Apache OpenOffice (AOO) Bugzilla – Issue 92977
Windows installer for 3.0 Beta doesn't handle installation directories properly
Last modified: 2017-05-20 10:24:10 UTC
Windows installers, including the ones for OpenOffice 2.x, normally let you select the specific directory that the program gets installed in, typically with a default of something like "C:\Program Files\program name". The OOo 3.0 Beta installer, however, installs the actual program in two subdirecories named "OpenOffice.org 3" and "OpenOffice.org" *under* the specified directory, with the directory defaulting to "C:\Program Files". I don't know why the program is split between two directories like this, but the way the installation works now, it's effectively impossible to install OpenOffice to a specific desired directory, such as "C:\Program Files\OpenOffice.org 3.0 Beta". Also, the way the installer shows "C:\Program Files" as the installation directory is very confusing and makes it quite unclear where exactly the program is actually going to be installed.
This feature has been announced 26 Feb 2008: http://installation.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=features&msgNo=67 See also: http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/ooo_3_est_omnis_divisa And it is wrong, you still can install to "C:\Program Files\OpenOffice.org 3.0 Beta".
Not a defect
hey keel You are right - setup is working neither as expected nor intuitive - I guess you should reopen this - just for your info you may have a "side-look" to my issues 90954 and 92973 Martin
While I appreciate the explanation of why the installation is now split between two directories, that wasn't actually the part I was complaining about. I will attempt to explain more clearly. There are actually two issues here: 1) The installer does not allow you to specify precisely where the program is installed. Contrary to what "of" has said above, it's *not* possible to install to a specific directory such as "C:\Program Files\OpenOffice.org 3.0 Beta". If you change the installation directory from "C:\Program Files" to "C:\Program Files\OpenOffice.org 3.0 Beta", the installation will actually be split between "C:\Program Files\OpenOffice.org 3.0 Beta\OpenOffice.org" and "C:\Program Files\OpenOffice.org 3.0 Beta\OpenOffice.org 3". The problem is that the "OpenOffice.org" and "OpenOffice.org 3" directories are hardwired into the installer with no means provided to override them. 2) As I said, the fact that the installer shows "C:\Program Files" as the installation directory is a problem in and of itself, as it misleadingly indicates that the program is going to be installed directly into the "Program Files" directory, while giving the user no indication of where the program is *really* going to be installed. In particular, there's no warning that part of the program is going to be installed into "C:\Program Files\OpenOffice.org", which is likely to already contain an earlier version of OpenOffice. To sum up: the current 3.0 installation process gives the user too little control over the installation location, is unnecesarily confusing (and outright misleading), and is likely to leave the user with two different versions of OpenOffice mixed up into the same subdirectory structure. I can see some fairly obvious solutions to these problems, depending upon whether some of the installed components are meant to be shared between multiple programs, or whether they're all meant to be used only by this specific installation of OpenOffice. (From the links provoded by "of", it appears that the case is currently the latter, but is ultimately intended to be the former.) If some of the installed components are meant to be shared between multiple programs, then those shared components should automatically be placed in a standardized location under "c:\Program Files\Common Files" while the user is given the option of specifying the exact location of the program-specific files. In other words, always put the Basis and URE directories under "c:\Program Files\Common Files\OpenOffice.org" while using the user-specfied installation directory as the "brand" directory, presumably with a default of "C:\Program Files\OpenOffice.org 3". If, on the other hand, all the installed components are meant to be used only by this specific installation of OpenOffice, then I see two possible solutions: 1) change the installation process so that the user is shown (and is able to change) *both* installation directories individually, or 2) change the directory layout so that the Basis, URE, and brand directories are all placed under a single directory, then make that shared parent directory the official installation directory.
It occurs to me that my last post was rather severely verbose, so I've decided to provide a streamlined version for those who don't want to wade through all that text: The 3.0 installation process, as it currently stands, is unnecesarily confusing and is even likely to result in having two versions of OpenOffice unintentionally (and rather awkwardly) mixed together in the same subdirectory structure. You can see my previous post for details, but the key problem is that the installer incorrectly shows "c:\Program Files" as the installation directory while actually placing the program's files in two hardwired directories under the installation directory. Specificly, the current installation process places the three parts of OpenOffice in these locations: "<INSTALLDIR>\OpenOffice.org\Basis 3.0" "<INSTALLDIR>\OpenOffice.org\URE" "<INSTALLDIR>\OpenOffice.org 3" where, as I said, INSTALLDIR defaults to "c:\Program Files". The problems with the installation process could be solved if the default installation directory were changed to "C:\Program Files\OpenOffice.org 3" and the actual install locations were either "c:\Program Files\Common Files\OpenOffice.org\Basis 3.0" "c:\Program Files\Common Files\OpenOffice.org\URE" "<INSTALLDIR>" or "<INSTALLDIR>\Basis 3.0" "<INSTALLDIR>\URE" "<INSTALLDIR>\brand" with the deciding factor between those two options being whether the Basis and URE directories were meant to be shared between multiple programs or not.
Now I've got your idea. Thanks for this pointer. @ is: This is something we have to think about.
Accepting issue.
Setting target OOo 3.2.
*** Issue 98664 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue. ***
I'm sure I'm not the only person who abhors software that installs itself wherever the hell it wants to on MY machine(s). I have deliberately reserved partition C: for my operating system ONLY and install writing/editing type programs in partition E: This makes recovery from disastrous crashes, and my backups, far easier. With OO2 I had no problem but OO3 wants to take over my OS partition. For this reason I have removed it and will stick with 2.3 until this destructive BUG (because that's what I consider it) is corrected and removed from any future releases of OO.
@thegadfly: I completely agree that the bug discussed here should be fixed. However, the choice of the drive where to install is a completely different thing, and I cannot reproduce the problems that you encounter. If you choose a custom install, you can choose a different drive to install to. See the screenshot that I'll attach. To be 100% sure, you may use an administrative install, that even allows you to keep the old 2.x installation and run both versions in parallel. You'll find information on that in the following OOo Wiki article: http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Run_OOo_versions_parallel Regards, phil
Created attachment 60944 [details] Screenshot of OOo 3.0.1 Installer Dialog
Pardon me while I remove my feet from my mouth and wait for the red in my face to subside! MY error was thinking custom install only applied to the elements of the program I wanted installed and not - as I found out with 2.3 - also to a custom location. Thank you and now continue as you were before I rudely interrupted - GAD
Shifting target
*** Issue 104817 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue. ***
Please fix this. Most other software allows one to decide where to put the software. I had to manually move all the files, then edit the registry. Many minutes compared to a few seconds if this normal feature were allowed.
Caused by static 3 layers, I could change the default destination directory to the well-known values from OOo 2.x. Fixed in cws native305 for OOo 3.3.
is -> of: please verify in cws native305.
OF: Verified in cws native305.