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NeoOffice 2017 Upgrade Issues
From NeoWiki
NeoOffice 2017 is based on the LibreOffice 4.4 code. Because earlier versions of NeoOffice were based on the much older OpenOffice 3.3 code, users may find NeoOffice behaves differently after upgrading to NeoOffice 2017. Below are the most common issues that we have seen after upgrading to NeoOffice 2017:
Installation issues
Step 1 - Download and install the latest version of NeoOffice
Only NeoOffice 2017 will run on High Sierra, Mojave, Catalina, Big Sur, and Monterey. To upgrade to the latest version of NeoOffice 2017, use the following steps:
- NeoOffice Mac App Store:
- Ensure that Apple's App Store application has installed NeoOffice 2017.33 by launching Apple's App Store application and doing these steps
- macOS Sierra and High Sierra users: Install this patch to open PDF files and install extensions that worked in previous versions of NeoOffice 2017.
- If NeoOffice does not launch or NeoOffice Viewer launches, we recommend that you try these steps.
- NeoOffice Professional Edition:
- Install NeoOffice 2017.33 Professional Edition if you are running an older version of NeoOffice
- Optional: Some database features and wizards in NeoOffice Professional Edition require Java. If NeoOffice displays a dialog that says Java is required, install Java SE Development Kit (JDK) 8 from Oracle. Note: only Oracle's JDK 8 will work with NeoOffice 2017 Professional Edition. Neither Apple's Java nor Oracle's Java SE Runtime Environment (JRE) will work.
- If the NeoOffice download or installation fails, we recommend that you try these steps.
Step 2 - If NeoOffice cannot save, try these steps
To fix this problem, right-click or Control-click on the NeoOffice icon in the Dock while NeoOffice Viewer is still running. In the popup menu that appears, select the Options > Show in Finder menu item. A Finder window will appear. Quit NeoOffice, drag the NeoOffice application in that Finder window to the Trash, and empty the Trash.
If you have not already installed NeoOffice Professional Edition or Classic Edition or NeoOffice from the Mac App Store, install either now using the steps in Step 1 above.
Step 3 - If NeoOffice tells you to install a newer version, try these steps
To fix this problem, right-click or Control-click on the NeoOffice icon in the Dock while NeoOffice is still running. In the popup menu that appears, select the Options > Show in Finder menu item. A Finder window will appear. Quit NeoOffice, drag the NeoOffice application in that Finder window to the Trash, and empty the Trash.
If you have not already installed NeoOffice Professional Edition or Classic Edition or NeoOffice from the Mac App Store, install either now using the steps in Step 1 above.
Step 4 - If the Mac App Store tells you that NeoOffice is already installed, try these steps
To fix this problem, open a Finder window and go to the /Applications folder. Drag the NeoOffice application in that Finder window to the Trash, and empty the Trash. Then, go back to Apple's App Store application and click on the download icon to install NeoOffice.
Step 5 - If NeoOffice crashes or does not save, try these steps
The following steps will force NeoOffice to create new user preference files with default values:
- Quit NeoOffice
- NeoOffice Professional Edition:
- In the Finder, select the Go > Go to Folder menu item, copy the following path into the dialog that appears, and press the Go button:
~/Library/Preferences/NeoOffice-4.0 - Drag the selected NeoOffice-4.0 folder to the Trash
- In the Finder, select the Go > Go to Folder menu item, copy the following path into the dialog that appears, and press the Go button:
~/Library/Preferences/NeoOffice-3.0 - Drag the selected NeoOffice-4.0 folder to the Trash
- In the Finder, select the Go > Go to Folder menu item, copy the following path into the dialog that appears, and press the Go button:
- NeoOffice Mac App Store:
- In the Finder, select the Go > Go to Folder menu item, copy the following path into the dialog that appears, and press the Go button:
~/Library/Containers/org.neooffice.NeoOfficeSecureEdition/Data/Library/Preferences/NeoOfficeSecureEdition-4.0 - Drag the selected NeoOfficeSecureEdition-4.0 folder to the Trash
- In the Finder, select the Go > Go to Folder menu item, copy the following path into the dialog that appears, and press the Go button:
~/Library/Containers/org.neooffice.NeoOfficeSecureEdition/Data/Library/Preferences/NeoOfficeSecureEdition - Drag the selected NeoOfficeSecureEdition-4.0 folder to the Trash
- In the Finder, select the Go > Go to Folder menu item, copy the following path into the dialog that appears, and press the Go button:
- Launch NeoOffice
Step 6 - If NeoOffice still has problems, try these steps
- Quit NeoOffice
- In the Finder, go to the /Applications/Utilities folder and launch the Terminal application
- Copy the following commands into the Terminal window and press the Return key:
defaults delete org.neooffice.NeoOffice
defaults delete org.neooffice.NeoOfficeSecureEdition - Launch NeoOffice
General issues
Hyperlinks do not open when clicked
In the LibreOffice 4.4 code used by NeoOffice 2017 (as well as all recent versions of OpenOffice and LibreOffice) hyperlinks only open when clicked while the Command key is pressed (Command-click).
To open hyperlinks with only a click, use the following steps:
- Select the NeoOffice > Preferences menu item
- In the Options dialog that appears, select the NeoOffice > Security item and then press the Options button
- In the Security Options and Warnings dialog that appears, uncheck the Command-click required to follow hyperlinks checkbox and press the OK button
- After the Security Options and Warnings dialog closes, press the OK button
Dark Mode issues
Text in documents is black instead of white
When running in Dark Mode, text in documents will be white only if the text color is not set. If text is set to a specific color, NeoOffice will display that color.
To unset text color in Calc documents, select some cells, select Format > Cell menu item. In the Character dialog that appears, select the Font Effects tab, set the Font color listbox to "Automatic", and press the OK button.
To unset text color in Writer or Impress documents, select some text, select Format > Character menu item. In the Character dialog that appears, select the Font Effects tab, set the Font color listbox to "Automatic", and press the OK button.
Writer issues
Document automatically scrolls back to the cursor when saving
When saving, NeoOffice automatically scrolls a Writer document back to the cursor. This behavior is caused by NeoOffice's Quick Look support code which generates a PDF snapshot that is inserted in the document.
To stop automatic scrolling when saving, disable generating PDF snapshots by selecting the NeoOffice > Mac Options > Quick Look Support in Documents > Disabled menu item.
Mail merge adds blank pages when printing
When printing some mail merge documents that were saved in NeoOffice 2015 or earlier, the LibreOffice 4.4 code used by NeoOffice 2017 may insert blank pages in the printed output.
To stop the insertion of blank pages when printing, use the following steps:
- While in your mail merge document, select the NeoOffice > Preferences menu item
- In the Options dialog that appears, select the NeoOffice Writer > Print item and then uncheck the Print automatically inserted blank pages checkbox and press the OK button
- Save your mail merge document
Custom starting page numbers are incorrect
When opening some documents that have custom starting page numbers that were saved in NeoOffice 2015 or earlier, the LibreOffice 4.4 code used by NeoOffice 2017 may display the incorrect page number.
To correct the custom starting page numbers, use the following steps:
- Move the cursor into the first paragraph of your document. If a table is at the start of the first paragraph, insert a new blank line before the table by moving the cursor to the beginning of the top left cell in the table and then pressing the Return key, and then move the cursor to the new blank line.
- Select the Format > Paragraph menu item
- In the Paragraph dialog that appears, select the Text Flow tab and then, in the Breaks section, check the Insert and the With page style checkboxes, enter the custom starting page number in the Page number field, and press the OK button
- If you have any page breaks in your document, move the cursor into the first paragraph after a page break and repeat the preceding 2 steps
- Save your document
Spreadsheet issues
Spreadsheet formulas display #VALUE! instead of a number
If a mathmatical formula references any cells that contain spaces or other non-numeric characters, the LibreOffice 4.4 code used by NeoOffice 2017 (as well as all recent versions of OpenOffice and LibreOffice) will display #VALUE!. In contrast, the OpenOffice 3.3 code used by earlier versions of NeoOffice would behave as if such cells were empty cells.
To stop the display of #VALUE!, there are two options:
- Put each cell reference in a mathematical formula into the N() function. The N() function will return 0 if the cell reference is non-numeric which is very similar to the OpenOffice 3.3 behavior.
- Delete cells with spaces or other non-numeric characters that are referenced by any mathematical formulas in your spreadsheet. You can delete most of the cells with spaces or other non-numeric characters using the following steps:
- Select the cell range which contains text strings
- Choose the Edit menu then the Find & Replace… sub-menu
- In the Find & Replace window, enter "^.*[^0-9\-.,].*$" (without quotes) in the Search For field
- Set the Replace With field to empty
- Click Other options or More options button
- Check the Regular expressions checkbox
- Set the Search in listbox to Values
- Press the Replace All button
Deleting a cell in a spreadsheet always displays a dialog
To stop the display of this dialog, use the following steps:
- While in a Calc document, select the NeoOffice > Preferences menu item
- In the Options dialog that appears, select the NeoOffice Calc > Compatibility item
- Set the Key Bindings listbox to OpenOffice.org legacy
- Press the OK button
No grid lines in spreadsheet cells that have a background color
The LibreOffice 4.4 code used by NeoOffice 2017 draws the cell background color on top of grid lines. In contrast, the OpenOffice 3.3 code used by earlier versions of NeoOffice would draw grid lines on top of the cell background color.
To display grid lines in cells that have a background color, use the following steps:
- While in a Calc document, select the NeoOffice > Preferences menu item
- In the Options dialog that appears, select the NeoOffice Calc > View item
- Set the Grid lines listbox to Show on colored cells
- Press the OK button
Goal seek fails when the variable cell is empty or is non-numeric
The LibreOffice 4.4 code used by NeoOffice 2017 only processes variable cells that are set to a numeric value. If a variable cell is empty or contains text or a formula, goal seek will fail.
To stop goal seek from failing, you will need to set each variable cell's value to a numeric value such as 0 before you select the Tools > Goal Seek menu item.
No menu item to export a chart to an image file
In the LibreOffice 4.4 code used by NeoOffice 2017, exporting a chart to an image file can no longer be done using the File > Export menu item.
To export a chart to an image file, right-click or Control-click on a chart and, in the popup menu that appears, select the Export as Image menu item. Then, in the Save dialog that appears, select the desired image format in the File type listbox.
Macro and extension issues
Cannot open PDF files or install extensions that worked in previous versions of NeoOffice 2017
If you are running the Mac App Store version of NeoOffice on macOS Sierra or High Sierra, you will find that opening PDF files or installing most extensions will fail. This is due to Apple's recent security updates to macOS Sierra and High Sierra which breaks NeoOffice's PDF and extension loading code.
To fix this problem, install this patch after you install or update the Mac App Store version of NeoOffice. The patch contains a fix that should make opening PDF files and loading extensions work within Apple's latest macOS Sierra and High Sierra security updates.
The Tools > Macros > Record Macro menu item is disabled
In the LibreOffice 4.4 code used by NeoOffice 2017, recording macros is disabled by default.
To enable recording macros, use the following steps:
- Select the NeoOffice > Preferences menu item
- In the Options dialog that appears, select the NeoOffice > Advanced item, check the Enable macro recording checkbox, and press the OK button
Macros and extensions that worked in NeoOffice 2015 do not work in NeoOffice 2017
The macro runtime and extension APIs in the LibreOffice 4.4 code used by NeoOffice 2017 contains many security and syntax changes from the very old OpenOffice 3.1.1 code used by NeoOffice 2015. Because of these LibreOffice changes, many macros and extensions that worked in NeoOffice 2015 and earlier versions may no longer work in NeoOffice 2017.
It may not be possible or practical to rewrite macros or extensions written for NeoOffice 2015 to work in NeoOffice 2017. In such cases, the following options are available:
- Try running your macros and extensions in OpenOffice 4.1.
- Downgrade to NeoOffice 2015.12 Classic Edition.
