Develop Reference

LibreOffice Calc C# SDK: program to insert images into cells, stuck trying to create XGraphic

Background: I'm trying to write a program to insert an image into a cell of a spreadsheet. LibreOffice recently changed how this is done, and all the samples I could find use the old method which no longer works.
Technically I know that you can't "insert" an image into a cell and that such an image is an overlay on a DrawPage that sits on top of the spreadsheet to "decorate" it.
One of the first steps in doing this (the new way) is to create an XGraphic object which contains the image. The process is to create an XGraphicProvider and call it with MediaProperties that specify the image file URL to be loaded. I have a program that is supposed to do this but the resulting XGraphic is null. The LO SDK gives pretty much no information when you do something wrong; it just doesn't work.
Here is the code I have, with all the headers removed:
// addpic
// add picture to spreadsheet - debug version
class OpenOfficeApp {
[STAThread]
static void Main(string[] args) {
bool lreadonly;
string pqfile;
string pqURL;
string pqpic;
pqfile = "file:///D:/Documents/NSexeye/ODS%20File%20Access/"+
"addpix/addpic.ods";
pqpic = "addpic2";
pqURL = pqpic+".jpg";
lreadonly = false;
Console.WriteLine("Using: "+pqfile);
// get the desktop
XComponentContext XCC = uno.util.Bootstrap.bootstrap();
XMultiComponentFactory XMCF =
(XMultiComponentFactory)XCC.getServiceManager();
XMultiServiceFactory XMSF = (XMultiServiceFactory)XCC.getServiceManager();
XComponentLoader XCL =
(XComponentLoader)XMSF.createInstance("com.sun.star.frame.Desktop");
// open the spreadsheet
PropertyValue[] pPV = new PropertyValue[2];
pPV[0] = new PropertyValue();
pPV[0].Name = "Hidden";
pPV[0].Value = new uno.Any(true);
pPV[1] = new PropertyValue();
pPV[1].Name = "ReadOnly";
if (lreadonly) pPV[1].Value = new uno.Any(true);
else pPV[1].Value = new uno.Any(false);
XComponent XCo = XCL.loadComponentFromURL(pqfile,"_blank",0,pPV);
// create graphic object containing image
object oGP = XMCF.createInstanceWithContext(
"com.sun.star.graphic.GraphicProvider",XCC);
if (oGP == null) {
Console.WriteLine("oGP is null. Aborting.");
return;
}
XGraphicProvider XGP = (XGraphicProvider)oGP;
if (XGP == null) {
Console.WriteLine("XGP is null. Aborting.");
return;
}
pPV = new PropertyValue[1];
pPV[0] = new PropertyValue();
pPV[0].Name = "URL";
pPV[0].Value = new uno.Any(pqURL);
Console.WriteLine("Creating XGraphic containing "+pqURL);
XGraphic XG = XGP.queryGraphic(pPV);
// *** XG is null here
if (XG == null) {
Console.WriteLine("XG is null. Aborting.");
return;
}
// ... lots of stuff to be added here
// save and close the spreadsheet
XModifiable XM = (XModifiable)XCo;
XM.setModified(true);
XStorable XSt = (XStorable)XCo;
XSt.store();
XCloseable XCl = (XCloseable)XCo;
XCl.close(true);
// terminate LibreOffice
// *** I want this to not terminate it if something else is open
XDesktop XD = (XDesktop)XCL;
if (XD != null) XD.terminate();
}
}
I get a null for the XGraphic, in the place indicated in the comments. I don't know if the call to create it is failing, or if one of the earlier steps of the process are incorrect.
My goal here, in addition to getting my program working, is to create a sample program showing how to add an image to a Calc spreadsheet cell, and to manipulate such images. There are a fair number of people asking questions about this and none of the examples I've found will work. I think a good working sample will be of value.
I've spent a lot of time searching for information and code samples for this, with nothing that helps. I've tried to find ways to verify the validity of the XGraphicProvider interface with no luck. I've run out of things to try.
I'm hoping someone who knows about the LibreOffice SDK can take a look and maybe see what I'm doing wrong.
Update: I figured out what I was doing wrong: I was passing a bare filename in the "URL" property to XGraphicProvider. It has to be the same format (starting with "file:///") as the spreadsheet's file name specification.
Now I'm stuck with another property problem. The XGraphic has to be specified as a parameter to the GraphicObjectShape's Graphic property, but the setPropertyValue() function requires that it be a uno.Any type. I can't figure out how to specify an interface name like XGraphic as a uno.Any.
Here is the piece of code that won't compile, complaining that it can't convert an XGraphic to a uno.Any, in the first setPropertyValue call:
// set image XGraphic
XPropertySet XPS = (XPropertySet)XS;
XPS.setPropertyValue("Graphic",XG);
XPS.setPropertyValue("Name",new uno.Any(pqpic));
XG is an XGraphic type. Using "new uno.Any(XG)" doesn't work either, giving a similar compiler error.

After trying unsuccessfully for a few hours to get the latest LO SDK up and running, let me offer some untested ideas.
First of all, here is some working Basic code, no doubt similar to what you're translating from. The important line is oShape.Graphic = oProvider.queryGraphic(Props()).
oDoc = ThisComponent
oSheet = oDoc.CurrentController.ActiveSheet
pqURL = "file:///C:/Users/JimK/Desktop/addpic.jpg"
oProvider = createUnoService("com.sun.star.graphic.GraphicProvider")
oShape = oDoc.createInstance("com.sun.star.drawing.GraphicObjectShape")
Dim Props(0) as new com.sun.star.beans.PropertyValue
Props(0).Name= "URL"
Props(0).Value = pqURL
oShape.Graphic = oProvider.queryGraphic(Props())
oCell = oSheet.getCellByPosition(5,5)
oShape.Name = oCell.AbsoluteName + "##" + Props(0).Value
oShape.Anchor = oCell
oSheet.DrawPage.add(oShape)
'Resize
w = oShape.Graphic.Size.Width
h = oShape.Graphic.Size.Height
wcl = oCell.Size.Width
hcl = oCell.Size.Height
If w<>0 and h<>0 then
oCell.String=""
Dim Size as new com.sun.star.awt.Size
Size.Width = wcl
Size.Height = h*wcl/w
If Size.Height > hcl then
Size.Width = hcl*w/h
Size.Height = hcl
Endif
oShape.setSize(Size)
oShape.setPosition(oCell.Position)
erase oShape
Else
oShape.dispose()
Endif
Now, how to translate this to C#? It looks like you may need to explicitly specify the type. In the SDK example, there are calls like this.
xFieldProp.setPropertyValue(
"Orientation",
new uno.Any(
typeof (unoidl.com.sun.star.sheet.DataPilotFieldOrientation),
unoidl.com.sun.star.sheet.DataPilotFieldOrientation.DATA ) );
So in your case, something like this:
XPS.setPropertyValue(
"Graphic"
new uno.Any(
typeof(unoidl.com.sun.star.graphic.XGraphic),
XG));
Alternatively, follow the suggestion here: set GraphicURL, which should load the image and set Graphic for you.

C#.Net ClearsScript V8 enable modules

Is there a way to enable "import <module>.js;" statements in an embedded V8 Runtime using Microsoft ClearScript?
I couldn't find any examples and makes me think I'd have to parse the script file myself first to enable this.

Yes there is. See answer to this question as the basic approach. That question was about enabling CommonJS Require. For ES6 modules approach you will want something like this:
using System;
using Microsoft.ClearScript;
using Microsoft.ClearScript.JavaScript;
using Microsoft.ClearScript.V8;
namespace ConsoleApp1
{
class Program
{
static void Main()
{
V8ScriptEngine engine = new V8ScriptEngine();
engine.DocumentSettings.SearchPath = #"c:\temp\js\";
engine.DocumentSettings.AccessFlags = DocumentAccessFlags.EnableFileLoading;
engine.AddHostType(typeof(Console));
Console.WriteLine("Hello from C#");
engine.Execute(new DocumentInfo() { Category = ModuleCategory.Standard }, #"
Console.WriteLine('Hello from Javascript');
import {print} from 'a.js';
import {add} from 'b.js';
print(add(30, 12));
Console.WriteLine('Javascript signing off...');
");
Console.ReadKey();
}
}
}
Where the JS looks like this:
// File c:\temp\js\a.js
export function print(txt) {
Console.WriteLine('The answer to Life etc is ... ' + txt);
}
// File c:\temp\js\b.js
export function add(var1, var2) {
return var1 + var2;
}
Result is:
This example is reading files from the local file system as indicated by the AccessFlags = EnableFileLoading setting, with the SearchPath setting giving the path, or paths if given a comma-separated list of paths.
It is the 'ModuleCategory.Standard' option that enables ES6-stylee module loading.

You could also use a roll-your-own require() function similar to node.js. I wrote a blog article here and there's a working CodePen to illustrate the approach which was inspired by an article by Michele Nasti which was itself based on the ideas in chapter 10 of the book Eloquent JavaScript by Marijn Haverbeke.
Here is my coded example:
const myCode1 = `
let utils = function (){
this.say = function(x){
log('utils: says = ' + x)
};
return this;
}
exports.utils = utils;
`;
const myCode2 = `
let customer = function (){
this.say = function(x){
log('Customer: says = ' + x)
};
return this;
}
exports.customer = customer;
`;
/*
*/
// I am loading simple source code strings into an array - in the real solution
// you would use some kind of source code fetch / load to string process.
let sourceCode = {c1: myCode1, c2: myCode2};
myRequire.cache = Object.create(null);
function myRequire(name) {
log(`myRequire: You require file ${name}`)
if (!(name in myRequire.cache)) {
log(`myRequire: ${name} is not in cache; reading from disk`)
let code = sourceCode[name]; // load the code - this is bespoke to your env
let module = {exports: {}};
myRequire.cache[name] = module;
let wrapper = Function("require, exports, module", code);
wrapper(myRequire, module.exports, module);
}
log(`myRequire: ${name} is in cache. Returning it...`)
return myRequire.cache[name].exports;
}
// myRequire() produces an object from the 'exports' object in the loaded code.
//let myExports = new myRequire('c1');
// we can then refer to these as
// let util = myExports.utils();
// or just use
// let util = new myRequire('c1').utils();
// So...Require c1 will create an object with exports.
let util = new myRequire('c1').utils();
util.say('I am alive!')
log("");
// Require c2 will create an object with exports.
let cust = new myRequire('c2').customer();
cust.say('I am alive too!')
function log(msg){
$('#log').html($('#log').html() + "<br />" + msg);
}
The output is
myRequire: You require file c1
myRequire: c1 is not in cache; reading from disk
myRequire: c1 is in cache. Returning it...
utils: says = I am alive!
myRequire: You require file c2
myRequire: c2 is not in cache; reading from disk
myRequire: c2 is in cache. Returning it...
Customer: says = I am alive too!

How to serialize tensor input required by dnnclassifier (serving_input_reciever)

I want to be able to use the dnnclassifier (estimator) on top of IIS using tensorflowsharp. The model has previously been trained in python. I got so far that I can now generate PB files, know the correct input/outputs, however I am stuck in tensorflowsharp using string inputs.
I can create a valid .pb file of the iris dataset. It uses the following feate_spec:
{'SepalLength': FixedLenFeature(shape=(1,), dtype=tf.float32, default_value=None), 'SepalWidth': FixedLenFeature(shape=(1,), dtype=tf.float32, default_value=None), 'PetalLength': FixedLenFeature(shape=(1,), dtype=tf.float32, default_value=None), 'PetalWidth': FixedLenFeature(shape=(1,), dtype=tf.float32, default_value=None)}
I have created a simple c# console to try and spin it up. The input should be an "input_example_tensor" and the output is located in "dnn/head/predictions/probabilities". This I discoved after alex_zu provided help using the saved_model_cli command here.
As far as I am aware all tensorflow estimator API's work like this.
Here comes the problem: the input_example_tensor should be of a string format which will be parsed internally by the ParseExample function. Now i am stuck. I have found TFTensor.CreateString, but this doesn't solve the problem.
using System;
using TensorFlow;
namespace repository
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
using (TFGraph tfGraph = new TFGraph()){
using (var tmpSess = new TFSession(tfGraph)){
using (var tfSessionOptions = new TFSessionOptions()){
using (var metaGraphUnused = new TFBuffer()){
//generating a new session based on the pb folder location with the tag serve
TFSession tfSession = tmpSess.FromSavedModel(
tfSessionOptions,
null,
#"path/to/model/pb",
new[] { "serve" },
tfGraph,
metaGraphUnused
);
//generating a new runner, which will fetch the tensorflow results later
var runner = tfSession.GetRunner();
//this is in the actual tensorflow documentation, how to implement this???
string fromTensorflowPythonExample = "{'SepalLength': [5.1, 5.9, 6.9],'SepalWidth': [3.3, 3.0, 3.1],'PetalLength': [1.7, 4.2, 5.4],'PetalWidth': [0.5, 1.5, 2.1],}";
//this is the problem, it's not working...
TFTensor rawInput = new TFTensor(new float[4]{5.1f,3.3f,1.7f,0.5f});
byte[] serializedTensor = System.Text.Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(rawInput.ToString());
TFTensor inputTensor = TensorFlow.TFTensor.CreateString (serializedTensor);
runner.AddInput(tfGraph["input_example_tensor"][0], inputTensor);
runner.Fetch("dnn/head/predictions/probabilities", 0);
//start the run and get the results of the iris example
var output = runner.Run();
TFTensor result = output[0];
//printing response to the client
Console.WriteLine(result.ToString());
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
This example will give the following error:
An unhandled exception of type 'TensorFlow.TFException' occurred in TensorFlowSharp.dll: 'Expected serialized to be a vector, got shape: []
[[Node: ParseExample/ParseExample = ParseExample[Ndense=4, Nsparse=0, Tdense=[DT_FLOAT, DT_FLOAT, DT_FLOAT, DT_FLOAT], dense_shapes=[[1], [1], [1], [1]], sparse_types=[], _device="/job:localhost/replica:0/task:0/device:CPU:0"](_arg_input_example_tensor_0_0, ParseExample/ParseExample/names, ParseExample/ParseExample/dense_keys_0, ParseExample/ParseExample/dense_keys_1, ParseExample/ParseExample/dense_keys_2, ParseExample/ParseExample/dense_keys_3, ParseExample/Const, ParseExample/Const, ParseExample/Const, ParseExample/Const)]]'
How can I serialize tensors in such a way that I can use the pb file correctly?
I also posted the issue on github, here you can find the iris example python file, pb file and the console applications. In my opinion solving this creates a
neat solution for all tensorflow users having ancient production environments (like me).

The Expected serialized to be a vector, got shape: [] error can be fixed by using an overload of the TFTensor.CreateString function: Instead of directly taking a string, the model apparently expects a vector containing a single string:
TFTensor inputTensor = TFTensor.CreateString(new byte[][] { bytes }, new TFShape(1));
The input_example_tensor in your case now expects a serialized Example protobuf message (see also the docs and the example.proto file).
Using the protobuf compiler, I've generated a C# file containing the Example class. You can download it from here: https://pastebin.com/iLT8MUdR. Specifically, I used this online tool with CSharpProtoc and replaced the import "tensorflow/core/example/feature.proto"; line by the messages defined in that file.
Once you've added the file to your project, you'll need a package reference to Google.Protobuf. Then, you can pass serialized examples to the model like this:
Func<float, Tensorflow.Feature> makeFeature = (float x) => {
var floatList = new Tensorflow.FloatList();
floatList.Value.Add(x);
return new Tensorflow.Feature { FloatList = floatList };
};
var example = new Tensorflow.Example { Features = new Tensorflow.Features() };
example.Features.Feature.Add("SepalLength", makeFeature(5.1f));
example.Features.Feature.Add("SepalWidth", makeFeature(3.3f));
example.Features.Feature.Add("PetalLength", makeFeature(1.7f));
example.Features.Feature.Add("PetalWidth", makeFeature(0.5f));
TFTensor inputTensor = TFTensor.CreateString(
new [] { example.ToByteArray() }, new TFShape(1));
runner.AddInput(tfGraph["input_example_tensor"][0], inputTensor);
runner.Fetch("dnn/head/predictions/probabilities", 0);
//start the run and get the results of the iris example
var output = runner.Run();
TFTensor result = output[0];

Add class to compiled assembly (in memory)

Since CompileAssemblyFromSource add custom functions in a smart way was ignored im going to ask this question differently so people will bother to read it.
cutting at the chase,i am making a language by "translating" the new syntax into c# and compiling it in memory in this fashion.
using (Microsoft.CSharp.CSharpCodeProvider CodeProv =
new Microsoft.CSharp.CSharpCodeProvider())
{
CompilerResults results = CodeProv.CompileAssemblyFromSource(
new System.CodeDom.Compiler.CompilerParameters()
{
GenerateInMemory = true
},
code);
var type = results.CompiledAssembly.GetType("MainClass");
var obj = Activator.CreateInstance(type);
var output = type.GetMethod("Execute").Invoke(obj, new object[] { });
Console.WriteLine(output);
}
basically i am executing a "main" function written inside the code variable.
and i am using some functions in the code variable i would like to include without adding it as a string at the bottom like this:
code += #"public void Write(string path, object thevar)
{
if (thevar.GetType() == typeof(string))
{
System.IO.File.WriteAllText(path,(string)thevar);
}
if (thevar.GetType() == typeof(string[]))
{
System.IO.File.WriteAllLines(path,(string[])thevar);
}
}";
Can i somehow add a class from my Actual main project in VS and let the compiled in memory code access it? without adding it as a string.

You can embed your source code file(s) as resources. With this technique you can edit the file in Visual Studio and access the contents of the files as if it was a string during run-time.
This link shows how to do it:
https://stackoverflow.com/a/433182/540832

C# Backing Up And Restoring Clipboard

I have a program that uses clipboard but I want to restore the clipboard to its former state after I am done with it.
This is my code :
IDataObject temp = Clipboard.GetDataObject();
//Some stuff that change Cliboard here
Clipboard.SetText("Hello");
//Some stuff that change Cliboard here
Clipboard.SetDataObject(temp);
But it if I copy a text, and run this code, I get nothing on notepad.
NOTE : I can't use Clipboard.Contains because I want to preserve the Clipboard EXACLY how it was before, even if the user copied a file.

I cannot confirm whether this will work, but I see no reason why you shouldn't be able to back up the data using the longer approach of actually reading the data and restoring it afterwards.
Read here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.windows.forms.idataobject.aspx
You would do something like (pseudo-code)
//Backup
var lBackup = new Dictionary<string, object>();
var lDataObject = Clipboard.GetDataObject();
var lFormats = lDataObject.GetFormats(false);
foreach(var lFormat in lFormats)
{
lBackup.Add(lFormat, lDataObject.GetData(lFormat, false));
}
//Set test data
Clipboard.SetText("asd");
//Would be interesting to check the contents of lDataObject here
//Restore data
foreach(var lFormat in lFormats)
{
lDataObject.SetData(lBackup[lFormat]);
}
//This might be unnecessary
Clipboard.SetDataObject(lDataObject);

Is your application exiting after resetting the clipboard?
Assuming it is a Win Form app. (not sure how it works in wpf though)
You could use one of the other overloaded version of Clipboard.SetDataObject
public static void SetDataObject(object data, bool copy)
which preserves the data even after your app exits.
ex: in your case after removing the text content you could call Clipboard.SetDataObject(iDataObject, true);
EDIT:2
I Could source step through Clipboard.cs .NET Frameword 4 / VS 2010.
Download the .NET Framework 4 from here http://referencesource.microsoft.com/netframework.aspx.
Follow the below steps and if it asks for the source (Clipboard.cs) it would be in the Source sub-dir of the installation dir.
EDIT:1
Not sure why the same code doesn't work.
Cannot be a security/permission issue as the code doesn't throw an exception as you say.
There is another approach - source stepping into Framework code - Clipboard.cs
Based on the VS version and .NET framework it may vary ( I couldn't get the source stepping work for .NET 4 as the info is that the symbols with source support haven't yet been released). I'm trying my luck by downloading it manually from here (.NET Version 4)
If you are running VS 2008 and older version of .NET then the below steps should work for you.
More details are here. For .NET Framework 4 - here

This cannot be done. You cannot backup/restore the clipboard without causing unintended consequences.
Please see my post on a similar question. My answer is the one that starts with "It's folly to try to do this".
How do I backup and restore the system clipboard in C#?
Furthermore, I suspect that your motivation for wanting to backup/restore the clipboard is because you want to use it as a crutch to move data, without the user's knowledge or consent. Please read:
http://www.clipboardextender.com/developing-clipboard-aware-programs-for-windows/common-general-clipboard-mistakes
and
http://www.flounder.com/badprogram.htm#clipboard
Lastly, please read and understand this quote:
“Programs should not transfer data into our out of the clipboard without an explicit instruction from the user.” — Charles Petzold, Programming Windows 3.1, Microsoft Press, 1992

I tested the pseudocode from Lukas and found out doesn't work always, this works in all my tests:
// Backup clipboard
lBackup = new Dictionary<string, object>();
lDataObject = Clipboard.GetDataObject();
lFormats = lDataObject.GetFormats(false);
foreach (var lFormat in lFormats)
{
lBackup.Add(lFormat, lDataObject.GetData(lFormat, false));
}
//Set test data
Clipboard.SetText("asd");
//Restore clipboard
lDataObject = new DataObject();
foreach (var lFormat in lFormats)
{
lDataObject.SetData(lFormat, lBackup[lFormat]);
}
//This might be unnecessary
Clipboard.SetDataObject(lDataObject);

I have had success with this.
...to a certain degree.
Where I am currently falling down is trying to copy and restore Bitmaps of varying size.
I can successfully copy and restore a Bitmap of smallish size.
I then tried to do the same for (as the fore-warning Chris Thornton suggested) a gargantuan Excel worksheet with both thousands of cell data, as well as two sets of data on a graph, lying on the same worksheet.
I have found that the data copies and restores without problem. Where it falls down in this instance is allowing the 2-set graph with the worksheet copy.
If any of you have had a problem in copying and restoring Bitmaps, let me suggest what worked for me: when attempting to restore the Clipboard, iterate through the list of formats in reverse order and set each data object that way. (i.e. It seems that a Clipboard must be set in reverse order that it was copied in)
Regarding the case of the gargantuan Excel worksheet and accompanying graph, I also hit another stumbling block: I could not successfully copy the data object whose format was "Meta Data File". That could be the reason why Copy/Restore doesn't work in this case.
I got this far about two weeks ago, and tabled it for more pressing issues.
I wanted to put this out there to let anyone else trying to do the same that it seems like it can be done. (anything can be done in computer science. anything.)

I compiled this code and it seems to work for me. I am persisting via converting to and from json. (Note. It will not do steams so adapt if you need it to)
using Newtonsoft.Json;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Threading;
namespace Clipboard
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Execute(() =>
{
var backup = Backup();
System.Windows.Forms.Clipboard.SetText("text"); //just to change clipboard
Restore(backup);
});
}
private static void Execute(Action action)
{
var thread = new Thread(() => action());
thread.SetApartmentState(ApartmentState.STA);
thread.Start();
thread.Join();
}
private static List<ClipboardItem> Backup()
{
var backup = new List<ClipboardItem>();
var data = System.Windows.Forms.Clipboard.GetDataObject();
System.Windows.Forms.Clipboard.SetDataObject(data, copy: true); //This seems to be needed to be able to serialize data later.
data = System.Windows.Forms.Clipboard.GetDataObject();
var formats = data.GetFormats(false).ToList();
formats.ForEach(f =>
{
if (data.GetData(f, false) != null && !(data.GetData(f, false) is Stream))
{
backup.Add(new ClipboardItem()
{
Format = f,
ObjectType = data.GetData(f, false).GetType(),
ObjectJson = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(data.GetData(f, false))
});
}
});
return backup;
}
private static void Restore(List<ClipboardItem> backup)
{
var data = new System.Windows.Forms.DataObject();
backup.ForEach(item =>
{
data.SetData(item.Format, JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(item.ObjectJson, item.ObjectType));
});
System.Windows.Forms.Clipboard.SetDataObject(data, copy: true);
}
}
public class ClipboardItem
{
public string Format { get; set; }
public Type ObjectType { get; set; }
public string ObjectJson { get; set; }
}
}