In OpenOffice v2.0.3 and earlier, the path configuration settings in org.openoffice.Office.Common/Path/Default and org.openoffice.Office.Common/Path/Current are considered deprecated but continue to be used by OpenOffice. In addition to these settings, OpenOffice v2.0.4 and later use the settings in org.openoffice.Office.Paths.
The interaction of these settings is complex. The following describes how these settings work, then offers a recommendation on how to configure these settings.
Three of these path settings, Backup, Temp and Work, are "single paths" which means they reference only a single directory. For these settings, the values in org.openoffice.Office.Paths are ignored, and only the values in org.openoffice.Office.Common/Path/Default and org.openoffice.Office.Common/Path/Current are used. These three paths can be configured the same as in OpenOffice v2.0.3, with one exception: the settings cannot be completely locked down by marking the value "Final" (see Note below).
For each of the remaining path settings, OpenOffice builds the path list by concatenating the following:
(a) the names (not the values) of the keys under org.openoffice.Office.Paths/Paths/NamedPath['Pathname']/InternalPaths. These names reference and installation paths and are considered read-only. They cannot be edited by the user and are not shown to the user. The current release of OpenOffice-Enterprise does not allow these internal values to be changed, but this limitation is intended to be addressed in a future release.
(b) the value in org.openoffice.Office.Paths/Paths/NamedPath['Pathname']/UserPaths
(c) the value in org.openoffice.Office.Common/Path/Current/Pathname
(d) the value in org.openoffice.Office.Paths/Paths/NamedPath['Pathname']/WritePath
These four values, each of which can be a list of paths, are concetentated and duplicate paths removed. The last path in the resulting list is considered the "WritePath" which is where new user files are written.
If a user clicks "Default" in the Tools | Options | OpenOffice | Paths dialog, this entire list, with the exception of the internal paths defined in location (a), is replaced by the contents of org.openoffice.Office.Common/Path/Default/Pathname.
Note: The current release of the OpenOffice-Enterprise software does not allow the path settings in OpenOffice v2.0.4 or later to be completely locked down so that users are unable to change them. When a value is marked "Final", the setting is partially locked down. The user can temporarily change a "Final" setting using the menu Tools | Options | OpenOffice | Paths, however the changes are not saved to disk and the path reverts to its "Final" value when OpenOffice is restarted. This limitation that a path setting cannot be completely locked down so it cannot be edited is intended to be addressed in a future release. Note however that while individual path settings cannot be completely locked down, an administrator could prevent editing of all path settings by disabling the Tools | Options | OpenOffice | Paths menu. For instructions, see Hide configuration options.
The following strategy is recommended for configuring paths in OpenOffice v2.0.4 and later:
1. Under org.openoffice.Office.Paths/Paths/NamedPath['Pathname'], set WritePath to the desired WritePath, i.e., the default location where new user files are written.
2. Under both org.openoffice.Office.Common/Path/Default and org.openoffice.Office.Common/Path/Current, set the value of Pathname to the desired path list, making sure the last path in the list is the same "WritePath" entered in Step 1.
For example, to add a network location to the list of template directories:
In org.openoffice.Office.Paths/Paths/NamedPath['Template']
set WritePath to $(userurl)/template
In org.openoffice.Office.Common/Path/Default
set Template to #file://server/share/OpenOffice/template#$(userurl)/template#
In org.openoffice.Office.Common/Path/Current
set Template to #file://server/share/OpenOffice/template#$(userurl)/template#
Unlike OpenOffice v2.0.3, making the above change in OpenOffice v2.0.4 or later will not disable the installation templates because they are referenced in org.openoffice.Office.Paths/Paths/NamedPath['Template']/InternalPaths
Paths can be set using one or more of the environmental variables shown at OpenOffice path variables, optionally followed by a subdirectory. Alternatively, a path can be set to an absolute directory location. When setting an absolute location, the value must be entered as a file URL, in the form file://server/share/path. For more infomation, see OpenOffice File URL's.