How to debug OpenOffice problems

This page explains information that should be included when filing bugs related to OpenOffice.org. Problems involving OpenOffice.org should generally be filed against openoffice.org.

General

 * Mention if you are using KDE or GNOME, as it often matters. If you have non-Fedora-supplied KDE theme engines installed, try one of the supported ones.
 * Check that similar applications don't behave the same way, e.g. if Firefox/gedit/glxgears do the same thing as OOo, then it's unlikely to be an OOo bug.
 * If you know you have something unusual about your setup, mention it.
 * ".doc documents created with msword running under wine don't open in OOo" as opposed to just saying ".doc files don't open in OOo"
 * "Saving to a samba share doesn't work" versus "saving doesn't work"

Crashes
$> gdb /usr/lib/openoffice.org/program/soffice.bin (gdb) run -writer (gdb) bt
 * A crash on startup might be a crash in some OpenGL lib, not OOo itself.
 * Get the test source at.
 * Run  to compile it.
 * If it also crashes, your bug is probably not an OOo bug.
 * If the crash dialog appears, paste the stacktrace it gives you into your bug report.
 * If you can, install the debuginfo and try:


 * Paste the backtrace in your bug report.


 * ( should be changed accordingly, depending on which application you are using, to one of:  )

Other bug types

 * If there is an error/warning message, say what the message is.
 * If it happens with a particular document, attach the document. If you can, trim the document down to the smallest test case that reproduces the problem. "Scroll to page 912 and the graphic is misplaced" is much less appealing than having a one-page example.
 * If you think there is something wrong with what is being displayed, attach a screenshot. I might not understand your description.
 * Example: "formula font is wrong"


 * Is it the font used in the text area for editing the formula, or is it the font used to display the formula? Did you mean the math editor, or did you actually mean formulas in calc? A screenshot would solve these kinds of questions.