Openoffice optimization

Do you use openoffice? If the answer is yes, then follow this series of optimization tips.

Openoffice takes a while before starting, and waiting drives me crazy. To speed up its initialization, I went to Tools menu and selected Options. Following recommended (optimized) values and my values (optimized) are presented. The choice is yours. If you stick with the recommended values it is still optimized values and it will be great for you. You will notice the difference. I just like to hack it a bit more.

From the third submenu Memory, I enter 7 undo steps (I don’t like consuming memory with undo history), others like to keep it not below 20 steps.

In Graphics cache it is recommended 128MB for optimized graphic illustrations (graphics do not have to be recalculated every time you return to the page where the graphic is placed), whereas I run it with 64MB.

Memory per object should be 20MB (meaning, objects larger than 20MB should not be placed in the cache), mine works with 5MB.

Remove from memory after should be 00:10 hh:mm (I keep it at 00:03 minutes).

Cache for inserted objects should be 20MB (again, I keep it at 5MB).

Check Enable office quickstarter if applicable.

From the submenu Java uncheck the option Use a java runtime environment. Note that by disabling this option you cannot work with wizards and use all features in databases and saving formats. So, remember to re-enable it when it’s the case.

In Linux, you can check the memory status by typing top at the console. Memory consumed by programs is expressed in percentage. By entering k (for kill process) you stop the monitoring and enter the number PID of the program you want to be terminated or ‘killed’. Openoffice (any program of the suite) runs under the name soffice.bin. Top asks you for confirmation in the form y/n. Note that some programs are critical for the system and root access is required. You should know what you’re doing before attempting to terminating any process. By hiting Control+C you exit at the command prompt.

Another way to administer running processes is by clicking on system monitor (gnome-system-monitor). You can run it either by entering its name at the command prompt or by right-clicking on any panel (top or bottom) and adding system monitor on your workspace (illustrated in graph). Now, system monitor is a graphical tool thus it is more suited to beginners.

Making the recommended memory changes in soffice.bin I see that it consumes 11.4 to 12.7 MB when idle.

A noticeable increase of speed is now a fact!