Base continually crashes and I can’t even create a document. I am using the latest version of Libre Office and Mac OS 10.11. I have also loaded Java Runtime and the Java SDK. Then I tried creating a new user profile, to no avail. For me, the application is unusable if the database component doesn’t work. Solutions gratefully received and acted on. Thanks in advance.
If you have both JRE & JDK installed it is possible JDK is not selected. Since JDK contains JRE, you can remove JRE.
Check the following setting - Tools Options and in left column under LibreOffice select Advanced, Then in right pane, insure Use Java runtime environment is checked and click on circle left of Oracle Corp to use JDK version installed. If there are none listed and you have installed it, you will need to add its’ location with the Add.. button to the right. Sorry but I don’t know enough about the Mac to tell you where this may have been installed to.
To reiterate advice I have given elsewhere:
I would strongly advise you to follow the advice I gave at the bottom of this posting.
In my experience it will significantly reduce the occurrence and inconvenience of the irritating database freeze/crashing whilst developing/building/using an LO database on OSX.
I had the same problem with LibreOffice Still (5.1.6) crashing on my rather dated Mac running OS El Capitan (10.11.6). I read through a lot of threads (I’d give credit but I don’t remember where I saw all the information and none of it is together), and I think I fixed my issues, so I created this account to record what I did for others to use, hopefully this helps out. I am not an advanced user of anything, so bear with me if I use the wrong terminology, just a guy that has some needs (- aren’t we all, unless you’re a girl, then look me up). I tried the RGB color trick, that didn’t work for me.
Note: If you installed LibreOffice from the AppStore called “LibreOffice Vanilla”, remove it, out of the box it’s not compatible as a front-end for MySql.
What I was trying to do:
I wanted to use LibreOffice as a front-end for my personal MySQL and business MySQL servers, this is so I can access my servers from anywhere that I have an internet connection. In order to do this you have to use a driver which communicates between LibreOffice and MySQL. I tried ODBC and JDBC to see what I could get to work. I tried ODBC first, due to the warnings about security with Java, but ODBC did not work for me.
In 3 Easy Steps - Get LibreOffice, Java, and MySql to play nice together on the Mac
Step 1: MySQL
MySQL is super robust, secure, portable, and accessed by multiple users at the same time; basically it’s the relational database to have.
- If you don’t have MySQL, then get a fresh copy of it here (note: I have ver. 5.7.14).
- Install it and follow default settings
- Go to System Preferences and look at the very bottom, if you did everything right, there will be a MySQL icon, click on it
- Turn on MySql - i think it might say “start mysql” or something to that effect.
- Open Terminal and type, whom am I kidding, lol. Get and install MySQLworkbench from here (note: I have ver. 6.3.7). Put this on the machine that is going to have LibreOffice on it.
- Use MySQLworkbench to create, edit, administer, and relate your tables and databases (there are excellent tutorials out there)
- To test things create a database called “Shimmy21” and put a Table in it called “Awesome” with a field called “Name” and manually enter the name “Shimmy21” into the record. Make sure to record it and save it, so that the database is actually created on the hard disk.
Step 2: Java
This step has two parts that no-one ever mentions anywhere and I found it on a linux forum, not sure where now, but you need two separate Java downloads to get LibreOffice working on the Mac. (Both of these have to be on the machine that has LibreOffice on it, if you have MySQL on a separate machine.)
- Get a fresh Java JDBC driver from here, this driver is developed by the people at the MySQL project (Note: I am using ver. 5.1.40).
- Unpack it to any location that you want (I’d keep it out of places that you regularly use for enduser files - someone else mentioned that somewhere). (Note: I created a new folder “JAVA” in /users/shared so that the full file path looks something like /users/shared/JAVA/mysql-connector-java-5.1.40/mysql-connector-java-5.1.40.bin.jar ).
- Get a copy of the Java SDK from here (Note: I am using ver. 8u111)
- Install the Java SDK and then don’t mess with it, unless you got skills like that, but still don’t do it.
Step 3: LibreOffice
As noted above, I was running LibreOffice 5.1.6. and I read somewhere that if you switch the color settings for you display that will fix the bug. It didn’t for me, so I persisted. I also read that upgrading to 5.2.3 would fix the issue; it did and didn’t for me. No one mentioned the “Java SDK” install, maybe they already had it installed and never thought that regular-joes, like myself, might not know - hell I don’t even know what it really is. Seriously, on a side note, I love open source software for certain applications, but if you want my donations and support and those from regular-folks you all are going to have to dumb down the tutorials to the lowest common denominator and stop using jargon/slang to explain things.
- Get a copy of LibreOffice from here. (Note: I am using ver. 5.2.3)
- Install it.
- After install run the application, and the LibreOffice “Startcenter” should open up automatically.
- At the top in the App Menu go to “LibreOffice” and click “Preferences”, in the window that appears under “LibreOffice” click on “Advanced”
- Select “Use a Java runtime environment” this is where you point LibreOffice to the JDBC.
- Click “Classpath” then in the popup window click “Add” and navigate to the JDBC driver that you installed in step 2 select it and click “Ok”
- In the “Advanced Menu” you should now see “Oracle Corporation” with a version number, it should be already selected, if not then select it. (If you don’t see this option then there is something wrong with your Java SDK install, retrace and reinstall if necessary.)
- Without opening anything else, exit out of all LibreOffice windows, then Quit LibreOffice.
- Reopen LibreOffice and click on “Base”
- Select “Connect to an existing Database” and make sure “JDBC” is selected from the pulldown menu, and click “Next”.
- In the datasource URL field this is going to be something like “jdbc: mysql://hostlocation:port/database” If you use the same machine to run the MySQL server as you do to run LibreOffice then it may look something like this if you completed the example from step 1 “jdbc: mysql://127.0.0.1:3306/Shimmy21” Otherwise, you will need your mysql host address.
- Connect to that database, well don’t forget to cross your fingers.
- If it connected, get up and dance, if not then leave a post below.
- If you have got a better method, or if you think I left something out, then post too.
This was my first techie post, feedback is appreciated.