Open Office troubles · 4:54pm Jul 6th, 2014
Morning folks! I'm sure everyone will be pleased to hear that the next Mente Materia chapter will be done soon. First draft has been sent to my prereaders so I'm hoping to have it available for you folks to read by tomorrow (or perhaps a little later depending on how much needs to be fixed).
In the mean time I've been working on one of my MM side projects and I'm afraid Open Office (the free alternative to MS Word, because I don't have $130 to burn to get Word for my laptop) is doing something rather odd. The spell check seems to be highlighting every single word I write as a typo and the suggestions for corrections don't make a lick of sense. I write the letter 'a', as in "Matt wore a helmet" and auto-correct things 'a' should be 'Mac'.
Does anyone know what that would be or what I can do to fix this? At this point, Open Office is red-underlining everything I type and I -know- I'm not THAT bad at writing. >_>
Can something like this help?
Sounds like a glitch to me... I'd notify the Open Office folks about the issue, see what they say... that being said, maybe uninstalling and installing the latest version from their site might work?
Also, YAY for Mente!
No clue what is causing the problem. But you could always try the other fork of OpenOffice, LibreOffice instead.
Still open source, still free. Also uses the same file types. They forked for some reason that I can't recall off hand.
That or uninstall and reinstall OpenOffice.
It might be that you've accidentally switched the language of Open Office or that you deleted or got your custom dictionnary for it corrupted.
The only thing I can think of is that you somehow changed your language. I don't know why it would be offering suggestions like that, but if it thinks you're writing in Spanish or something then it would think all the words were misspelled.
Well I use enough Office programs that the subscription to Office was the best option for me so I don't have much direct experience - I have tried out Open Office and Libre Office but never used it enough to really trouble shoot.
As mentioned the best approaches are to A: do a search on their forums for Spelling Auto underline problems, B: submit a post asking about your problem if you don't find the answer that way, C: if finding or implementing the fix feels to call for more time than you want to invest consider alternatives like the fork Libre Office, or if you've got confidence in your internet connection, look at Google Docs or Office Online.
I should also mention that all the suggestions that it does make for the 'typos' appear to be english words with no funky accents or characters. The language -appears- to be English for the selection also.
You could switch to Google Docs. With offline-mode activated, of course
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I might have to. I just wish Word wasn't so expensive. : \
I'm guessing that the dictionary that it uses for spell checking had something happen to it. A reinstall of OO would probably fix it.
I'd second the switch to LibreOffice. OpenOffice is run by Oracle (cue thunder and lightning on a mountain lair). When Oracle bought Sun, the company that used to run OpenOffice, the OpenOffice's major contributors forked the project into LibreOffice. It sees more updates and probably sees wider use than OpenOffice these days.
The spell-check can be turned off if you go to Tools.
The red under-lining is mostly the program thinking you're writing it wrong. Mostly due to language. I had the same problem before and it turned out it was the language check. If you check the bottom bar of it, you'll see which language is being highlighted. Right-click it to bring up the language options and you might clear it up there.
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I did just reinstall OO and and didn't have much better results. Oddly enough, when I write in all caps, it doesn't do it but when I type normally it does. : /
I'll give your suggestion a shot, then take another look at Gdocs.
Sounds like your spell-checking dictionary was corrupted. This troubleshooting guide might help.
If all else fails, you can reset your profile, if you don't mind losing some settings.
Re-installing OO won't help if it's a profile problem, because that sticks around in your user directory.
i tend to use Googlemail for spellcheecking...and if you put stuff in there it saves it as a draft
Here's someone who had - and solved - what looks like the same issue.
Licensing. OpenOffice was previously licensed under the GNU GPL, which forces any code created from that code (by, e.g., adding features, fixing bugs, etc.) to be released under the GNU GPL. Copyrights on most of the code were assigned to a company - Oracle, I think, I'm not sure. They changed the license on the code they had copyright on, between one version and another, to the Apache license - which they were permitted to do. Though the code is still free to use, this means that they can take any future features and/or bugfixes added to the code and incorporate them into their own non-free products.
Libreoffice was split off at the point of the license change, and remains under the GNU GPL license. This license has a very good reputation amongst free software developers, and so Libreoffice took the lion's share of developers from the split.
So, in short, the split was all due to licensing issues.
Hey Uh Arad I few questions to ask about you're story
No clue but I sent a text about your problem to a buddy who is computer savey, so hope to hear from him soon.
On another note, I will be proofreading the nex chapter when I get home from work tonight. Been hectic the last few days but I will have it read and send ya my correction suggestions later this evening so you can get to checking it out ASAP. Till later, have a good one.
My answer is to use Google docs because its decently good at spellcheck.
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Are you asking if you have a few questions about my story... or did your comment get mangled by open office? >_>
2262252 The files you're looking for,that control spell-check, are named "Standard.Dic" "Custom.Dic" and that program's preferences file, which won't be erased by an uninstall.
Uninstall, find and erase these manually, then reinstall.
2262398 No I use Word, unlike you I had money.
Its questions on your story because I seek to craft my own X-COM story at some point on a different Website minus the Ponies. The reason I'm asking is because you're one of the few authors on the web that have made legitimate X-COM stories that feel like X-COM.
The First Question: Are there going to be anymore references to the Bureau: XCOM Declassified in your story?
Alternatively, if you don't wish to go rooting around your computer, you can just C/P it all into a google doc. They tend to have a decent spellchecker program.
Is there an option to change what dictionary you use? (Not the language) You might not have to fully reset your profile.
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Unfortunate side effect of them trying to emphasize how good a deal their subscription plan is. Of course I make regular use of Excel, OneNote, Publisher and Access as well as Word, and I'm helping provide the software for family members, so that's my economics.
The one other approach for this sort of thing is using something like Revo Uninstaller to remove EVERY bit of the malfunctioning program from you're system before re-installing a fresh download of either it or the fork. Note, that would take a bit of time, so you might want to browse Google Drive or Windows Live (Or both to compare) while everything's in the works (Just in case).
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Someone call the ambulance, I just suffered a severe burn.
:P
Anywho, regarding your question, the answer is maybe.
2262470 I have lotion you can use to rub on it. *holds up lotion*
Anyway, I'd be thinking you wouldn't considering that the conflict is now on Equestria instead of Earth
The Second Question: Is there any specific reason why you decided not to have there be Gene Mods in your story?
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Licensing was not an issue. The issue was that no one likes/trusts Oracle, which aquired OpenOffice (among other projects) when it bought Sun Microsystems.
Personally, I'd use plain text or something markdown-ish. There's no need for anything too complicated.
2262486 They fight EXALT (or EXALT-like) soldiers that have gene mods. XCOM's research, however, has gone in a different direction than the games. (magic & Elerium circuitry) I believe they might have had doubts about the ethics of using gene mods as well.
2262529 ...thanks for the input.
(Even though I was asking Arad)so, what do you think of Enemy Within?2262486
I have some (hopefully) surprising elements planned for the coming conflict.
I did touch on this very briefly (I think just a couple of sentences) at the end of Stardust. The Council decided that they didn't want to risk their field operatives by experimenting on their bodies to try and create similar implants to what EXALT operatives had. EXALT had the alien know-how (plus no compunctions in using abductees to test their implants) to perfect them which is something XCOM sorely lacks.
Edit: Beat me to it.
And I love Enemy Within, and I'm loving it even more now that I've got the Long War working.
2262541 Hmm that is a good point. Speaking of things a rough X-COM idea of mine is a character that has been experimented on the Etherals but was rescued when they assaulted the base.
Now, I remember that bit from the end of Stardust. Things really have changed with Magic instead of Psionics.
Third Question: Any chance you're going to do any unique things with Meld? I bring this up because given the Magic instead of Psionics along with the upcoming MECs and the like it makes one wonder.
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Unique uses of Meld? Apart from the obvious applications with MECs as well as nano-machinery, I didn't have any specific plans.
Edit: That might change if an interesting idea hits me, but Meld is currently taking a back seat. Elerium, however...
2262421 I'd rather not hunt through everything Arad's written right this moment (because I have assignments I'm busy not doing right now), but I can't remember the reference you're talking about. Would you please refresh my memory?
2262588 Well I have seen an X-COM Fanfiction story that sadly didn't go any where
It had an idea that was called the Lazarus Project, it had X-COM scientist being able to resurrect the dead. The main character was Joan of the Arc (you know that french woman that got burned at the stake). The story was written before Enemy Within was announced, and I think that it was a rather creative idea that could of been adapted via using Meld.
Oh and speaking of Elerium
Fourth Question: Whats with all the Elerium? That has been something that has had me pondering for quiet some time.
2262623 Well, Arad has referenced The Bureau back in the opening of a chapter, my money is that William Carter was in a rest home mutter about his experiences.
2262666 Cool, thanks.
2262676 You're welcome
I'm sorry, I've noticed some reservations about using Gdocs, and I am not sure why. Not trying to be a snob or anything, I am just legitimately curious as I made the switch about seven months ago, have been thrilled with the ease of use, and am wondering if there is some glaring problem with it I am overlooking because I use it to write all my stories now.
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I made a -very- brief mention of someone who knew about the events of the Bureau during a headline.
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Can't go into that quite yet as I have big plans. What I can say is that there will be a somewhat large and relevant reveal in a few chapters regarding it. :)
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I think I tried google docs waaaaaaaay back when I first started writing Stardust back in March of last year (at the time it was just getting the thought bugs out of my skull) and for some reason I didn't like the experience. I'll give it another go.
2262801 KK
We have to pay about 200 zł for MS Office home edition it's about 66 $
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The reason, as I recall, was that OpenOffice had gotten kinda lost in the pile when Oracle bought Sun Microsystems, so OpenOffice wasn't getting updated for a long time. Eventually OpenOffice got sent to Apache or something like that, so they're updating now. I use LibreOffice myself.
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Actually that's the annual subscription price for a one computer office subscription. It's a yearly subscription, but you get the entire office suite plus 30 GB online storage. I as mentioned am getting it for my whole family so I'm getting the $99 per year for 5 instillation of the full office suite.
$130 is the price of just word as a one time purchase. Unless you're a student getting a student discount of course.
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Not only is it a one time purchase but you also can only install it 3 times before the key expires. : / At least that's how my last key worked.
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Don't know about the yearly subscription I'd have to check it out
I just bought a copy that I could install once on three different computers and if for some reason I would have to install it again I would have to buy a new copy
And you can forget about student discount
The best you can do is to deduct this from tax
I have become a Gdocs believer over the last two years of writing. The ability to have multi-step undo, multiple editors working on a file at once, and now "Suggesting" mode is just wonderful. The only problem I've had is FimFiction can't import a Gdoc correctly if it has comments, but you can get around that by cutting/pasting your chapters out and manually putting in the italics/bold/etc tags.
I'm personally a huge fan of Google Drive / Docs, although if you want a desktop app, I happen to prefer Libre Office to OpenOffice. Same codebase that forked off of OO.org a while back.
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Hey arad if you want I think I have a spare office key that I only used once and don't plan to use it
I don't know if it'll work for sure or if I even still have the box nor can I get to the box till Tuesday but it's and open invitation to one of my favorite authors on fimfic
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Ah, that would have been Office 2010. The current version is Office 2013 which you can either buy piecemeal for $130 per program, or get by signing up for an Office 365 subscription which will let you install the entire Office suite on either one or 5 computers (1 computer is 6.99 per month or 69.99 per year, 5 computers are 9.99 per month or 99.99 per year) And you can pretty much swap out computers however you want.
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Not just "Same codebase that forked off of OO.org a while back." LibreOffice gets at least ten times as much effort put into it as OpenOffice.
When Oracle bought Sun, they tried being too heavy-handed and all of the developers for OpenOffice left. Oracle still owned the OpenOffice name, but everyone who worked on the project continued under the LibreOffice name. ...and, because their contribution policy was far less bureaucratic than the one OpenOffice had (even before the Oracle acquisition), they quickly attracted even more developers.
Oracle eventually conceded defeat and turned OpenOffice over to the Apache Foundation but it was too late.
(Plus, originally, Sun gave IBM a special licensing deal so they could use OpenOffice as the basis for Lotus Symphony without open-sourcing it. LibreOffice didn't have that. That led to OpenOffice winding up under the Apache license when it was finally turned over to the Apache Foundation while LibreOffice was under the LGPL, which means that LibreOffice can borrow code from OpenOffice but not vice-versa... which puts OpenOffice at even more of a disadvantage.)
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See what I wrote above.