[Solved] Open PDF with OpenOffice in Windows 8

[Mit]

Hi,

I've been using Open Office for years (on XP and Vista) and have been able to comfortably carry out required PDF edits using Open Office Draw until now - now that I have got a Windows 8 (not a touch-screen) laptop.

My Problem:

When I right click on a PDF file, go to 'Open With', there is no Open Office Writer/Draw to click on to open the PDF file - the only thing I see are: 'Nitro Pro 7', 'Reader', 'Support', 'Choose Default Programme'.

If I click on Choose Default Programme, it shows the following in a column: 'use this app for all pdf files', 'Keep using Reader', 'Nito Pro 7', 'Support', 'More Options'.

If I click on More Options, it shows the following in a column: 'Use this app for all PDF files', 'Keep using Reader', 'Nitro Pro 7', 'Support', 'Internet Explorer', 'Notepad', 'Paint', 'Windows Media Player', 'Windows Photo Viewer', 'Wordpad', 'Look for an app in the store', Look for another app on this PC'.

If I click on Look for another App on this PC, I get a whole bunch of stuff and none of it is even remotely Open Office.

Anyone come across this, and if so, how did you fix it? It's driving me nuts as I rely heavily on Open Office PDF Editor - I know it, like it, and want to keep on using it.

Hope you can help.

Thanks.

[acknak]

Greetings and welcome to the community forum!

... using Open Office Draw until now - now that I have got a Windows 8 (not a touch-screen) laptop. ...

Just to be sure: you have installed Open Office on your new laptop, right?

And you've installed the pdf-reader extension for OO, also?

If you can start OOo, from the desktop, or from the start menu, you can always start OO Draw, then do File > Open and choose your pdf. Launching applications by clicking on a desktop icon is purely an OS/file association thing.

[Mit]

hi,

Thanks for your response. You are correct in assuming I have downloaded Open Office.

As soon as I read your reply, I knew the source of my problem: the PDF extension has not been installed.

But:

I'm unable to work out how to give the PDF download file an .oxt extension prior to downloading it.

Because:

Windows 8 only allows me to download the compressed file. This means Open Office Extensions Manager does not recognise the extension because it is a zip file (ie: 'status of extension unknown).

When I open the compressed file after the download is complete, and hit 'extract all', it leaves me with 5 individual folders ('basic', 'help', 'images', 'META-INF', 'registration') and no PDF Editor for the extensions manager.

I hope you have come across this before because I need your help.

Thanks

[RoryOF]

This is a known problem with IE8. In Windows Explorer rename the zip file to type .oxt (Outside of OpenOffice, Right click on the file and select Rename). Now start OpenOffice /Tools /Extension Manager and select the Add button; navigate to the location of the .oxt file and install it.

[Mit]

Note the original problem of opening a PDF file was caused by not having the Oracle PDF extension downloaded into Open Office Suite. The original problem then became one of working out how to get the editor added into the Open Office Extension Manager in Windows 8.

Turned out the problem was caused by me not knowing how to change the file name extension in Windows 8. Windows 8 file name extension can be changed:

These were the steps I took:

After I downloaded Oracle PDF Editor, I then changed the file name extension by:
Click on 'View' at the top of the window that holds the downloaded PDF Editor. A bunch of tools then appears
Click Options (on the right-hand side of the tools that appeared) -> Click Change Folder and Search options.
A new window pops up. Click View, then search for 'Hide extensions for known file types'. Uncheck that. Click 'OK' twice.
Now go to the downloaded file with the .zip extension, right click, click on 'rename', and change the .zip extension to .oxt
All going well, you will notice the folder with the PDF Editor change from a zip icon to the jigsaw shaped icon we want to see.

Next open any open office application (Draw, Text, Spreadsheet etc), click on 'View' -> Click Manage Extensions - Click 'Add' -> find the PDF Editor with the jigsaw logo and click it -> Accept the Terms and Conditions. that's it. Ready to go.

Hope this helps someone.

[Mit]

Thanks Rory. Just posted, then saw your response. Your answer is bang on.

[Bill]

I'm unable to work out how to give the PDF download file an .oxt extension prior to downloading it.

Before you download, open File Explorer and select the View tab. Check the "File name extensions" option. When downloading, you should now be able to see and change the file name extension in the File name box on the Save As dialog.

[Mit]

Thanks Bill. You guys are a big help.

Still learning Windows 8 features and how it interacts with programs such as Open Office. Been lots of complaints on the web about Windows 8, but I must admit it's actually a bit of fun (apart from steam-high frustration levels when the answer remains persistently elusive) working things out.

[RoryOF]

I couldn't get Windows 8 off my new laptop quickly enough. It ran like glue! Replaced it with Xubuntu.

[Bill]

I couldn't get Windows 8 off my new laptop quickly enough. It ran like glue! Replaced it with Xubuntu.

Speed is no problem on my new low-end desktop. I was planning to build my own desktop and use Xubuntu or Mint. I decided to go with Windows 8 because image metadata could be edited, displayed and searched in the Windows 8 file manager, but not in the Xubuntu or Mint file managers.