HowTo install Offline Help for LO Flatpak 7.5

robgrune · February 26, 2023, 6:14am

Pop_OS! 22.10
LO Version: 7.5.0.3 (X86_64) / LibreOffice Community
Build ID: c21113d003cd3efa8c53188764377a8272d9d6de
CPU threads: 16; OS: Linux 6.1; UI render: default; VCL: gtk3
Locale: en-AU (en_AU.UTF-8); UI: en-GB
Flatpak
Calc: CL threaded

PROBLEM;
When clicking menu item, Help, for any LO module, LO will invoke the default browser and give this error…

Firefox can’t find the file at /home/ron/.local/share/flatpak/runtime/org.libreoffice.LibreOffice.Help/x86_64/stable/d7fbf3608042d8850ceb2b58afcbe178476857eb21a2b7279607662f9c6ea9f4/files/index.html?Target=swriter/.uno:HelpIndex&Language=en-GB&System=UNIX&Version=7.5.

Obviously, the relevant help file(s) must be placed into the relevant directory on the host drive.

But, I cannot find nor produce the file required. When I download the zip file from the LO site, and extract it, many files are created, but not one is the file required by the error message. The “readme” gives no explanations.

QUESTIONS:
After extracting the LO zip file, how to create the required help files?
Which files need to be placed into the directory noted above?

mikekaganski · February 26, 2023, 6:22am

Could be similar to tdf#148633.

Wanderer · February 26, 2023, 9:01am

Considering the name @robgrune my guess is “identical”.
.
The OS is different now, but also based on Ubuntu. So the problem with Snap (or Flatpack/AppImage) will also occur, if one did not chose to do a regular install via apt.

robgrune · February 27, 2023, 6:24am

update…

I installed the LO and LO-help flatpaks on my laptop running Pop. The browser is Slimjet. voila. Using this combo, the offline LO help functions.

Back to the desktop…
purged all LO and browsers
installed LO and LO-help flatpaks.
installed 2 browsers; Slimjet and Brave.
results…
No offline help function when Brave is default browser
viola…
Offline help function when Slimjet is default browser.

This indicates to me that LO cannot work with certain browsers, perhaps due to some built-in security options. LO should inform users of such, via the LO website.

Wanderer · February 27, 2023, 6:56pm

At first: Thanks for sharing a working combo, so others may find this also.
.
I’m not so sure on your conclusions. I remember sombody replacing Chrome with Mozilla, because his Chrome was not allowed to open local files. As we are in Snap/Flatpack-area it might not be a configuration of the browser, but of the package.
.
So we may come to a useless warning: Hey, there is software out there on the net, wich does not play well with LibreOffice. And even worse: Some configurations may also prevent cooperation with other software, wuch otherwise work. Ask your admin for help… Good night and good luck /42 / we apologize for the inconvenience, thank you for traveling…