Beyond Linux® From Scratch (systemd Edition) - Version r12.0-816

Chapter 39. Office Programs

AbiWord-3.0.5

Introduction to AbiWord

AbiWord is a word processor which is useful for writing reports, letters and other formatted documents.

[Note]

Note

Development versions of BLFS may not build or run some packages properly if LFS or dependencies have been updated since the most recent stable versions of the books.

Package Information

Additional Downloads

AbiWord Dependencies

Required

Boost-1.83.0, cURL-8.4.0, FriBidi-1.0.13, GOffice-0.10.56, and wv-1.2.9

Recommended

enchant-2.6.2

Optional

dbus-glib-0.112, evolution-data-server-3.50.1, gobject-introspection-1.78.1, libgcrypt-1.10.3, libical-3.0.17, libsoup-2.74.3, Redland-1.0.17, telepathy-glib-0.24.2, Valgrind-3.22.0. Aiksaurus, GtkMathView, libchamplain, libwmf, libwpd, libwpg, libwps, Link Grammar Parser, Loudmouth, OTS, and Psiconv

[Note]

Note

To enable many of the optional dependencies, review the information from ./configure --help for the necessary switches you must pass to the configure script.

Editor Notes: https://wiki.linuxfromscratch.org/blfs/wiki/abiword

Installation of AbiWord

Install AbiWord by running the following commands: 

sed -e "s/free_suggestions/free_string_list/" \
    -e "s/_to_personal//"                     \
    -e "s/in_session/added/"                  \
    -i src/af/xap/xp/enchant_checker.cpp      &&

./configure --prefix=/usr &&
make

This program does not come with a functional test suite.

Now, as the root user: 

make install
[Note]

Note

In order to install the local help files, a graphics session is recommended.

If you wish to install the local help files, untar and build them first:

[Note]

Note

The current version of the docs expands to abiword-docs-3.0.1 and not the expected abiword-docs-3.0.2. 

tar -xf ../abiword-docs-3.0.2.tar.gz &&
cd abiword-docs-3.0.1                &&
./configure --prefix=/usr            &&
make

and then, as the root user: 

make install

Command Explanations

sed ...: This command corrects the source for changes in the dependency enchant-2.6.2.

--enable-plugins="collab openxml goffice grammar": Build some or all plugins. The openxml plugin enables Abiword to open some .docx files. The grammar plugin requires Link Grammar Parser

Configuring AbiWord

Config File

~/.AbiSuite/templates/normal.awt

Configuration Information

Choose the right template for your language and locale from the list produced by the following command: 

ls /usr/share/abiword-3.0/templates

Create the folder ~/.AbiSuite/templates then copy the normal.awt you want into it: 

install -v -m750 -d ~/.AbiSuite/templates &&
install -v -m640    /usr/share/abiword-3.0/templates/normal.awt-<lang> \
                    ~/.AbiSuite/templates/normal.awt

Change <lang> by the above command to fit the name of the file you want.

If you are using multiple languages, you may need to edit the template to use a font with greater coverage (e.g. one of the Dejavu fonts, because Abiword does not use fontconfig and can only display glyphs that are provided in the chosen font.

If you have desktop-file-utils-0.27 installed, you should run the update-desktop-database command to update the mimeinfo cache and allow the Help system to work.

If you have xdg-utils-1.1.3 installed, you should run the xdg-icon-resource forceupdate --theme hicolor command, for the installed icon to be displayed in the menu item.

Contents

Installed Program: abiword
Installed Library: libabiword-3.0.so
Installed Directories: /usr/include/abiword-3.0, /usr/lib/abiword-3.0, and /usr/share/abiword-3.0

Short Descriptions

abiword

is the word processor, a wrapper for the functions in libabiword-3.0 - it can also be used on the command line, see man 1 abiword

libabiword-3.0.so

provides functions to access MS Word documents