On Mar 24, 2006, at 9:05 AM, Ross Gardler wrote:
> Clay Leeds wrote:
>> On Mar 24, 2006, at 6:45 AM, Ross Gardler wrote:
>>> Clay Leeds wrote:
>>>
>>>> I think the problem is that I'm starting from blank documents  
>>>> and   importing the Forrest-related styles, rather than starting  
>>>> from  the  Forrest documents. I'm going to see about modifying   
>>>> OpenOffice.org  startup system, so new documents are based on   
>>>> Forrest's 'openoffice- writer.sxw'.
>>>
>>> That sounds like a good solution. If you figure out how to do  
>>> this  then a patch for the docs would be welcome.
>> Editing Default Styles - NeoWiki (from the NeoOffice/J project)
>> http://neowiki.sixthcrusade.com/index.php/Editing_Default_Styles
>> The main problem I have with this solution, is that it now starts   
>> with a page full of Forrest stuff (it contains all the content of   
>> openoffice-writer.sxw, rather than just its styles.
>> Any ideas to improve this?
>
> When the original plugin was created the intention was to use a  
> template rather than a document. I remember there being a problem  
> with this, but can't remember what it is - will be in the dev  
> archives.
>
> If the  problem with tempaltes still exists you could create a  
> "Forrest" blank document as your seed. You'll still have to do a  
> "Save As" to give it your own name though.
>
> Ross

I think you're referring to a problem you and I troubleshooted  
(troubleshot?) in 2004. The ultimate 'solution' I ended up using was  
to start from the openoffice-writer.sxw file for *each* document.  
This required retaining the Forrest content to ensure the styles  
remained available. This was unwieldy. Why? Because (for example) as  
soon as the content styled as 'Forrest:Note' was deleted and the  
document saved, the 'Forrest:Note' style was no longer available to  
the document--even if some content styled as Forrest:Note was pasted  
in from another document).

I think this is primarily a OpenOffice.org issue. Nevertheless, it  
dramatically affects it's value. It's possible that OOo 2.x fixes  
this problem (I'm going to analyze this further).

Clay Leeds
webmaestro@mac.com

My religion is simple. My religion is kindness.
-- HH Dalai Lama of Tibet