to retain the blank writer doc at launch (assuming that it is too difficult to offer any preference for this, which I'm going to guess that it is) as people new to the app will get awfully confused or put off if all they see is a blank grey window with nothing in it.
Agreed. It's an OS X standard that a window opens, and new users will be totally flummoxed with a window that's empty.
I really wanted to say the word "flummoxed", so thanks for giving me the opportunity, by the way.
It's an OS X standard that a window opens, and new users will be totally flummoxed with a window that's empty.
Well, thing is, virtually every app that I use in OSX that lets you open docs lets you choose not to open a new one at launch. So you could say it's also an OSX standard to give you the option, innit?
Joined: May 25, 2003 Posts: 4752 Location: Santa Barbara, CA
Posted: Sun Dec 05, 2004 10:49 am Post subject:
The reasoning behind the Writer window coming up (IIRC it's in one of these forum threads somewhere...)
NeoJ, unfortunately, can't exist without at least one open window. Its roots are in Windows where the concept of having a menubar without windows doesn't really exist. The default OOo 1.0 behaviour used to be to open a Writer window when it was launched without any document specified. OOo 1.1, however, would just open up a grey window with minimal menus. When I was first bouncing this off of Mac users, more folks seem to actually be confused by the grey window. They really expected some type of Untitled, editable document to be created. E.g. Mac apps don't tend to open "useless" windows on first launch. Since folks couldn't edit anything in this window, they just closed it, causing OOo to quit, etc. which frustrated the new users. So the idea was to revert back to the OOo 1.0 behaviour which seemed a bit more Mac-like then the empty, useless grey window.
FYI, the only way to get to the gray window right now is if you use File > Close to close all the files instead of the Close button. It's really kind of a poor window and doesn't give you too much information. Again, it's OOo's design, not ours. It makes more sense to a Windows user since with the in-window menubars the empty gray window is familiar as an MDI shell.
FYI, the only way to get to the gray window right now is if you use File > Close to close all the files instead of the Close button.
Actually, you can also add an icon onto the Function Bar called Close Document (ctrl-click the icon bar with the open and save icons at its left, choose Visible Buttons - it's the 8th one down) which does the same as File->Close and leaves the app running with the grey 'no docs open' window. One click rather than two. A good habit to get into using this rather than using the window Close button.
As to the general topic of launching with/without new doc, I just wanted to know if it was optional; as it isn't, I'll put up with it. It would have been nice if the New Doc On Launch could be turned off, because then launching Neo/J at login would be a little quicker - but I can see that it's a lot less trivial to add stuff like this to Neo/J, which (presumably) doesn't have any editable startup prefs list outside of Ooo's.
I'm getting along fine with my new writer/calc templates folder in the Dock. As always, discussion on this forum has got me using features that I'd never used before - this time, template files - so I'm always happy with the outcome of discussion, even when it's not the outcome I was hoping for!
Posted: Mon Jan 17, 2005 12:40 am Post subject: Starting up Neo/J without creating empty doc
Actually, I'd like to be able to close all document windows without the application quiting. Quiting on last window closing isn't very OS-X ish and relaunching is a pain.
i was the one who made the templates =D
for this very reason. i put the folder in my dock and I can start Neo in any program i want.
granted 99.9% of the time it is writer anyway...
the goal, i think, would be to write some applescript programs so they could be put in the application part of the dock and process documents (similar to start oo.o) and give the appearance of separate programs...
oh, wait a minute, all i need is to set up a default empty spreadsheet, and then double-click on that to start Neo/J, and then at least I'd have a fresh spreadsheet to work on instead. Just have to remember to Save As.
- yoxi
If you lock your empty spreadsheet document (Finder>File>Get Info) you'll get a blank read-only version of your spreadsheet open when you double-click it. A bit like stationery but you have to Save as... before you can even start to edit the document. No possibility not to remember to Save as...
I've adopted this strategy with our staff, some of whom would previously open a new document from stationery or templates, work for long periods without saving and then lose all their work if something untoward happens - like the total power outage which hit all of Geneva Monday afternoon...
(Don't be tempted to tick both stationery and lock boxes in get info. You'll create duplicate locked copies of your empty spreadsheet every time you double-click it. Been there - done that!)
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