built-in help for portable version?

chumbo · February 22, 2019, 9:27am

Hi,
Is there a portable built-in help for the portable versions of LibreOffice?
I found the one for the regular installs but that’s an .msi installer so I assume it would be lost once I move my LibreOffice portable folder, right?
Thanks!
chumbo

mikekaganski · February 22, 2019, 9:32am

Portable version (you are talking about that from PortableApps, are you? there are other portable flawors available, btw) is created and supported by PortableApps.com. You probably need to ask them.

chiropterist · May 20, 2021, 9:46pm

Instructions for installing the English (US) Offline Help file for LibreOffice Fresh
—Many thanks to Lupp [psilosoph.de] for getting the ball rolling.

These instructions work when LibreOffice Portable Fresh resides in the C:/PortableApps/ folder and the language is English (US). For other cases, you’re on your own!

On the Portable Apps LibreOffice page, LibreOffice Portable Fresh (full-featured office suite) | PortableApps.com, note which version of LibreOffice Portable you are using, for example, Version 7.1.3 for Windows, Multilingual-Standard
On the main LibreOffice page, Download LibreOffice | LibreOffice - Free Office Suite - Based on OpenOffice - Compatible with Microsoft, locate your version, then click on Help for offline use: English (US) to download the Offline Help Installer [OHI] file, LibreOffice_7.1.3_Win_x64_helppack_en-us.msi.
In your download folder, find the OHI file and copy it to the root folder of the drive, for example, C:\LibreOffice_7.1.3_Win_x64_helppack_en-us.msi. This will make Step 6 easier.
You will need to send the output of the OHI file to C:\PortableApps\LibreOfficePortable\App\libreoffice\. This happens with a single command typed as Administrator into a Windows Command Processor window.
To open one, click Start, then at Search programs and files type cmd.exe, right-click on it, select Run as administrator, and type the Administrator password if requested.
Here’s where the fun begins!

In the Command Processor window, navigate to a C:\ prompt by typing cd.. and again cd.. (now you will see why we moved the OHI file to C:\).
Type

msiexec /a C:\LibreOffice_7.1.3_Win_x64_helppack_en-us.msi /qb TARGETDIR=C:\PortableApps\LibreOfficePortable\App\libreoffice\
Here is the command expanded to help you parse it; be sure to type a space after each line of the expanded command (except the last one).:

msiexec

/a

C:\LibreOffice_7.1.3_Win_x64_helppack_en-us.msi

/qb

TARGETDIR=C:\PortableApps\LibreOfficePortable\App\libreoffice\

Test if you have Offline Help by pressing the F1 key.

As an alternative to pressing F1, you can open Offline Help directly at file:///C:/PortableApps/LibreOfficePortable/App/libreoffice/help/en-US/text/shared/05/new_help.html.

Please leave feedback for these instructions. Improvements are welcome!

Lupp · May 22, 2021, 10:21am

What’s the relevant difference of your guide as compared to mine I linked to in my answer of 2019-02-22?
Did I miss any changes needed due to changes in Win - or elsewhere?
I woiuld like to update my sheet in this case.

chumbo · February 22, 2019, 9:37am

Yes, I’m talking about the PortableApps.com version. Ok, I’ll ask over there then.

Lupp · February 22, 2019, 11:13am

Please don’t use the “answer” facility to reply to a comment. Uset the “add a comment” tool instead.

Lupp · February 22, 2019, 10:44am

There is no built-in help. You need to install the offline help for LibreOfficePortable (from PortableApps .paf.exe archive) based on the same .msi you would use under Win32. However, the portable version did not write its location into any registry. Therefore you need to choose the appropriate folder yourself, and to expand the help files to it. How to do so:
See here. The guide is rather wordy, but (hopefully) clear. (I posted a link to the same guide in the PortablaApps user forum on 2018-03-17. In this respective thread there were no further questions since. Therefore I assume the guide is applicable.)

chumbo · February 22, 2019, 11:22am

Thanks but you lost me in the last steps 4,6,7 of the Second Case scenario. All that %% stuff confused me completely. I really don’t understand what to do there

Lupp · February 22, 2019, 11:50am

I used the %name% notation because this is the way windows gives access to the values of environment variables. If not a kind of admin you won’t use it, but you need to know (write on paper) the exact folder paths an filenames, and to enter them in the place of the respective variable when needed,
The %MyMsi% may mean in your case C:\Users\Peter\Downloads and the %HelpMsi1% may stand for LibreOffice_6.1.4.2_Win_x86_helppack_en-GB.msi. You need to enter the strings in the correct place into your command prompt line.
It’s essential, however, that you know how to get a command interpreter.
WinKey+R should open a little dialogue where you can enter simply cmd and press Enter. Subsequently a very crude window should open looking a bit like the screen of a DOS PC. There you can enter the command described under 7. in my guide, replacing the variables with the actual values.

chumbo · February 22, 2019, 12:04pm

Ok, got it. However, it didn’t work. I ran the command correctly, I saw it start up the .msi file and I saw my …\help folder populate with new content (4 folders and a much smaller %HelpMsi1% but when I try to open Help in LibreOffice Writer, I get the same error

In case you ask, yes it’s the correct msi file corresponding to my x32bit install, with correct version and language locale.

Lupp · February 22, 2019, 12:45pm

Because I sometimes am interested in comparing again versions concerning details of the UI and probable bugs, I am keeping 17 versions of LibO expanded from PortableApps .paf.exe. For 10 of these versions I installed offline help exactly as I described it as far as I can understand my own guide, and I always succeeded.
In pursuit of your complaint I just did it another time for an eleventh version (5.4.4) for which I not had installed offline help previously. The process of installing ran as expected, and the installed offline help was accessible then.
Sorry. I have no clue how to help you beyond this.
(Running Windows 10 with frequent updates.)