OpenOffice.org Training, Tips, and Ideas

OpenOffice Calc and Writer Chart Users -- This Is for You

This looks pretty fantastic. New features for charting coming in OpenOffice.org 2.4.

http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/new_chart_features_in_openoffice

and more here: http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Chart2/Features2.4

To try it out, click here for the announcement and download info.

Here's just one of the new features, quoting from this post.

Equation and Value of R² for Trend Lines

Now, it is possible to display the equation for a trend line (regression curve) next to it. The formula object can be moved around, formatted with a number format, font and graphical formatting.

Alternatively, or in addition, the correlation coefficient R² can be displayed in the formula object.

---

---

Going to a new line in the same OpenOffice Calc cell

In Excel and in Calc, you can create a carriage return, aka line break, to go to a new line within the same cell.

You do this by pressing Ctrl Enter to go to a new line.

However. In Excel you can do this with your cursor in the input field at the top or in the cell. In Calc, your cursor needs to be in the cell.

Also (thanks to a reader for a note on this). One occasional issue. This applies rarely and only if you've got some serious spreadsheet action. But keep in mind that the carriage return will sometimes be interpreted as a space. Do you care? Probably not if you're not running any evaluations of that cell. But keep this bug in mind.

---

---

A Plea for the New Year: Don't Use Default Tabs

What Are Default Tabs?

The default tabs are the ones that you use if you simply press the Tab key. They are marked on the ruler as small upside down Ts. Whenever you press the Tab key and your cursor is in your text, you move along the cursor as far as one more of the default tabs. The default tabs in the following illustration are every half inch on the ruler.

 

The tab key indicators in the text look like arrows when you choose View > Nonprinting Characters, as shown below.  See that there are tab markers on the ruler to show where pressing Tab takes you, and tab key indicators in the text to show where you have actually pressed Tab. You can delete them if you want to get rid of them.

Before we continue, note that the info for Rachel and Bob above starts at the 2" mark.

It’s MUCH better to specify tabs yourself, though.

Why It’s Better to Create Your Own Tabs

This is better for several reasons. One is that you can position the tab exactly where you want it, and you only have to press Tab once.

You can also easily change the position of the tabbed text just by selecting all the tabbed text, then dragging the tab mark to another location. In the illustration below, the tab has been dragged  from approximately 1 7/8 to 1 5/8, or whatever. Note where the cursor is on the ruler. (I also deleted all the extra tab indicators from the text, because I only need one.)

 

 

 

A primary reason for creating your own tabs, relating to document conversion, is that default tab settings are specific not just to the application, but to the user. Each application, like Word or Writer, might have the default tabs set to different increments, and you can set yours differently than your co-workers. If the default tabs are .25 inches apart in Word, but .5 inches apart in Writer, then your document will look a lot different when you open it in Writer.  Your document using default tabs also might look quite differently to you than to your boss. And even switching between Writer and Writer might cause problems if you've set your default tabs differently.

You can change the default tab settings in Writer under Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org Writer > General. However, it’s best to set the tabs where you want them in the original document. Then when you open the document in the other text-editing application, there are no tab-related corrections to make.

Creating Your Own Tabs

Select at least part of EVERY line that should have that tab. Then click on the ruler, in Writer, and drag the tab mark that appears to wherever you want it. The tabs you create are slightly larger, as shown.

Then when you press Tab once, your cursor will go all the way to that mark, disregarding any default tabs to the left of it.

To change the tab position, again select ALL the text (at least part of every line) that has that tab marker, then click and hold down on the tab marker on the ruler, and drag it. The text will follow.

You can also define tabs by selecting the paragraph(s) that need tabs and choosing Format > Paragraph, Tabs tab.

 

---

---

Looking Like Ubuntu, on Windows

Ever wish you could easily make your Windows install of OpenOffice look like Ubuntu? Well, the Ubuntu folks have posted a very easy solution. Download the Ubuntu icons.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=343044

It's a very easy matter of downloading a zip file and copying it to a directory under ProgramFiles\OpenOffice, then making a change under Tools > Options.

Free Presentations to Organizations Considering Switching to OpenOffice.org or StarOffice This Year

I can feel it. This year is already different. In the first month of the year, I have received a far higher number of requests for training and for consulting. Also, notably, I've received several requests for input on how to, and whether to, make the transition to OpenOffice.org or StarOffice.

I'm particularly pleased with the last item, since planning is essential to a successful, smooth transition to OOo or SO for  your organization.

If you're part of an organization that's looking at making the transition and you'd like some input from me, I'm happy--actually, eager--to give it. For February and March, I will give as many free one-hour sessions on tips for a successful transition to OOo and SO as I can fit into my schedule. I might extend this option longer, depending on response and other projects.

• If you're in the Denver metro area, I'm happy to come by in person.
• If you're outside the metro area, I can work with you on the phone, or present using the ReadyTalk multi-platform screensharing tool or your own screensharing tool.
• If you'd like to set up a paid in-person consulting visit of one or more days, please contact me.

Here's a thought about why transitioning to OOo or SO . Most people have only used one office suite in their lives, maybe two.  Switching to another office suite is going to be, for them, analogous to living in a small town all their lives and then making their first visit outside the country as an adult without knowing anything about what the trip will be like. It's not that the foreign country is so inherently hard to figure out, but that they've never done it before, and aren't used to all the unexpected differences. If they're  mentally prepared for a change, open to the idea of learning; and have some essential tools like a guide, some good shoes, and a couple weeks of basic French; the experience will be much better.

---

---

How to insert graphics that are reasonably manageable

I sat down a few weeks ago to figure out the best way to anchor pictures.  Specifically, how to do it in a standard context like this. You have a paragraph or line of text describing something, and you might then say "....as shown in the following illustration." Then you have a picture on a line by itself. No wrapping or anything, very simple. Like this.

The horses at the Kalispell Dude Ranch are well-trained and gentle.

A very reliable way to do it is by anchoring  As Character.

Anchor As Character treats the graphic like a letter. Which means you can't drag it around, but that you can position it using the text alignment and indent features. And the less dragging, the less it is likely to be a little Skittery.

How to Use Anchor as Character

Step 1: Insert the Picture.

Create a blank line for the picture by pressing Return after the text. Choose Insert > Picture > From File and find the file (or just drag the picture in from the Gallery).

Step 2: Anchor the Picture As Character.

Right-click on the picture and choose Anchor > As Character.

Step 3: Position the Graphic Horizontally

Click NOT on the graphic but in the empty line NEXT to the graphic. Then just use the Left, Center, or Right alignment icon on the toolbar.

Troubleshooting: If the picture shows up about a quarter inch high, that's because the paragraph style applied has a height max on it. Nothing wrong with that, it's just not suitable for a style that's applied to the line a picture is on.

Either:

* Click in the paragraph marker next to the picture and choose Default from the dropdown style list

* Or click in the paragraph next to the picture, choose Format > Paragraph, Indents&Spacing tab, and select Single as shown.

Step 4: Position the Graphic Vertically

To control whether the graphic is vertically at the top, middle, or bottom of the blank line, right-click on it again and choose Align > Base At Top, Middle, or Bottom. You don't have to do this if you think the way it looks is fine.

Optional 1: If you want to make sure that the graphic automatically stays with the previous line of text describing it, here's what to do. Select the text above the graphic, choose Format > Paragraph, Text Flow tab, and select Keep With Next Paragraph.  Be sure to do this only with the paragraphs that precede graphics or you’ll end up with unusual pagination.

You might decide to create a specific style that you use for paragraphs that precede graphics, and define that style with the Keep With Next Paragraph attribute.

Optional 2: Click on the line, on the same line as the picture, and choose Format > Paragraph, Indents&Spacing tab. In the Spacing section in the middle, you can set spacing above and below the picture to space it so that it looks good and not too crowded up against the text.

Optional 3: Click on the picture and choose Insert > Caption to create a caption that stays with the picture.

The text, with a numbered field, will be inserted next to the picture, and the picture AND the new caption will be encased in a frame. That's how the caption stays with the picture.

Other Tips

A Setting You Probably Really, Really Don't Want

Here's what not to do. Right-click on the picture, choose the Type tab, and unmark the Follow Text Flow setting.

That will give you this result, with the picture going outside the margin. Yuck.

What About Anchor to Paragraph?

Anchor to paragraph is OK, as long as you don't unmark the Follow Text Flow option above. (I.e. keep that option marked.) You can drag the picture around with Anchor to Paragraph. But anytime you have that amount of freedom, it's possible to accidentally put the graphic where it shouldn't be. So I recommend trying Anchor as Character for solid graphics that stay where you put them.

---

---

Bullets not to use in Microsoft Word

I've been doing some work with converting documents between Word and Writer, and have found that this bullet format doesn't go well between the two. The text ends up in the middle of the document, and there's no space between the bullet and the text. Steer clear of this bullet format in Word and you'll have a better conversion experience.

---

---

Numbering in Impress slides

Numbering is....not perfect.

You can do this just fine. Select your bullet points, choose Format > Numbering and Bullets, click the numbering style tab, select a number format, click OK, and you're good.

But what if you want a normal unnumbered line in the main text area, then start with a numbered list that, of course starts a one? You can't (not easily) because numbering starts on the first item in the main text area. This is what happens if you select the second and subsequent items and apply numbering.

There is one hack and one workaround.

The Hack: Offset the first line so it starts a zero.
1. Select the items you want numbered. Choose Format > Bullets and Numbering, Njumbering Type tab, select your numbering format as usual.

2. Then click the Customize tab. Select Level 1 in the level list at the left.

3. Type 0 (zero) in the Start At field.

4. Click OK. Now the unnumbered item thinks it's 0.

Can you set it farther back like -1? No.

The Workaround: Just type your numbers.

It's easier than struggling to make Impress do something it won't, and of course there are no formatting snafus if you go back and forth between Impress and Powerpoint.

The Other Workaround: Does it really need to be a numbered list?

If not, use bullets.

---

---

Grammar checker addon for OpenOffice Writer

There isn't a built-in grammar checker. If you want to add one, here's a grammar checker extension, one of the many on the extensions page for OpenOffice.org.

Once you download it, choose Tools > Extension Manager to install it.

---

---

How to Modify OpenOffice Calc So that the Delete Key Deletes Immediately, and Backspace or Another Key Brings Up the Delete Window

It's the little things, isn't it.

In OpenOffice.org Calc, you have to press Backspace to delete cell contents instead of pressing Delete like in Excel.

Press Delete in Calc, and you get a Delete window that lets you delete formats, text, formulas and/or other elements, a very useful feature. It just might not be quite what you expect.

Some folks note this as one of the issues with OpenOffice, like the Delete key thing.  That blog certainly isn't the only one; I'm just listing it as an example and to....well, just keep reading. I think Greg C's point in the blog is just that the Delete-versus-Backspace is an unnecessary difference from MS Office.

Would it make sense to set up the OpenOffice defaults to be the opposite way around? Sure. Did Novell swap it around in their version? Yes.  Is it still a good idea to consider switching to OpenOffice to save thousands or millions of dollars, even if your users will have to change how they do some tasks? Yes.

But honestly, is having to learn to press a different key all that big a deal? Really?

Besides. Can you change OpenOffice so that when you press Delete, the contents of the cell(s) are just plain deleted, like you expect? Yes.

Either follow these steps, or skip to the end and download the configuration file. Load it according to the instructions at the end.

1. Choose Tools > Customize, Keyboard tab.

2. Be sure that the Calc radio button is selected.

3. In the Shortcut Keys area of the window at the top, select Delete as shown. In the Functions area of the window at the bottom: under Category select Edit, and under Function select the FIRST of the two "Delete Contents" items. This is the one that just deletes, bam, with no window.

4. Click Modify. You'll see Delete now listed as a key.

5. If you don't want Backspace to delete contents, then select Backspace in the Keys list in the lower right corner and click the Delete button.

6. Now scroll through the Shortcut Keys list at the top and find a function you want to use to bring up the Delete window. It can be Backspace, or Ctrl 8, or whatever you want.

Then in the lower part of the window, as before, under Category select Edit and under Function select the SECOND "Delete Contents" item.

7. Click Modify. Your new selection will be the one that brings up the interactive Delete window.

8. If you want to share this configuration with others, click Save and name the file in the window that appears. Here's mine--right-click on that link and choose to save the link target to your computer.

Loading the Configuration File  Give the configuration file to your friends. They should choose Tools > Customize, Keyboard tab, and click Load to load that file. Then they'll be happily pressing Delete, as well.

---

---

The not-entirely-halcyon life of a Microsoft Office 2007 user

If you're thinking you'd like to try OpenOffice but it might be just too much work, or trouble, or something, remember to keep a realistic eye on what life is like in the Microsoft Office world.

A recently reversed service pack disabled the ability to open older file formats, for instance.

Nothing is perfect. Ya got trouble, periodically, in Office Suite City, with a capital T that rhymes with P and that stands for Practically Everyone Has to Deal With Software Issues. That's the nature of software. OpenOffice has problems and Microsoft Office has problems. I think Notepad is pretty problem-free but then, it has maybe 20 features. ;>

I just like to remind folks that life with Microsoft is not, as they say on Buffy, a happy land of beautiful fields and dancing schnauzers and being demi-gods. There are issues. Such as closed document formats and a big honkin' price tag and spontaneous style creation and crashing corrupted Word files that can't be opened with Word but can be opened with OpenOffice. And fun with service packs.

---

---

Sharing OpenOffice Impress (and Powerpoint) Presentations Online

If you find yourself emailing versions of a presentation around to collaborators, consider one or more of these instead. They're online sites that let you share your presentations.

http://www.kuanhoong.com/2008/01/08/5-ways-to-upload-store-share-or-present-your-powerpoint-files/

---

---

Getting OpenOffice files into Google Web Apps, and getting your files back out of Google Web Apps

OpenOffice formats are supported by Google docs. (Thanks, Google!)

Getting Data From OpenOffice.org Into Google Docs
You can copy and paste into a new blank document, of course.

You can click the Upload tab and get this window.

And there's a nice little extension for OpenOffice.org that when installed will give you a menu for uploading your docs to your Google account.

Getting the Data Out Into OpenOffice.org Format

When you're editing a document, there's this option.

In the main window, there's this option.

Getting Other Google Contents Out, to OpenOffice or Other Formats
This blog shows how to get your Google content for Google docs as well as other Google web apps like AdSense.

http://www.webomatica.com/wordpress/2008/01/09/how-to-get-your-data-out-of-google-web-apps/

---

---

How Various AutoFilter Operations Work on Data Not Currently Shown in OpenOffice Calc

I could have sworn I had posted this already, but I think it was just included in a comment on this post.

http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2007/11/using-the-autof.html

Thanks to Huw for the tips. For information on the sites, see:
http://www.openoffice.org/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=33851
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Calc/Drafts/Issue_33851
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Talk:Calc/Drafts/Issue_33851

 

Let's say you've got a big list of employees: name, address, etc. When you apply the filter and view, for instance, only people from Montana, some of the data isn’t shown. If you then copy, paste, delete, or perform other operations on the data, what happens to the data that isn’t shown? If you delete Artie Anderson from Montana and Cindy Chalmers from Montana, what happens to Betsy Bates from Nevada?

It all depends on the operation. Some, like delete, leave the unshown data alone. Some do affect the unshown data.

Operations that DO affect filtered out rows.

• Cut and Paste

• Move (dragging)

• Fille (Edit > Fill or dragging)

Operations which do NOT affect filtered out rows:

• Copy

• Delete contents

• Delete row

• Format

• Find & Replace in current selection

More About Operations that DO Affect Filtered-Out Rows

Cut and Paste, Versus Copy and Paste

With Cut and Paste, the non-shown data is cut and also pasted.

• When you paste the data outside of the filter range, the whole set of data is pasted and unaffected anymore by the filter.

• When you paste the data inside the filter range, the whole set of data is pasted, and all data is shown at first, even data that shouldn’t show for the current filter selections. However, if you re-apply the filter selections using the dropdown lists in the heading row, then the data is filtered correctly.

Click the following to see a bigger image.

With Copy and Paste, the behavior is different. If you cut, you get the nonshown rows, but if  you copy, you don’t.

Dragging Cells to Move Them

When you move rows (dragging) that include unshown rows, the behavior is the same as cut and paste. The unshown rows between shown rows are moved along with the shown rows.

Fill (Edit > Fill or Dragging the Cell Handle)

Here’s what happens with Fill. Here’s some sample data, and currently everyone is in the same department.

You now look at only people from Colorado.

You change the department for the first person from Colorado, and drag that department down through all the other people from Colorado.

Now, all the nonshown rows after the first row you changed are affected, but not the rows before that.

More About Operations that Don’t Affect Filtered-Out Rows

Copying and pasting, deleting, formatting, and Find and Replace don’t affect unshown data. The following section provides an example.

Deleting

Here’s a walkthrough of deleting rows while the filter is on. Rows that aren’t shown aren’t affected.

Look at the range from row 15, Dan Montbatten, to row 20, Beth Jerlin. Dan and Beth are both from Montana.  In between are Jon, Marcus, and Kyle.

The next illustration shows an AutoFilter with only people from Montana, which includes Dan and Beth but excludes the three rows between.

 

Now delete Dan and Beth.

And they go away. However, when the state autofilter criterion is removed, Jon, Marcus, and Kyle are still there.

 

 

---

---

Free Linux Ebooks

Free Linux Ebooks! From Lifehacker.com. 68 free books.

---

---

Note on the font color icons in OpenOffice Writer

To apply color to text in OpenOffice.org Writer, you select the text, then click and hold down on a text color icon, find the color  you want, and click the color. (Note that right now before the color is applied, the color under the A of the font color icon is white.)

That color is applied to the text, of course. Note that now the line under the A font color icon is red, the most recently applied color. Even though no red text is selected.

Now if I select some more text and just click the font color icon, rather than having to bring up the palette and pick the color again, like before, I get the most recently applied font color (the one shown in the line under the font color icon).

Ditto with the highlighting icon and the fill icon.

That is the way it works in Word, I understand, and that's how it now works in Writer 2.3. It does NOT work this way in Calc or Impress/Draw, though I would have to assume that's coming.

I wanted to point that out because I've heard complaints about how the text color icon (or text highlight icon) used to show the color of the currently selected text, not the color that you most recently applied. One could make an argument either way, but apparently the OpenOffice PTB (powers that be) decided to switch it to match Word. I must admit that I like it the new way, myself.

So -- two things here. One, that the OpenOffice folks listened to input from users, and two, that the font colors work this way in 2.3.

---

---

Setting the default fonts for OpenOffice Writer

When you choose to create a new Writer document, you don't pick what font appears by default -- one is chosen for you. Often something like Thorndale, or a nice Nimbus Sans L, 12-point. If you then apply a heading, then a different font is used.

I don't really like the defaults, so I change the font.

Changing the font every time you create a new document is a bit of a pain, though. It's possible to set up OpenOffice so that when you create new documents, they're  the font you want.

Choose Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org Writer > Basic Fonts (Western). Click the following illustration to see it bigger.

Go through the window and just pick the fonts and font sizes that you want for the various categories. Click OK; if you want to get back to the original settings some other time, just click Defaults.

Default -- This is the font and font size for the normal text, Default and Text Body styles. If it's not a heading, it's this.

Heading -- This is the font used for anything you apply Heading1, Heading2, etc. to. The font size you pick is for Heading1 and it gets smaller from there.

List -- I couldn't get list to work. So it doesn't matter what you put here.

Caption -- If you click a picture or table and choose Insert > Caption, this is the font and size that will be used.

Index -- The font used for tables of contents and indexes.

Here's an illustration of a document with the settings shown in the Options window. Click the illustration to see it a little bigger. Note that the list content is the same as the text body content because the list font settings don't seem to work.

When you change the default font settings, only new documents are affected, not existing documents.

---

---