Report builder not available on ArchLinux

English
, , ,
#1

Hello

This is more of an informational statement rather than a question. It is written to guide others and to also perhaps bring attention to an issue that some users are faced with.

On ArchLinux the decision makers opted to not provide a package for the ReportBuilder. A bug report for this change can be found here: FS#57765 - [libreoffice-still] Oracle Report Builder is missing

  • A claim is that no one uses it so not
    providing the package should be of no
    issue.
  • Another claim is that if you really
    need it then you should use the
    upstream binary, such as the AppImage
    provided at libreoffice.org.
  • A finall reason given was that the
    ReportBuilder had a convulted
    JavaDependency chain.

For me as a user I see a need for having the ReportBuilder. I actually need this feature. For me using the AppImage binary has been the solution, for now.

Feel free to contribute with answers and or comments.

Update
As Ratslinger, mentioned in a comment, not all distibrutions of Linux include Base and or the ReportBuilder. What distro do you use and do they include either of the two? Leave a comment and let us know.

Report builder is missing from Libreoffice Base.
#2

The absence of Base and often Report Builder in most distro installations has been around for years. Claims have not changed over those years either. Because of this piece by piece install, many problems arise. Gave up on distro versions years ago.

#3

I’ve been using report builder for many years with an older version of LibreOffice, since I was stuck with a mysql dependency.

I now made the switch to postgresql because I thought upgrading to the latest LibreOffice would be a good idea, but it took me a while before I understood that this extension was missing on archlinux only (my client is using ubuntu) and nearly switched to LO 6.3.3.

As a workaround, I was now developing parts on a virtual machine, which doesn’t work so great, and parts directly on my machine.

Great to learn I can fix this with an appimage, thanks!

#5

I’m sorry, what?
They don’t include a vital part of the Database designer software because… why?
I just spent a week working on this database, learning the software as I go, because I need something to GENERATE REPORTS. Now finally, at long last, I get to the part I’ve been waiting for, and the devs made the decision to not add the package to make those features work because “duhh noone uses it”?? That can’t be true. Why would they leave in all the buttons and features that rely on that functionality? Who are they to decide that all of their millions of users choose to not to use a useful tool? They can’t be thinking that automatically building a clean printable report based on a database query is useless.

#6

“They” are maintainers for Linux, and their focus is the distribution, not LibreOffice. And I have to admit: Most users of LibreOffice will never use a database.
.
“Why” is the use of Java. The report-builder, wich was integrated into LibreOffice is written in Java, as well as the default database of LibreOffice HSQLDB. So integrating this in an install drags java in your system, wich can be avoided for lots of users, who never use anything related to java.

#7

I’m sorry for my tantrum it’s just that, this is exclusively the reason I used this software for, and all the time I put into this not having ever guessed something like this would be a problem. Not to mention I was just convinced to switch from being a lifelong Windows user to Arch, just installed the other day, so that makes this extra frustrating. While most Office users may not use a database, for those who do, this is kind of one of the core features we’re talking about. If its about preventing unnecessary bloat, make Base a separate install like Ubuntu, hell, when I installed -fresh, i had a list of optional packages to install for extra features, make Base or ReportBuilder one of them? But just leaving the problem dangling and not addressing it because “Noone uses it” is absolutely not a good solution. So as an Arch user am I just SOL here? Could I do it if I had a copy of Ubuntu?

#8

Lot of options:

  • “They” (see above) usually include the older report generator. Not really flexible, but it is “something”.
  • You can do a lot without a formal report generator: I often use Calc. Just open the view of datasources and drag a table or query to A1 of a new sheet. After save/reload you have a sheet where you can refresh data with one Menu call (data>refresh).
  • Most distributions allow you (your admin) to install the java-dependend parts via apt or whatever your distro uses. Details vary a bit.
  • You can use a download from LibreOffice.org instead, wich is actually, what “the devs” created.
  • In modern times you may also check, what is available as flatpack or appimage. May be different to your regular install.

Good luck…

PS: Java is used for HSQLDB, Oracle report builder, some assistants and tha JavaScript-engine Rhino.

#9

I think i need a .pak? But the website only has a .deb which i know us ubuntu, and .rpm, not sure what that is. And i need to do a lot of one-many relationships, idk if i can do that in calc? job 1 details <list of materials and prices and vendors for job 1> <List of misc fees and prices 1> <list of subcontractors for job 1>\njob 2 details…, and i need that to be done as intuitivally as possible as I’m making this for someone less computer-literate, so being able to press a button, input a job id or from and too date and get a formated print ready result is really important

Its much less comfortable but I’m using the ubuntu build with the base and report builder packages and omg even the form editor is super nice and usable now, i can’t believe how much worse LO is on arch.

#10

This was it! My glorious solution! I have fully functioning LibreOffice Base on Arch! I had to install flatpak from the Extra depot, and there was a direct link to the LibreOffice Flatpak from their website. Thank you!

#11

No, Calc is not meant as replacement for Base, but you can use it as one report-engine.

#12

There are two major systems .deb is used by debian, so inherited also at Ubuntu, Mint, MX but not Arch, as they had their own package-manager pacman instead of apt. (But I only “used” Arch for less than a day).
The other .rpm is Red-Hat-package, also used by various distributions. Don’t mix!

But, if flatpak works: Use it, but remember your Office-suite running in a container. We see sometimes questions here, concerning help or fonts not working properly…

Using .deb in arch is a bit advanced:
https://www.baeldung.com/linux/arch-install-deb-package

1 Like
#4

I am on Manjaro and learn Base. I know that there is the option to do macros in Libre Office, but for now it is too difficult. Manjaro unfortunately provides Base without the Report Designer. So, I guess AppImage, even if I don’t like them, is it for now. I don’t know how complicated it is to provide a packet with report builder; Arch seemingly used to provide it in ealier times. I’ll see where I’ll travel with it; for now a packet with a Report Builder seems nice in my eyes; as the appimage runs besides the installed version, this might be a workaround.

Impressum (Legal Info) | Datenschutzerklärung (Privacy Policy)   Content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 license.