May 9th, 2012License Change:
· The License has changed to our simpler, non-restrictive, Apache License 2. The Apache License will make adoption, distribution and modification of the software easier for all users and developers. Of course the software remains free, and the source code with its updates will continue to be available through the Apache Software Foundation servers.
Misc. Updates:
· In accordance to the new license all the software components have been updated to use licenses that are in line with ASF guidelines. No critical functionality was lost, and we did update many libraries that will work better on most situations. Many internal libraries and headers were updated with modern versions that provide the same or superior functionality. On selected platforms the "Liberation" fonts were replaced with the improved Google Chrome fonts.
Calc: Faster LP solver:
· The previous Linear Programming solver has been replaced with the faster and better designed CoinMP from the Computational Infrastructure for Operations Research (COIN-OR) project.
Apache Tomcat updated:
· The Apache Tomcat servlet was updated from the older version 5.0.30 to version 5.5.35 which brings in years of performance and security improvements without changing the API. We plan to continue updating components without causing any regression on the current code.
Support for Line Cap Property:
· Now you can add a cap to the end of a line. Such caps are not only known in the ODF1 .2 standard but in HTML5 and SVG too. Also other Office Suites provide caps in different styles to be added to thick lines.
Support for shear transformations for GraphicObjects:
· GraphicObjects which get created when inserting graphics in Draw/Impress and Spreadsheet support now not only rotation but also shear, slant and distort. The visualization during interactions was improved, also the break for vector-based GraphicObjects to draw objects was improved. Writer has its own GraphicObjects; the ones from the other applications can be copied to it as workaround.
Support for attributes and transformations for OLEObjects:
· OLEObjects (OLE is for Object Linking and Embedding) in Draw/Impress and Spreadsheet support now all draw attributes and geometrical transformations. They can have line style, fill style, shadow and text. They support all transformations, e.g. rotations and shear. This is handy for e.g. having a mathematical formula shown rotated by 90 degrees or adding a border to a chart. Break to draw objects is also enhanced.
Enhanced crop support for GraphicalObjects:
· Crop for GraphicObjects now works correctly together with horizontal and/or vertical mirroring in all applications.
Support for Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG):
· SVG is now supported as content for GraphicObjects in all applications. The new implemented generic SVG interpreter supports SVG format 1.1. The geometric content is internally processed as vector data in all usages, e.g. PDF export and printing, which guarantees good visualization quality. SVG graphics can be broken to draw objects and be processed further.
Support for MultiImage in ODF:
· For SVG support it was necessary to allow multiple image representations for one GraphicObject to be present in the ODF file format, e.g. a pixel graphic and the original SVG is written in case of a GraphicObject with SVG content. This allows it to stay compatible with other and older ODF supporting applications.
Enhanced chart visualization:
· The visualization quality of charts has been enhanced by using a new mechanism for more direct visualization. This increases speed, reduces memory usage and enhances chart visualization in all visualizations, including PDF export and printing.
Writer: Asian Language Word Count:
· The word count of Asian languages is now correct. Previous releases were counting terms instead of words when counting words of Asian language text. Notice that file word count will not be automatically updated for existing text documents. You need to make a change to the document in order to force an update of the file word count.
New regular expressions (regexp) engine:
· The existing regular expression engine has been replaced by the ICU engine. This solves several bugs in "Find and Replace" with the old implementation and speeds up the search.
· The new engine also offers better standards compliance especially regarding Unicode, which also means that some non-standard syntax extensions like \< and \> for word boundary matching are now deprecated. For the convenience of a smooth upgrade experience they get emulated by the \b operator though.
New Color Picker dialog:
· The old color picker which is used in the office code for over a decade has been replaced by a new, more intuitive one which offers a wide variety of color selection possibilities. This feature was developed by Christian Lippka; kudos to him for offering it under Apache License. A picture says more than words.
January 26th, 2011Productivity Enhancements:
· New Custom Properties Handling
· Embedding of Standard PDF Fonts
· New Narrow Font Family
· Increased Document Protection in Writer and Calc
· Automatic Decimals Digits for "General" format in Calc
· 1 Million Rows in a Spreadsheet
· New Options for CSV (Comma Separated Value) Import in Calc
· Insert_Drawing_Objects_in_Charts
· Hierarchical_Axis_Labels_for_Charts
· Improved Slide Layout Handling in Impress
· Manual Setting for Primary Key Support for Databases
· Support of Read-Only Database Registrations
· New Math Command 'nospace'
Internationalization:
· Additional Locale Data
Usability and Interface:
· Common Search Toolbar
· New Easier to Use Print Interface
· More Options for Changing Case
· Redesign of Thesaurus
· Resetting Text to the Default Language in Writer
· Text Rendering of Form Controls in Writer
· Changed Defaults for Charts
· Colored Sheet Tabs in Calc
· Adapt to Marked Selection for Filter Area in Calc
· Sort Dialog for DataPilot in Calc
· Display Custom Names for DataPilot Fields, Items and Totals in Calc
Developer Features and Extensibility:
· Grid Control Enhancements
· New MetaData Node for Database
· Extending Database Drivers Using Extensions
August 10th, 2009· Ctrl+F11 puts the focus into the style ListBox - The key combination Ctrl+F11 doesn't call the Style Catalog anymore. Now it puts the focus into the style ListBox in the toolbox of text, frames, OLE-objects and pictures. It makes it easier to apply a paragraph or frame style without using a mouse.
· Extended UNO AWT menu API
· Locale data for Maltese (Malta) [mt-MT]
· Locale data for Myanmar (Myanmar) [my-MM]
· Locale data for Shuswap (Canada) [shs-CA].
· Arabic entries in language list box
· Arabic entry in language list
· Languages classified as RTL
· Locale data for Tok Pisin (Papua New Guinea) [tpi-PG]
· Classified some languages as CTL
· Positioning of axes and axis labels
· new: "Text direction" property for form controls
· Function Autopilot from inside the SRB
· Automatic binding of first table when opening a new Report
· Report output format now also available in the property browser
· Add Field dialog supports sorting and insert toolbar
· Allow anti-aliasing of drawing objects
· Unify DrawObject modification with full attributes
· Support images in extension help
· File locking implementation changes.
· Allow usage of default master password.
· Remove unused 3D options
· Make slideshow media controllable via effects
· Sorting has been improved: - Sorting preserves the original order of entries with equal sort keys. - If there are no previous sort settings, the sort dialog defaults to the column of the cursor position. The toolbar buttons always use the cursor position. - The toolbar buttons use the same logic as the sort dialog to determine if a range has column headers.
· INDIRECT now supports the '!' sheet separator
· Rename sheet with double-click
· Repeat vectors if used in 2D array
· Formula syntax in tip help
· Zoom slider in Calc status bar
· Scaling factor in toolbar for page preview
· Scroll wheel switches pages in page preview
· BETADIST with optional parameter for cumulative/density
· Storage of data pulled in by external references changed
· Added EUROCONVERT function
· New GAMMA, CHISQDIST, CHISQINV, changed GAMMADIST.
· DATEVALUE and TIMEVALUE now return date or time only
· Base parameter of LOG now optional
· Cumulative parameter of POISSON now optional
· New "Context" mode for numerals setting
· Introduction of an overline font effect
· Accept/Reject Change in context menu
· changes to format menu
· Introduction of an outline level attribute for paragraphs and paragraph styles
· More hyperlink related entries in the context menu
· search inside notes
· Serbian Cyrillic Numbering Provider
· Inconsistent terms: Autoformat - Autocorrect
· New look for selection: transparency
· "Navigator" added to the view menu
· Grammar checking
· reply to existing notes
· changes to Tools-AutoCorrect
· Footnotes... renamed to Footnotes/Endnotes...
· bi-directional writing for chart elements
· image controls: support for document-embedded images
· Relative path for file based databases
· SQL syntax highlighting
· New short cuts for Sun Report Builder
· views opened for editing are automatically put into "Run SQL Directly" mode
· "Empty string is NULL" behavior refined
· image controls: can be bound to text database columns, interpreting their content as relative link to the image
· form controls: new property "Input Required"
· image controls: scaling the image by keeping the ratio
· check box grid columns have the "Tristate" property
· Let OOo use own file locking mechanics to lock alien formats as well.
May 7th, 2009General Improvements:
Improved screen appearance:
· OpenOffice.org now uses a technique called anti-aliasing to improve the way it draws on screen (lines, circles, etc). You will notice an immediate improvement in the clarity of graphics - particularly charts - wherever they appear throughout OpenOffice.org.This also has improved 'graphic geometry' - e.g. when you overlay one shape on another to create a combined shape.
Making 'dragging' easier with graphics:
· When you drag an object in a drawing across the screen, OpenOffice.org now shows you a 'shadow' of the object, rather than just a dotted outline. This makes it much easier to place images accurately in complicated drawings.
Improved file locking:
· If you are working on a network where several people may have access to the same document, file locking prevents people accidentally overwriting other people's changes. As OpenOffice.org works on different operating systems, it cannot rely on the operating system alone to tell users when a document is in use. OpenOffice.org now has its own mechanism, which allows it to have a reliable locking when the locking from the operating systems fails. It also allows OpenOffice.org to see who has already opened the document.
Overlining:
· OpenOffice.org now supports overlining for text as well as underlining, with the same range of options as underlining (type of line, colour).
Writer:
Subtle highlights:
· Highlighted text is now displayed with a subtle background colour, rather than reverse video. Easier on the eye, easier to use.
Improvements to Comments:
· It's now possible for a series of editors to carry out a structured conversation through Comments, by right-clicking on a Comment and selecting 'Reply'. As a further enhancement, the Search facility now also searches the text of Comments.
Further grammar checker integration:
· With OpenOffice.org 3.1, the grammar checker framework has been extended so that Extensions like LanguageTool can now be accessed from the Tools -> Spelling and Grammar menu command. Note that OpenOffice.org has a grammar checking framework, but does not come with a grammar checker. This can be installed as an Extension.
Outline levels within paragraphs:
· Writers of documents with complex ordering formats can now specify a new paragraph and paragraph style attribute "outline level". This transforms a normal paragraph into a heading, independent of any list style or paragraph style.
Calc:
Rename sheets with a double-click:
· Double-clicking on a tab in a Calc sheet now pops up the Rename dialog box. In previous versions, you had to right click on the tab and then select the Rename option from a pop-up box. This change makes it easier to carry out this frequently-used function.
Zoom slider in the Status bar:
· The new zoom slider control in the Status bar was a popular addition to Writer in OpenOffice.org 3.0. With 3.1, it's available in Calc too, giving quick and accurate control over the level of zoom of the display on the screen.
Formula hot hints:
· Calc now keeps the syntax of a formula displayed right next to the cell as you type as a handy aide-memoire for how to use a formula.
Improved sorting:
· There are a number of changes to make sorting more logical, consistent, and powerful. The first time you use sort (or if you use the toolbar button to sort), Calc will assume you want to sort by the column where the cursor is located. The toolbar buttons now use the same logic as the sort dialog to determine if a range has column headers. Finally, when you sort, Calc now preserves the original order of entries with equal sort keys.
Formulae changes:
· A new EUROCONVERT spreadsheet function to convert between former currencies of the Eurozone, including import from and export (binary) to MS-Excel file formats.
· New GAMMA, CHISQDIST, and CHISQINV spreadsheet functions, and changes to GAMMADIST, CHIDIST, and CHIINV spreadsheet functions for statistical analysis.
· The BETADIST spreadsheet function now has an additional optional 'cumulative' parameter to specify whether to calculate the probability density function or the cumulative distribution function, defaulting to TRUE for compatibility.
Performance improvements:
· Performance bottlenecks in Calc have been removed, resulting in dramatic performance improvements in the two test cases: from 24 seconds to 1.2 seconds in the first case; and from one hour to approx 12 minutes in the second case. This is part of a continous improvement activity to squeeze performance improvements from Calc.
Chart:
Flexible positioning of axes:
· OpenOffice.org charts now offer a range of options for the placement of axes. This feature has been in great demand, particularly from educational users.
Handling missing data:
· You may now also choose how OpenOffice.org charts handle missing data points - leave a gap, assume zero, or continue the line through the missing value.
Impress:
· Font size buttons;
· Impress now has convenient toolbar buttons to increase or decrease the font size of text quickly and easily. Make your text fit perfectly in seconds!
Base:
SQL Syntax highlighting:
· When you edit SQL, Base now uses colours to highlight SQL syntax. It will also 'flash' to indicate matching parentheses (). This makes it easier to spot spelling mistakes, errors in your SQL syntax, etc.
· You can create your own colour schemes using Tools -> Options -> OpenOffice.org -> Appearance -> SQL Syntax Highlighting, and choose your own font from Tools -> Options -> OpenOffice.org -> Fonts.
Macro applications in Base:
· With OpenOffice.org 3.1, it is possible to build a complete 'database application' by including macros and scripts within a Base document (.odb). This feature already exists in other document types.
· This means macros can now be run from either the document itself, or any of its sub components: forms, reports, table design, query design, relation design, table data view. This is an important enhancement for people wishing to create complete 'packaged applications' in Base.
· Note: developers creating Base applications are advised to read the wiki article (see below) for important information about other developer features, and backwards compatibility issues.
Internationalization and Localizations:
Improved support for bidirectional scripts:
· Complex Text Layout and BiDirectional Text have improved considerably especially for justified text and for vocalized text.
· Control forms and Charts now support BiDi layouts.
New Locale support:
· OpenOffice.org 3.1 adds locale data for Maltese (Malta) [mt-MT], Myanmar (Myanmar) [my-MM], Shuswap (Canada) [shs-CA], and Tok Pisin (Papua New Guinea) [tpi-PG]. The locale is selectable for character attribution and spell-checking, as default local, default document language and available for number formats and outline numbering.
· It also adds new Arabic locales to the language list box, selectable for character attribution and spell-checking: Arabic (Chad) [ar-TD]; Arabic (Comoros) [ar-KM]; Arabic (Djibouti) [ar-DJ]; Arabic (Eritrea) [ar-ER]; Arabic (Israel) [ar-IL]; Arabic (Mauritania) [ar-MR]; Arabic (Palestine) [ar-PS]; Arabic (Somalia) [ar-SO]; Arabic (Sudan) [ar-SD]. The language table and list box now also have an "Arabic" entry (without region/country) which doesn't correspond to a locale. It doesn't provide language attribution etc, but is selectable if an Arabic language pack is installed, instead of the previous "Arabic (Egypt)"
January 7th, 2009Grammar checking:
· Grammar checking is now available in OpenOffice.org Writer. Therefore the former dialog gets extended to handle grammar checking too. The dialog is now also able to show a vendor logo as a bitmap and name in the dialog title.
Let OOo use own file locking mechanics to lock alien formats as well:
· As practice has shown, it is a quite common case that OOo is used to edit documents of alien formats on network. Unfortunately it looks to be impossible to let the file be locked using file system locking, since it does not work in heterogeneous file systems as expected, and the mentioned scenario has been recognized as very important one. Thus the locking mechanics of OOo is not recognizable for third-party applications, except they implement support for OOo locking mechanics. The implementation in childworkspace fwk94 let the alien files be locked using the OOo file locking mechanics as well. That solves at least the cases when a file of alien format is edited only by OOo3.x in network.
September 22nd, 2008· Sheet names can contain almost any character.
· ADDRESS and INDIRECT support additional parameter for A1/R1C1 notation.
· ODFF: automatic intersection !! operator.
· ODFF: store ERRORTYPE as ORG.OPENOFFICE.ERRORTYPE.
· New: XML Document's XForm models support "internal" vs. "external" data.
· Change to table view when a new database was created by the db wizard.
· INDEX() function supports return of an entire vector of a 2D array.
· GCD() and LCM() convert arguments to integer.
· LOOKUP in columns of a row if range is wider than tall.
· INDEX of vector needs just one offset parameter.
· COUNT ignores error results.
· Adding MS Access databases in Writer now possible.
May 8th, 2008· Behavior of cut/paste/fill/drag on filtered rows.
· Language selection through Windows language bar extended to Western languages
· Support of digit grouping as used in India
· Tetun (Indonesia) [tet-ID] and Tetun (Timor-Leste) [tet-TL] language listbox entries.
· Sami, Kildin (Russia) [sjd-RU] in language listbox
· Locale data for Paraguayan Guaraní (gug-PY)
· Language listbox entries for Bodo, Dogri, Maithili, Santali
· Locale data for Turkmen_Turkmenistan (tk-TM)
· Error Bars can be selected from cell ranges
· Additional Error Bar Style "Standard Error"
· Database / Insert Menu, new menu item
· Database / Edit Menu / Delete Record
· "Address Book Data Source Wizard" uses a roadmap
· Support of native tables in impress and draw
· Extensible help: Adding content to the Contents tree
· remove pkgchk
· new start center dialog
· Tools - Options - Load/Save - General: ODF default version
· Printer Settings dialog gets an "Options" button
· Tools - Options - Load/Save - General: ODF default version
· Now the registration page (First StartUp Wizard) has different text for OOo and SO
· SPAdmin: added UI option for external dialogs
· new commandline tool cwsattach
· Three-Layer Installations
· Reference to empty cell not forced to type
· Infix Operator Reference Concatenation ("~") (aka Union)
· MIN/MAX/MINA/MAXA return 0 if no value at all
· Infix Operator Reference Range (":")
· ISERROR(undefinedname) results in TRUE
· SUMIF geometry of 3rd parameter adapts to 1st parameter
· Calc Collaboration
· Multiple Pages per View and Zoom Control in Statusbar
· Direct cross-references to headings and numbered paragraphs in text documents
· Enhance Chapter Number Capability on Writer Indexes
· title for secondary axes
· customizeable starting angle for pie charts
· clockwise direction for pie charts
· Ease handling of Trendlines in Charts
· XSelectionSupplier now being supported by the database application controller
· delays for quick help change
· 1024 columns per sheet instead of 256
· Adjustable margins and column widths in page preview
· Transparent cell selection and changed column/row headers
· Optimization Solver in Calc
· notes in the margin
May 5th, 2008· Connect to WebDAV servers via HTTPS
· Custom icons for toolbars are imported
· Control password-storing with a master password
· Warning if document is from a newer ODF
· PDF documents: relative links, document references, PDF/A-1 (ISO 19005-1) supported, and cross-document link behavior options
· Mac OS X: Quicktime support for movies and sound / use the built in spell checker
· Print dialog improvements in usability
· Edit boxes: warning at limit of characters
· DejaVu font is now default instead of BitStream Vera
· Localisation: Entries for 10 languages added
· Base / DBA: Improved rendering of numeric(n) data from JDBC and Oracle
· Base / DBA: Easier choice of table name in "Copy table"
· Base / DBA: Editing of views in HSQLDB
· Base / DBA: Query designer for all properties which allow SQL command
· Base / DBA: Query designer in SQL view
· Base / DBA: Relation design accessible for MySQL databases
· Base / DBA: Setting to check for required fields on forms
· Base / DBA: Support for Access 2007 (.accdb files)
· Calc: Convert text to columns: with this feature CSV data inside cells can be transformed into columns directly
· Calc: Columns and rows in spreadsheet can be moved with drag and drop
· Calc: Enter key returns to the column where the input started, one row below
· Calc: Formula input: " " and "-" can also be used to start
· Calc: Individual zoom level per sheet
· Calc: AutoFilter: choices clearer grouped and based on result of filtering in other columns
· Calc: DataPilot: Manual Sorting / Double-click in DataPilot cell provides calculation data of that cell
· Calc: Performance improvement with functions VLOOKUP and MATCH
· Calc: Print dialog for Calc easier to use
· Calc: PageUp and PageDown keys work in print preview
· Calc: Sheet names in cell-hyperlinks: renamed properly
· Chart: Regression curves: show equations and RÂ? value
· Chart: Reverse axes possible
· Chart: Bars on different axes displayed next to each other
· Chart: Data labels: Number format
· Chart: Data point label: display both value and percentage
· Chart: Data label: display each part in a separate line
· Chart: Data labels: more flexible placement of labels
· Chart: Labels on pie segments: avoiding overlapping
· Chart: Data point label: can be removed with delete key
· Draw: Navigation (tab) order of page objects
· Draw: PDF export: page names as bookmark
· Draw: Reduce complexity: no longer necessary display options removed
· Impress: Navigation (tab) order of page objects
· Impress: Thrilling 3D effects in slide transitions
· Impress: Export slide names as PDF bookmarks
· Impress: Easier to insert background picture
· Writer: Selecting rectangular region of text
· Writer: Find and Replace: backward references in regular expressions
· Writer: Spell checking: easier selecting of the language
· Writer: Insert&Insert Object toolbar redesign - Writer
· Writer: Printing of hidden text can be turned on
· Writer: Printing text place holders can be turned off
· Writer: Shortcuts added for paragraph style Heading 4, Heading 5 and Textbody
· Writer: Ctrl-click behaviour for hyperlinks can be changed
· Writer: Custom document properties: Text fields and UI support
· Extensible Help System for extensions
· Extensions can have a separate display name
· Extensions: support of web based update
· Extensions: additional information about the publisher and release notes
· Extensions: check for updates
· Dialogs can have a wallpaper set
· Transparent background for controls
· Remote control presentations via API
· API: get selected table(s) or query(s) in the main Base window
April 19th, 2008· Language selection through Windows language bar extended to Western languages
· Support of digit grouping as used in India
· Tetun (Indonesia) [tet-ID] and Tetun (Timor-Leste) [tet-TL] language listbox entries.
· Sami, Kildin (Russia) [sjd-RU] in language listbox
· Locale data for Paraguayan Guaraní (gug-PY)
· Locale data for Paraguayan Guaraní (gug-PY)
· Locale data for Turkmen_Turkmenistan (tk-TM)
· Error Bars can be selected from cell ranges
· Additional Error Bar Style "Standard Error"
· Database / Insert Menu, new menu item
· Database / Edit Menu / Delete Record
· "Address Book Data Source Wizard" uses a roadmap
· Support of native tables in impress and draw
· Extensible help: Adding content to the Contents tree
· Remove pkgchk
· New start center dialog
· Tools - Options - Load/Save - General: ODF default version
· Printer Settings dialog gets an "Options" button
· Tools - Options - Load/Save - General: ODF default version
· Now the registration page (First StartUp Wizard) has different text for OOo and SO
· SPAdmin: added UI option for external dialogs
· New commandline tool cwsattach
· Three-Layer Installations
· Reference to empty cell not forced to type
· Infix Operator Reference Concatenation ("~") (aka Union)
· MIN/MAX/MINA/MAXA return 0 if no value at all
· Infix Operator Reference Range (":")
· ISERROR(undefinedname) results in TRUE
· SUMIF geometry of 3rd parameter adapts to 1st parameter
· Calc Collaboration
· Multiple Pages per View and Zoom Control in Statusbar
· Direct cross-references to headings and numbered paragraphs in text documents
· Enhance Chapter Number Capability on Writer Indexes
· Title for secondary axes
· Customizeable starting angle for pie charts
· Clockwise direction for pie charts
· Ease handling of Trendlines in Charts
· XSelectionSupplier now being supported by the database Application controller
· Delays for quick help change
· 1024 columns per sheet instead of 256
· Adjustable margins and column widths in page preview
· Transparent cell selection and changed column/row headers
· Optimization Solver in Calc
· Notes in the margin
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