The Environment

OpenOffice.org separates a component's functionality into three distinct categories: the model, the controller, and the frame. The model consists of the document data and the methods to directly change the data. The controller is aware of the current view and the data; it manipulates the document while receiving input from the user interface. The frame combines the pieces; it contains a model's controller and knows all about the display window. The frame does not, however, have any display window functionality; the frame just knows that display windows exist.

Tip  

In OOo, the word "component" almost always means an open document. The Basic IDE and the help window are also components .

The OOo application is broken into two environments-two separate pieces-that interact with each other to form the entire program: the desktop environment and the framework environment. The desktop environment is the main application piece that controls everything. The desktop uses (controls and manipulates) the framework environment to accomplish its tasks . Although a complete discussion of these details is beyond the scope of this book, the OOo Developer's Guide provides a lot of excellent and detailed information about the environment.