OpenOffice.org Training, Tips, and Ideas

In OpenOffice mail merge documents, you see the field names like Name onscreen, not the data like Bob. The data appears when you print.

I just wanted to clarify something since I hate to see people thinking they're doing something wrong when they're doing it right.

Here's an example using labels.� This is how it's supposed to look. You won't see the data onscreen, you'll see the field names like first name. When you print, the correct data will appear.

If you don't know want to print all the data, you can pick the ones you want in this� window. Just choose File > Print, click yes that you want to print a form letter, and then select the records you want in this window. Select the first record, hold down Ctrl and select the next one, and so on.

Or specify a range.

Then just click OK.

A Huge Printable PDF Article on Advanced OpenOffice.org Report Techniques, Including SQL-Based Calculated Fields on Reports and Using the Next Record field (Repost)

I decided to repost this since it's got lots of really fun powerful NOT obvious technical stuff for reports.

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Here's the TOC.

A Quick Review of the Report Writer Tool

What You Can Do in the Query Design Tool and SQL View

What You Can Do With Report-Specific Fields

Quick-and-Dirty Reports

Creating Your Own Reports Using the Next Record Field

Powerful Reports Can Be Fun....If You Enjoy Getting Your Hands Dirty

 

Here's the link. It's a big PDF.

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Rough Draft: Video Tutorial of Creating a Database and Simple Mail Merge

This is not fancy. There are a couple goofs. But it is accurate, and it's a video. Let me know how you like it!

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I realize the size is quite big -- one thing that isn't obvious because of that is the navigation tools way at the bottom. (I'm pretty sure that they show up for everyone; I hope they're not just appearing for me somehow because I have Captivate installed.)

Printing Envelopes in OpenOffice.org Writer (Repost)

I ran into Christian Einfeldt at Linuxworld, who mentioned that he had some questions about printing  envelopes. It's a good perennial topic, so I'm rereposting.

(Originally posted December 2, 2005)

I get a lot of questions about envelopes. A lot. I wrote an article for TechTarget.com about how to do envelopes in OpenOffice.org 2.0.

I included some templates there; here are the same envelope templates for OpenOffice.org 2.0.

• Envelope template, not hooked up to a data source, using frames
• Envelope template, not hooked up to a data source, not using frames

The article is long and detailed. Here are the key points.

• You need to get to know your printer and let it know to expect envelope shapes, not letter or A4 shapes.

• You also need to fiddle around for a while and figure out where--left, right, perpendicular, parallel--in the tray your printer expects envelopes. Buy a box of cheap envelopes and expect to waste a few while you experiment.

• Then make sure that your envelope document is set up to print to the envelope size your printer is expecting. Envelope 10 is good.

• You can type in your data for the envelope or use a data source. My article goes over both.
• The simplest way is to just choose File > New > Envelope, then Format > Page Size and instead of Letter or A4, choose Envelope 10 and change the orientation to landscape.  Then either with standard margin formatting or with frames, put the text where you want.
• As another way to create the envelope document, you can also choose Insert > Envelope, and use the three-tabbed window that appears.
• Print the envelopes separately from your letter or other document that goes with the envelope. It complicates things too much with the paper size that the printer expects.

Then just print the envelope. (If you're using data sources, click Yes in the dialog box that appears asking if you want to print a form letter.)

The next time you want envelopes, just use that same document you already created, and change the addresses. Either save the document in myimportantdocuments\envelopes, or if you're a template kind of person, make it a template. (File > Templates > Save, select a category and name the template, then choose File > New > Templates and Documents and pick your envelope template.

Note: Doing it in 2.0 is quite similar to how to do it in OpenOffice.org 1.1. Here are my posts how to do that; they're excerpted from my OpenOffice.org workbooks.

• OpenOffice.org 1.x Mail Merges, Envelopes, and Labels
• OpenOffice.org 1.x Plain Labels and Envelopes

Tip on Printer Setup
Some of the pain of envelopes is the printer setup. Here's a GREAT tip from Miriam:
"I just read your envelope printing tip. Instead of constantly changing and checking the printer settings, I add another instance of the printer, configure it for envelopes and name it "envelope." When I want to print an envelope I choose this printer instead of the default one. That way my settings are always the same."

Envelope Mantra
Here's the other main point I want to make sure everyone understands.

Envelopes aren't too bad once you figure out how to do it the first time. Honest.

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A Huge Printable PDF Article on Advanced Report Techniques, Including SQL-Based Calculated Fields on Reports

I realized that while this was published on TechTarget, I hadn't made much of a big deal of it here.

Here it is. Lots of fun, techy stuff about reports. Here's the TOC.

A Quick Review of the Report Writer Tool

What You Can Do in the Query Design Tool and SQL View

What You Can Do With Report-Specific Fields

Quick-and-Dirty Reports

Creating Your Own Reports Using the Next Record Field

Powerful Reports Can Be Fun....If You Enjoy Getting Your Hands Dirty

 

Here's the link. It's a big PDF.

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Much easier, much simpler ways to print the contents of a database in OpenOffice.org Base

I've been so caught up in the complicated tools and cool hacks that I've forgotten about the really simple ways to get data from a database into a Writer document.

I'm so embarrassed.

Here's a simple way to bring in data, whether it's still in fields, or just plain text. You probably want to use this instead of the Reports feature, and instead of the Next Record field under Insert > Fields > Other, Database tab.

Here are some screen shots. I'll do more on this later but I just wanted to slap these options out there so you know about them.

Click any of the screen shots to see them bigger and in more detail.

1. Create a new text document and choose F4.

2. Click the + by your database, click the + by the word Table (or Query) and click the table or query you want to print.

3. Click the blank gray square shown, to the left of the first fieldname.

4. Click and hold down on that gray square and drag into the document.

5. Now you have various options.

Pick the option you want, insert the fields you want, apply any relevant formatting, and click OK.

Table

Fields

Text

Then print. If you bring in the data in fields, when you choose Print, click Yes when prompted and DON'T click the checkbox.)

Again, if you're printing in fields, you cna print to files or a printer. To select specific records, select the first record, hold down Ctrl, select another record, and so on.

 

 

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Updating the Preview in Your Mail Merge Docs so You See Different Data in Every Field

This is a very specific but annoying problem for which I've found a workaround (thanks to the smart folks in the training department at MASCO! ;> ).

A Little Background: Synchronize
So, you've got a mail merge doc. It's labels. You've set it up to Synchronize, so that when you make a change to the upper left address and click Synchronize, all other addresses take on the same updates. I.e. if you make the text blue, or insert a graphic, or whatever, you just make the change in one place and it updates all the others. This is a very nice feature.

Here's where you set synchronize. File > New > Labels, and in the Options tab select Synchronize contents.

Here's what a new sheet of labels looks like with the Synchronize floating button:

Here's what it looks like when you change the formatting for the upper left address:

Here's what it looks like when you then click Synchronize:

A Little Background: Preview
As you can see above, you see the field names, not the field contents, in mail merge documents. To see the contents, press F4 to view your data sources. Expand the data source you're using, select the table you're using, click the blank gray box that's circled to select all the rows, and click the also-circled icon called Data to Fields.

Here's what it all looks like.

But! What Happens When You Preview, Then Synchronize???????
Let's say you've previewed so you can see the data .Then you think, "Hey, the font needs to be different, and I want it to be green." So you make that change to the upper left frame like normal, you click Synchronize....and you get this. All the content is the same.

Don't Worry: It's Easy to Fix
You just click that same Data to Fields icon. Select all the data just like before, click the Data to Fields icon again, and this refreshes the display and gives you back the normal content.

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Suppressing Blank Address2 Fields in OpenOffice.org Labels, Envelopes, or Other Documents, for Mail Merges

Note: Everything is case sensitive. Also when you type the two "" quotes, don't put a space between them. If you have spaces in your database, this won't work. Either change the database field names, or create a query based on the table, and change the field names in the query. Then base the labels on the query.

Here it is -- suppressing a blank Address2 field in your mail merges. It's not extremely simple, but it's reasonably straightforward and it works.

Here's the situation we're addressing. Sometimes your addresses have two lines for the address part, sometimes they don't.

Bob Jones
101 Main
Suite 55
Boulder, CO 80022

Marion Silverman
888 105th Ave
Broomfield, CO 82211

But you have to put in the <Address2> field for everybody, since it's a mail merge. The setup has to be the same.

<Firstname> <Lastname>
<Address1>
<Address2>
<City>, <State>, <Zip>

But with this approach, your addresses look like this.

Bob Jones
101 Main
Suite 55
Boulder, CO 80022

Marion Silverman
888 105th Ave

Broomfield, CO 82211

Ick. How do you suppress that second Address2 line and the corresponding carriage return if there's no content for a particular record, for that Addres2 field?

Select the Address2 field in your mail merge document, choose Insert > Section, and create a conditionally hidden section with this formula.

databasename.tablename.fieldname EQ ""

Here are the details, using an example of labels.

1. Create the labels for mail merge as usual. File > New > Labels, select your database and tables, insert the fields, etc.

2. Choose the Synchronize Contents checkbox.

3. Click New Document.

4. Here are the labels.

5. Turn on nonprinting characters if they're not on already.

6. Select the first soft return, shown selected.

7. Press Return or Enter to replace it with a hard return.

8. Repeat, to make them all hard returns.

9. Click Synchronize to update the other labels to be the same.

10. Select the Address2 field.

11. Choose Insert > Section.

12. Name the section Suppress. Select the Hide checkbox and type the following condition. The screen shot shows the syntax.

Syntax
databasename.tablename.fieldname EQ "" � �(the last part is two double quotes together)

Example
databasewithtwoaddresslines.Table1.Address2 EQ ""

NOTE: if you are using the Thunderbird address book as a data source, you need to use square brackets if the field name includes a space (i. e.: [Address 2]=="") to hide the second line of the address if it the Address 2 field is blank.)� I would suggest in general avoiding field, table, or database names with spaces.

http://www.oooforum.org/forum/viewtopic.phtml?t=43528&highlight=

Click the screen shot to see it bigger. It shows the syntax, not an actual example.

13. Click Insert.

14. Click Synchronize.

15. Now preview the data or print the data and you'll see that it prints correctly.

15. If you need to change the section, select it in the first address and choose Format > Section. Select the one named Suppress for the master label and make changes, then click OK. Click Synchronize again in the labels.

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Beware! Saving in Word format, and mail merges, don't mix.

Mail merges don't work if you're saving your OpenOffice document in Microsoft Word format.

Whether you're doing this manually, or doing it with the window under Tools > Options > Load/Save > General, saving in Word format will strip out the mail merge fields' connection to the database.

So you can save in .doc by default, but you need to save the mail merge documents, whether they're labels, envelopes, or other documents, in OpenOffice.org native .odt format.

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One Way to Export Data From OpenOffice Base to a Spreadsheet

In OpenOffice.org 2.2 you can now export data in a reasonable manner. Here's one way in 2.4.

Here's another way you might try. It's almost identical to the (albeit invisible) import method.

1. Open your database .odb file.
2. Click the Tables icon.
3. Right-click on the name of the table to export. Choose Copy.
4. Go to a spreadsheet. Paste.

The data will appear.

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Printing Exactly the Records You Want to Print for a Mail Merge in OpenOffice Labels, Envelopes, or other Documents

Used to be, it was hard to just print the records you wanted to print in a mail merge, in OpenOffice.org mail merges.

Bob  Jones   121 Ludlow
Marie Hanson  1688 Oak
Kathy Bates  88 Pearl

What if you're mad at Marie, though, as well as Jean, John, and Xavier,  and just want to print a holiday letter to Bob and to Kathy and the other 119 people in your list who you're still speaking to?

You had to either go through the HUGE and complex mail merge wizard, or just print a letter each for Marie, Jean, John, and Xavier, and throw them away.

However, in 2.something of OpenOffice.org, you can just Ctrl - Select the records to print.

1. Make your mail merge document: labels, letter, envelopes, whatever.

2. Choose File > Print and say Yes, you want to print a form letter. NEVER mark the checkbox.

3. In the window that appears, you can scroll down to view the database and table you're using at the left side. This isn't necessary but it might help you feel more organized.

4. Click on the light gray box next to the first record you want to print.  Hold down Ctrl and click on the light gray box next to the next record you want to print. And so on.

You'll see that at the left side,  Selected Records is now marked.

5. Now just select Printer or File to print as you normally would, and click OK. The normal printing window will appear if you select Printer.

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Mail Merge in OpenOffice Writer: Creating Mail Merge Documents From Text/CSV or Spreadsheets

I've got a lot of info out there, including lots of coverage in my book, about mail merges. However, I don't have a nice simple straightforward blog on it with everything in the same place all spelled out. Didn't, that is. This is all you need to do to make a nice simple document based on data in text files or spreadsheets.

What You Have to Do

1. Get your data. You've already got it, probably. This blog  is for people with data in text files, and in spreadsheets.

2. Turn it into a data source.

3. Create your mail merge document and suck the data in through the data source.

4. Print, specifying how many of the data records you want to print for, and whether to print to a file or printer.

1. Get Your Data

You probably already have it. It's in a .txt file or .csv that's comma or tab separated, perhaps. Or it's just a spreadsheet.

2. Make the Data Source: Text File Instructions

If your data is in text files, follow these steps.

1. Choose File > New > Database.

2. Make the selection shown, with Text as the format.

3. Click Next.

4. Specify the DIRECTORY where the text files are. Each text file in that directory will be a table in your database. Then select the item separating fields, i.e. a tab or comma or something else.

5. When all the settings look correct, click Next.

6. Umark the option to open the database for editing. You can open it; you just don't have to.

7. Click Next.

8. Save the data source (aka database) under a name that will help you remember what it is.

You're done.

2. Make the Data Source: Spreadsheet Instructions

If your data is in a spreadsheet, follow these steps.

1. Choose File > New > Database.

2. Make the selection shown, with Spreadsheet as the format.

 

3. Click Next.

4. Specify the spreadsheet file. Each SHEET in that spreadsheet will be a table in your database.

 

5. Click Next.

6. Umark the option to open the database for editing. You can open it; you just don't have to.

 

7. Click Next.

8. Save the data source (aka database) under a name that will help you remember what it is.
 

You're done.

3. Create Your Mail Merge Document and Suck the Data In From the Datasource

You can also use the simple or complex mail merge.

Simple:  http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2006/03/techtarget_arti_1.html

Complex: http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2006/02/techtarget_arti.html

But this is a nice way to do it too.

1. Create a new Writer document or open a document containing text that you want in the mail merge document.

2. Choose View > Data Sources. Everything you've created will be displayed. Click the + sign by the data source you want to use, then click + by Tables til you see the data you want to use.

3. Type any content you want and do any formatting. You can do this later too.

4. Click on the NAME OF THE FIELD, not the piece of data, that you want in the mail merge.

5. Drag it into the document and release. The field name will appear.

 

6. Add any other content and fields you want.

Save the document. You're ready to print.

4. Print the Mail Merge Document.

1. Choose File > Print.

2. You'll see this message. Click Yes. DON'T MARK THE CHECKBOX SAYING YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THE MESSAGE AGAIN.

3. In the print window, specify the range of records, if you don't want them all, and specify to print to a printer, or to files.

4. Click OK.

5. In the print window, specify the printer and click Print.

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Modify the Layout of Prefab OpenOffice Labels Under File > New > Labels

Note: For other label tweaking tips, click here and here.

I was just putting together the mailing labels for my books (thanks everyone!) and the 8163 label layout built into OpenOffice.org was too wide for my printer.

What to do?

Changing the margins seems like the first thing to do. But when I do that, the layout skews. The page thinks there isn't enough room for both columns of labels so the second column of labels jumps to the second page.

Then I thought, well, I'll  shrink the width of the little frame things that the text is in.

When you try to do that, though, you get the Ghostbusters symbol that indicates "no changing anything here, buddy."

However, you can change the frame so that its size and position are no longer protected.

Some of you, reading along, are saying, "Um, Solveig....there's that adjustment window in the freakin' label creation window for just such purposes. Why not use that?" That's a good one too. ;> If you haven't already typed or pasted a lot of content into your actual label document, at least.

So here are some ways to tweak your labels. These apply to the prefab ones used through the File > New > Labels window. The ones you get from WorldLabel are made from tables, not frames, so the font modification items might work but the frame stuff is irrelevant.

Tweaking Label Size in the Label Window Before You Create the Label Document

Choose File > New > Labels.

Select the correct page size and label number, such as Letter and 8163.

Click the Format tab.

The Left Margin field is what you want to increase, if the left side of your labels are getting cut off. Increase it just a tad, perhaps to .3.  Or if your margins are getting cut off on top, change the Top Margin measurement. Then click New Document to create the label, if you're ready.

The new label document will have a slightly bigger  margin to give you some breathing room. (Or it will otherwise reflect the change you made in the Format tab.)

Tweaking Already-Created Label Documents

If you've got your document and you don't want to re-create it, here's some stuff you can do. Be forewarned that it is harder to control than the previous approach.

Here's the sample I'm working with; there's content only in the top two rows just from sheer laziness on my part. ;>

Right-click on the top left frame and choose Frame.

In the Frame window, go to the Options tab and unmark the Size and Position checkboxes.

Click OK.

If you want, you can just physically drag the frames one by one. Or use this approach to modify their dimensions all at once.

Choose Format > Styles and Formatting. Be sure that Frame styles are displayed. Right-click on the Labels style and choose Modify.

Now you can do whatever works in your layout. Make the label slightly narrower, perhaps 3.75  or 3.8.

Click OK. This will update the measurements of all the frames.

Choose Format > Page. In the Page tab, set the left margin to something a tad larger, like .3. Make sure the right-hand margin is .01 or something similarly small. You want to make sure there's enough room on the left side to get all your content in on the left without it being cut off and a too-wide right margin will goof that up.

Click OK.

Your labels should have a little more space on the left now, without the content being cut off.

Alternate Approach to Indenting Text From Left
I tried this once but the frames went kaflooie. Then I tried it again and it was fine. See how it works for you.

If you haven't selected the Synchronize checkbox, use this approach to quickly reformat. Choose Format > Styles and Formatting. Be sure paragraph styles are showing, and that all of them are showing.

Right-click on Default and choose Modify.

Now you can update the Default style, used by the label text.  In the Indents and Spacing tab, specify a left indent of .2 or .3.

Click OK.  All label formatting will be updated to add more space to the left.

 

One-Step Reformatting of Label Contents
If you haven't selected the Synchronize checkbox, use this approach to quickly reformat: make all your label content 17 point red Arial Bold or whatever you want.

Choose Format > Styles and Formatting. Be sure paragraph styles are showing, and that all of them are showing.

Right-click on Default and choose Modify.

Now you can update the Default style, used by the label text.  In the Font tab you can of course change the font.

Click OK.  All label formatting will be updated.

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Getting Data Back Out of OpenOffice Base

Click here.

Note: Having clearly labeled import and export features for Base has been proposed and you can vote for it by clicking one of the following links. Here's how to make things work until the features are implemented and put into the next build.

Vote for adding a wizard to import data into Base
http://qa.openoffice.org/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=51904

Utility to export CSV from Base
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/CSV_export

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Here's the related article on the cleverly disguised import function, for getting data from a spreadsheet, Access, or another database into an OpenOffice Base database.
http://searchopensource.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid39_gci1222186,00.html

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Turning data into information with functions in OpenOffice Base

I've written an article for TechTarget on how to use the functions such as Sum and Max in OpenOffice.org Base queries and views.

It took me a while to grok how to use these -- the difficulty is not in applying the functions, but in the kind of data you can use the functions with, and the Group function that needs to be applied along with Sum, Max, or whatever you're using.

 

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More on the Data Pilot: Analyzing a Data Source/Database

 

It's time for more data pilot adventures.

I blogged here about the data pilot. The example I used there was for analyzing data in your spreadsheet. You also, of course, have the option of analyzing, using the data pilot, any of your data sources. You'd want to analyze a data source rather than a spreadsheet for many reasons-- perhaps the data is in Access and not in a spreadsheet. Or the spreadsheet is just realllllly big and you don't want to have to open it every time you want to run data pilot on it.

 

Here's my sample data for this blog. Just a nice basic set of data for a week. It's similar but different to what I used in the previous blog and more suitable for demoing the different options. Click to see it bigger.

The first step, of course, is to make sure you have a data source. (Or database—it's all kind of the same thing.) If you already have your data in Access or another database, you'd skip this, of course. However, let's say that this spreadsheet is extremely large and I need to make a database out of it to save time.

Here's what you do to create a database from a spreadsheet; using a different type of data is pretty similar.

1. Choose File > New > Database.

2. In the window that appears, select the last radio button, and Spreadsheet as the type. Click Next.

3. In the next window, just specify where the spreadsheet is that you want to turn into a database. Click Next.

4. Unmark the Open for Editing option and click Finish.

5. Save the database with an obvious name. This is the name you'll be selecting from dropdown lists in OpenOffice.org.

Now you've got a database.

 

To analyze a database, start the same way as usual.

1. Open a new empty spreadsheet and choose Data > Data Pilot > Start.

2. Choose to use a data source already registered with OpenOffice.org. Click OK.

3. Select the data source name, then the sheet name (typically Sheet1) where your data is, and specify Sheet as the type of data. Click OK.

4. Now you're ready to drag fields into the layout area and set options as you have with other analyses. This time, I'm using the Date fields as the quick filter field, so I put it in the Page area. The rest is as pictured.

• I double-clicked the Units Sold field and selected Average. In the results, we'll see the average for each book and store, not the total.
• For options, I'm choosing to identify categories, and to sum rows and columns.

<>

 

Click OK.

 

Here are the results of the setup shown above.

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New OpenOffice Base Database Workbook

I've finished my Base workbook!

Click here to see the TOC.

For the rest of the year it's at a Special Introductory Price of just $15. Feel free to provide suggestions or corrections for what to add to it. I'm not a DBA so would appreciate information on what additional tasks would be most useful with the tools in Base.

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How to Get the "Do You Want to Print a Form Letter?" Message Back for OpenOffice Mail Merges

If you've done mail merges before, you've seen this message.

 

What you should do, every time, is to click Yes and leave everything else alone. Then the mail merge will print with the contents of your data source.

What would make sense is to mark the Do Not Show Warning Again checkbox and click Yes, thinking that every time thereafter you'll be able to print the mailmerge correctly, with the contents of your data source, just like you did this time, but without that pesky message popping up.

You'd be logical, but you'd also be wrong because of the wacky design of the program. If you mark the checkmark, then from that day forward you will print, instead of a mail merge, a list of fields like <Firstname> and <Lastname>.

So:
How do you get that dialog box to come back so you can print a mail merge correctly?

Answer: Here's how it's supposed to work. People say this works. I can't find a file with the relevant flag in it on my machine but if it works for you, great. It should work.

<< Reader David Beroff offers some fine suggestions after his successful implementation, which I have updated the instructions with.>>

1. Close OpenOffice.org.

2. Find the Writer.xcu file. It's in one of these locations.

~/.ooo-2.0-pre/user/registry/data/org/openoffice/Office/Writer.xcu

Documents and Settings\[users]\Application Data\OpenOffice.org2\  user\registry\data\org\openoffice\Office\Writer.xcu

3. Make a backup copy of it. Just copy the file in your file manager and paste it somewhere else.

4. Open it with an Ascii editor (i.e Notepad or 1stPage or some such program.)

5. Look for <prop oor:name="AskForMerge">  and set the value to true. To do this, look for "AskForMerge=False"  and type "True" where it says "False."

6. Save the file.

Now you'll get the message popping up again when you print a mail merge. Leave the checkbox alone and click Yes, and you're golden.

 

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Another Mystery Solved: Getting Data Into an OpenOffice.org Base Database

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Vote for adding a wizard to import data into Base
http://qa.openoffice.org/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=51904

Utility to export CSV from Base
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/CSV_export
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I swear, my shift and matching pumps are getting a little worn out with all this detective work.

I've written an article for TechTarget about how to get data out of one database, such as Access, into an OpenOffice database table. Not exactly obvious, but easy.  You just need to know what to do. (And I'm pleased to say that my mantra, "When in doubt, right-click," does apply here.  ;>  )

(You can of course just type from scratch but when you've got 50,000 records of census data, for instance, that's kind of impractical.)

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Making It Easy for Your Organization to Work With Microsoft Office Users

One of the issues you face when you switch your organization to OpenOffice.org is: how do the users work with MS Office users?

If Angie down at the courthouse needs a document that your clerk Rob created, how does Rob send Angie what she needs? Especially if Rob isn't very experienced with file formats, attaching documents to emails, and so on?

You do this.
1. Set up everyone's computers to save by default in MS Office format. Then they don't need to even worry about sending Angie the file in the right format.

2. You set up everyone's default email program.

3. You train everyone to send out documents using one of the options under File > Send. You might even create a new toolbar with those options more clearly expressed.

See this blog for info on modifying toolbars/menus in general and this blog, from Monday, on how to add the two new items.

1. Setting Your Default Email Program

I've mentioned it before, but have forgotten about it since blogging ;>  so it bears mentioning again. When you choose File > Send > Document as Email or File > Send > Document as PDF Attachment, the default email program starts. How do you specify it? It's usually not right, for one thing, since Yahoo starts by default on my desktop and (oorgh) Outlook starts on my laptop.

The online help for OpenOffice says to look for the External Programs setting. However, there is no such thing. You set your default program by setting it in your operating system. For me, it's under Internet options in my control panel.

2. Set Up Everyone to Save in MS Office Format

If you work with people who aren't familiar with saving files in different formats, or if you just think it would be easier for you, set up everyone's computers like this.

Tools > Options > Load/Save > General.

In the area toward the bottom, select Text Document, then in the corresponding dropdown list, select the Microsoft Word format. Click the image to see a larger version.

Repeat for each file format in the Document Type list, then click OK to close the window and save changes.

3. Use the File > Send Features As Much As You Can
I love these features. They make working with non-OpenOffice users so much easier. Plus there's a new one this release in 2.0.3 -- too bad they didn't put it on the menu.  ;>  However it's easy to do yourself.  Click the image to see a larger version of the menu options as they are by default.

Document as Email starts your default email program, and attaches a copy of the current document to that email. All the user needs to do is address the email and enter content like "Angie, here's the document you wanted." If you're set up to save in MS formats, then the doc of course is in the appropriate MS format.

Email as PDF does the same thing, but makes a PDF version of the current document, and attaches that to the email.  This is great if Angie down at the courthouse doesn't need to edit the document, or if you realllllly don't want her to.

There are two other new ones, Email as Microsoft Word and Email as OpenDocument Text. See the related blog for how to add those to the menu, or to a menu that you create yourself. You can also of course rename those options to make them clearer for users.

There you go -- those are three steps that will make interacting with MS Office users much simpler. Less training, fewer complications, and less confusion about where various files went.

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Nancy Drew Rides Again: Adding Two New and Wonderful Email Options to the OpenOffice Menu

First they take the simple but elegant mail merge option off the Tools menu, and now this.

There are two wonderful, extremely useful, much-requested features in OpenOffice 2.0.3.

• Email as Microsoft Word
• Email as OpenDocument Text

These are in addition to the existing ones:

• Send Document as PDF Attachment
• Send Document as Email

If you're working in some text document, the Email as Microsoft Word  option will take your current doc, make a MS Word version of it, start your default email program, and attach the MS Word copy to a new email document. 

The Email as OpenDocument Text option does the same thing, but the attachment is in OpenOffice text format regardless of the format of the current document.

Send Document as Email -- This one does pretty much the same thing, but it just uses the format of the document you're working in. If you're working in MS Doc format, the attachment is .doc and if you're working in OpenOffice,  the attachment is  OpenOffice.

Send Document as PDF Attachment -- This one does the same thing but creates a PDF copy of your document .

Can you see how incredibly useful these are? They're great for working with MS Office users within or outside your organization. Combine them with File > Send > Document as PDF Attachment and you're golden. (See this blog on setting up openoffice for easier use for inexperienced users for more info on that.)

But how do you get them on the menu? They're there -- you just can't see them.

Here's how. I'll show you how to add them to File > Send, and I'll also show you how to create a whole separate menu to add them to. If you're working with inexperienced users in your organization, the latter might be more helpful for them.

Adding the Two New Items to the File > Send Menu to Join the Other Similar Options
Choose Tools > Customize.

Click the Menus tab.

Select the File | Send menu.

Click Add.

In the window that appears, find Document on the left and the indicated menu item on the right. Click Add.

Select the other option, Email as OpenDocument Text, and click Add.

Close the window.

In the original window you'll see the two newly added items.

Click OK.

Choose File > Send and you'll see all the items.

 

Adding the Two New Items to the File > Send Menu to Join the Other Similar Options

Here's how to make a special menu to put these items on. It might be simpler for your users if there were a specific menu for these items.

Choose Tools > Customize.

Click the Menus tab.

Click New.

Type the name for the menu like Sending Out Documents.

Click OK. You'll see the new menu with no items.

Click Add.

In the window that appears, select Document on the left, and the four indicated items on the right. Select each of the four items in turn and Click Add.

Close the window. You'll see the items you added.

You might want to rename some of the items to make them clearer or comply with internal processes. Select the item, click and hold down on Modify, and choose Rename.

In the window, type a name you prefer, then click OK.

 

Rename any additional items.

Click OK to save changes and close the window.

Click on the menu you added. You'll see the items.

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Manually Controlling What's In Your Labels, in OpenOffice Writer (Repost)

(First posted February 2006)

I received this question from Chris in relation to the blog on labels.

“Is there a way to tell OpenOffice to save the document in such a way as that it essentially "exports" it to another OpenOffice document that isn't attached to the data source, so that you can hand-edit the labels? The only way I found to do it was to save it as a Word document and then re-save _that_ as a standard OOo text document. Is there a more direct way?

Thanks,

Chris”

Good question. There are a few different things you can do.

Change the Label Display So You Can See the Data, Then Edit

I don't know of a way to separate the label data from the data source in a sensible way. However, you can just change the content.

Create the labels, connected to the data source, like you normally do. Don't click the Synchronize option in the third tab.

Choose View > Data Sources.

Click the Data to Fields icon in the toolbar above the data sources.

You'll see content in the labels instead of field placeholders.

Now just edit each field normally. Change Bob to Gretchen, Fargo to Kalispell, etc, just by typing.

When you print, you'll get a conglomeration of the database data and what you typed.

Change the Data Source, Not the Labels

If you want to edit the labels, edit where the information comes from, if that's an option. If your data source is a spreadsheet, just edit the contents of the spreadsheet. Be sure that the .odb database file, and any label documents accessing the database, are all closed when you edit the data itself.

Just Make Labels That You Type the Content Into

This approach is entirely manual, but you can copy and paste into the labels. If you want control over what' s in there, just make blank labels and type.

Choose File > New > Labels. Do everything pretty much the same way, i.e. pick the right label type. But don't put any data or fields in the big empty data box in the first tab, and in the third tab don't click Synchronize. Click New Document. (Click this image to see a bigger version if you want.)

Then just type whatever you want in any of the frames.

Quickly Go From One Label to Another

The labels are in frames, which is a bit of a pain. To quickly go from one to another using the keyboard, press Esc Tab  Enter. (Intuitive, huh?) You can also choose Tools > Customize, click Keyboard, and set up a control key for going between frames.

 

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Tags

OpenOffice.org    open office    OpenOffice.org training    open office training   open source   open source training   Office 12  Linux   Ubuntu   education   Microsoft Office  labels  mail merge    printing  

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Mail Merge OpenOffice Labels, OpenOffice.org 2.0 (Repost)

Here's how to do labels.

First, get your data in a spreadsheet, text file, address book, and create a database. You can do this by choosing File > New > Database. 

This post contains instructions for spreadsheets.

This post contains instructions in step 2 for spreadsheets or text files.

Then, once you've got the database set up in OpenOffice.org, you're ready to go.

1. Choose File > New > Labels. (To do Envelopes, open an OpenOffice.org Writer document, and choose Insert > Envelope.)

2. In the Labels tab of the Labels window, select the database  you created in the Database dropdown list. You're looking for the name of the database you created by choosing File > New > Database, not the spreadheet, addressbook, or text file containing the data.

(Click the picture to see a larger image.)

3. Select a table from the Table list. This will be Sheet1 or whatever the sheet name is, if you are using a spreadsheet to hold your data.

4. Select the first field you want to use from the Database Field list.

5. Click the arrow next to it to insert it in the Label Text field.

Type a space after the field and you can add the next field, such as LastName.

6. Use the Database Field list to insert any other fields you need. If you want fields on the second line, click after the last character of the last field you inserted, in the big text box, and just press Enter. If you need to change the arrangement later in the created label document, you can.

7. In the Brand dropdown list, select Avery Letter Size if you're not using A4.

8. In the Type dropdown list, scroll through the billions of labels. Select the type of label you're using, 8160 Inkjet Address is a good one but just use whatever is on the envelope of labels.

9. This step and step 10 , and step 15, are optional but recommended. Click the Options tab.

10. Select the Synchronize Contents option IF you want to apply formatting, like a different font or colors or adding graphics, and make those changes apply to all of your labels.

11.Click the Setup button next to the printer display.

12. Select the printer you want to print to.

13. In the printer options (this will vary according to your operating system) specify the appropriate paper feed or tray. For now, select Manual Feed.

14. Click the New Document button at the bottom of the window. The labels will appear. This is how it's supposed to look. You won't see the data, you'll see the field names like first name. When you print, the correct data will appear.

15. OPTIONAL: IF YOU SELECTED THE SYNCHRONIZE CONTENTS CHECKBOX

If you need to make changes, like adding spaces, rearranging fields, or changing formatting, do so in the upper left label. Make the text an interesting font, or make it the size you need. You can also right-click on the border of the upper right label, choose Frame, go to the Border tab, and give it a background color.

Then click Synchronize to apply those changes to all labels.

16. Choose File > Print. A message will ask if you want to print a form letter. Click Yes.

17. If you want to print labels for only certain records, you can select them in the scrolling list of records. Select one, press Ctrl, select the next, and so on. Or you can select a range of records like 1-20.

18. If you want to just print all the labels, choose All.

19. When you're ready, just click OK. You'll be prompted again to choose your printer. Print normally.

Note: If you have any problems printing, check your printer setup using your operating system setup tools.

Note: You can save the label document and just go back to it again when you need to use it again.

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Back From Frankfort, Kentucky

I'm back from a fun week of training in Frankfort, Kentucky where I learned more about desktop support, what to wear to the Derby, and "Doctor Hobo" than I ever dreamed possible.

Here are a few things we talked about implementing that I wanted to reinforce as very useful--especially if you have a lot of users who might not be wild about the change, and want to help ensure consistency and ease-of-use.

• Templates, templates, templates! Make the templates, set'em up in clearly named categories, and point users at them. For best results, store the templates centrally on a server.  To make a template, choose File > Templates > Save, or just copy it to the templates directory of your OOo installation on the server. To point users to that location, choose Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org > Paths, select the Templates line, click Edit, and add a location.  See more in this blog on templates.
• Configure the menus and toolbars! You can make menus that say "Admissions Department" and it's not going to take any training at all to get the folks in the Admissions Department to use that menu. Then stick whatever you want in there. Choose Tools >  Customize to modify or create menus and toolbars. When you add items, you can choose to rename the menu or toolbar item so that it says "Use This For Printing Envelopes" or even "Diane, This Is For You". See more in this blog on toolbars.
• To skip blank Address2 lines, just use the mongo mail merge wizard: Tools > Mail Merge Wizard. This is a bit complex so just set it all up with the content and the database users need, then make a template and point them to the template. You might need to fuss with the database setup to be sure that the users' systems recognize it if you've got the template and database on a central server; one thing to try is Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org Base > Database and register the database. See more in this blog on the big wizard.
• If you have a lot of forms with fill-in fields (the usual gray fields that pop up to let you enter something), consider creating a form from File > New >  XML Form Document. This gives you the data entry form tools but you can use them easily for forms that just need to be filled in and printed, or filled in and saved. You can create dropdown lists for instance that make it easier for the people filling in the fields to know what the correct possible values are. When you create the form, make it a template too, then point users to it. Here's a blog on tweaking forms created with the wizard, which isn't exactly what you might want but it's a step in the right direction.

Those were the big implementation ideas that we bandied about and I think are darned useful for anyone who needs to work with a lot of users.  If you have other ideas along these lines, let me know!

What I'm Learning While Training This Week: Suppressing Blank Lines in Mail Merge

So I'm in class, teaching merrily away, when I'm asked about mail merges and addresses.  Let's say some of your addresses are like this:

Tom Bosley
401 Main
Kalispell, MT 59901

And some of them are like this:

John Travolta
409 East Mulberry
Apartment 42
Dallas, TX, 87599

So you need your mail merge to look like this to accommodate the 2-line addresses

Firstname  Lastname
Address1
Address2
City, State  ZIP

But--here's the deal--you don't want the envelope you're sending to Tom to look like this. But it will, since his Address2 value is blank.

Tom Bosley
401 Main
                                        [his Address2 value is nothing, but there's a space for it]
Kalispell, MT 59901

What do you do to tell your mail merges, "Just skip that blank line if there's nothing in the field"?

If you're me, you google and you find this post from Tom Haws on the oooforum.org site.  Now, he does say that he can't get the lines to hide successfully every time. You might have better luck since if it's this twitchy then it's probably environmental.

So give it a try. Here's the tutorial.

You might also try the approach of reading this document, pointed to by Jean Hollis Weber, a hard-core OpenOffice.org expert. She uses hidden sections.

I haven't tried either approach myself yet so let me know how they work for you.

OpenOffice Pan-Galactic Post: Posts on Charts, PDF, Spreadsheets, Templates, Drawings, OpenOffice Training, Toolbars, and Much More

I've been having a problem that some of you might sympathize with--getting posts to show up in Technorati. So as a cheater, I've created this post that links to a bunch of posts that I don't think have been showing up. Not all of them like links to current discussions or issues, just the ones I think are  important that have been missed.

So I'm sorry this isn't new content, but perhaps somewhere in the last six months there's something useful that Technorati didn't let you see the first time around.

Templates, Writer, general setup and toolbars

• Creating and using OpenOffice templates, including converting Microsoft Word templates for use in OpenOffice
• Doing calculations in tables
• The styles posts on what they are, how to get styles from one document to another, how to create and update them, etc.
• The much-discussed topic of centering text vertically in a Writer document
• Starting page numbering on page 2 and related topics (relates to page styles)
• Tables of contents
• Searching and replacing for carriage returns (paragraph breaks), tabs, and other items, using regular expressions (regex)
• Creating your own toolbar
• Setting up OpenOffice under Tools > Options and Tools > Autocorrect. This is how to turn off word completion, stop automatic formatting, set defaults, increase icon size, and much more.

Calc spreadsheets and charts

• Calc spreadsheet data entry shortcuts
• Dragging a cell in a spreadsheet (see the end of the post)
• Charts in Calc and Writer; how to click in just the right spot and modify exactly what you want.
• Opening a CSV text file in Calc so that it opens as a spreadsheet. Useful if you export files from databases of other formats and want to create them as spreadsheets or databases in OpenOffice.
• Controlling what people can put into spreadsheets with error messages, online help for the cell, ranges of permitted data, etc.

Draw, Diagrams, Impress presentations

• Using the 3D shapes in Draw (I love this stuff)
• Using OpenOffice FontWork, which is kind of like WordArt
• Creating your own arrows and other line ends for UML diagrams and other purposes
• Using the OpenOffice Gallery to store graphics; this too is useful for UML diagrams
• Printing Impress presentation handouts

Web publishing and PDF

• What I did with the web tools, creating colors, image maps, etc. to redo my getopenoffice.org StarOffice and OpenOffice Training page
• PDF, with linked articles on PDF presentations, and using hyperlinked PDFs. That post is particularly interesting since you can generate PDFs from linked OpenOffice.org documents, and the links carry over to the PDF.
• Using the wonderful Web Wizard (that's the techtarget article, here's the blog link) for creating web sites from existing OpenOffice, Microsoft, and graphics documents. You can also use it for  PDF batch convert.

Mail merge, labels, envelopes, and databases

• The very very powerful Mail Merge Wizard.
• The less powerful but far easier Secret Mail Merge that you need to add to your toolbar.
• Creating OpenOffice.org databases from spreadsheets, text files, and your address book. Even Access databases are easy.
• A bunch of articles for TechTarget.com on creating databases from scratch in Base,  creating forms, doing reports, views and joins between tables , and all the fun new stuff in the Openoffice Base database module.
• How to do labels the regular way, and manually.

Openoffice training, change management, and general discussions

• My thoughts on training and its benefits.
• My suggestions for transitioning to OpenOffice.org, including the change management aspects.
• Why OpenDocument Format is important (parental advisory, contains references to tube tops).
• Switching to OpenOffice.org, or any open source product, means you can spend the budget leftover on something important. Education, firefighters--anything that's more important than using Microsoft Office.
• Office 2007 could be a big retraining job. Think about whether you'd rather spend money and time upgrading to Office 2007, or just time on switching to OpenOffice.

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TechTarget Article: The Secret of the Missing Mail Merge

I've written an article for TechTarget.com about using the Mystery Mail Merge. The one that used to be in 1.x, and now...well, it's in there, but how the heck do you get to it?

I cover that, and how basically it's just a dandy middle-of-the-road choice between rolling your own, and using the powerful but complex Mail Merge Wizard (they're two different things).

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Tags: OpenOffice.org open office OpenOffice.org training open office training open source labels mail merge Linux menus envelopes base solveig haugland solveig haugland 

TechTarget.com Article: Reports in the Base Database Module

I've written an article for TechTarget.com about using the reporting tool in the new Base Module in OpenOffice.org. It's about how to create a new report using the report wizard, using the prefab templates, etc.

Part 1
Part 2

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Tags: OpenOffice.org  open office  OpenOffice.org training  open office training  open source  open source training  StarOffice  Linux  reports  education  database  base 

TechTarget Article: Powerful Mail Merge Wizard in OpenOffice.org 2.0

I've written an article for TechTarget.com about using the new mail merge wizard in OpenOffice.org 2.0. It's an extremely powerful tool; there's a fair amount of work to get it set up but then you've got a lot of very useful features.

Part 1
Part 2

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Tags: OpenOffice.org  open office  OpenOffice.org training  open office training  open source  open source training  StarOffice  Linux  mail merge  education  database  wizard 

Opening CSV or Text Files as Calc Spreadsheets--and Vice Versa

When I worked at Sun, there were a few things people always asked, that were hard to figure out.

- How do you print the same rows or columns on every page of a spreadsheet? (See this post. )

- How do you print handouts for a presentation? (See this post.) 

- How do you get a blank paragraph line above a table that's at the top of a document? (You now simply have to press Return in the upper left cell of the table.)

Another very common question was:

How in the world do you open a perfectly good .txt  or .csv file (comma-separated values) in a spreadsheet? Basically, you've got data in rows and columns, but separated by tabs or commas rather than columns in a spreadsheet, and you want it in a spreadsheet. Comma-delimted files are a common way to get data out of a spreadsheet or database and into another.

The trouble is, in OpenOffice.org, if you just choose File > Open, the .txt or .csv file opens in Writer. Not what you want.

   

 

Here's how to open it in a Calc spreadsheet.

 

Opening a .txt or .csv File in a Calc Spreadsheet

1. Start OpenOffice.org. You can be in Writer, Draw, Calc—it doesn't matter.

2. Choose File > Open. (Click the picture to see a larger version of it, if you want.)

3. In the File Type list, select Text CSV. It's about a third of the way down the list of types, or you can click in the file type list and press T four times.

4. The window should now look like this, so just click Open.

5. You'll get a window where you specify how the file was created: what separates the data into columns, etc. (Click the picture to see a larger version, if you want.)

6. Also in the same window, if you have date-format data or other formats you want to specify, you can do that column by column.

7. When you're done, just click OK. You'll see the data in a spreadsheet.

8. You'll want to save it as a spreadsheet at some point. Choose File > Save As and select the standard OpenSpreadsheet .ods format.

9. Click Save.

 

 

 

Saving a Calc Spreadsheets as a .txt or .csv File

1. Let's say it's the other way around—you've got a spreadsheet and you want it to be in a nice neutral .txt or .csv file. Be sure the file is open.

 

2. Choose File > Save As and select the same Text CSV format in the file format list. This time you can click T just once.

3. Click Save.

 

4. You'll probably see this message. Click Yes.

 

 

5. In the next window, specify the type of character you want to separate columns, commas or tabs or another character.

6. Click OK; you're done.

 

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Tags

OpenOffice.org    open office    OpenOffice.org training    open office training   open source   open source training   Office 12  Linux   comma-separated   text   databases  calc  spreadsheets    csv   

Manually Controlling What's In Your Labels, in OpenOffice Writer

I received this question from Chris in relation to the blog on labels.

“Is there a way to tell OpenOffice to save the document in such a way as that it essentially "exports" it to another OpenOffice document that isn't attached to the data source, so that you can hand-edit the labels? The only way I found to do it was to save it as a Word document and then re-save _that_ as a standard OOo text document. Is there a more direct way?

Thanks,

Chris”

Good question. There are a few different things you can do.

Change the Label Display So You Can See the Data, Then Edit

I don't know of a way to separate the label data from the data source in a sensible way. However, you can just change the content.

Create the labels, connected to the data source, like you normally do. Don't click the Synchronize option in the third tab.

Choose View > Data Sources.

Click the Data to Fields icon in the toolbar above the data sources.

You'll see content in the labels instead of field placeholders.

Now just edit each field normally. Change Bob to Gretchen, Fargo to Kalispell, etc, just by typing.

When you print, you'll get a conglomeration of the database data and what you typed.

Change the Data Source, Not the Labels

If you want to edit the labels, edit where the information comes from, if that's an option. If your data source is a spreadsheet, just edit the contents of the spreadsheet. Be sure that the .odb database file, and any label documents accessing the database, are all closed when you edit the data itself.

Just Make Labels That You Type the Content Into

This approach is entirely manual, but you can copy and paste into the labels. If you want control over what' s in there, just make blank labels and type.

Choose File > New > Labels. Do everything pretty much the same way, i.e. pick the right label type. But don't put any data or fields in the big empty data box in the first tab, and in the third tab don't click Synchronize. Click New Document. (Click this image to see a bigger version if you want.)

Then just type whatever you want in any of the frames.

Quickly Go From One Label to Another

The labels are in frames, which is a bit of a pain. To quickly go from one to another using the keyboard, press Esc Tab  Enter. (Intuitive, huh?) You can also choose Tools > Customize, click Keyboard, and set up a control key for going between frames.

 

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Tags

OpenOffice.org    open office    OpenOffice.org training    open office training   open source   open source training   Office 12  Linux   Ubuntu   education   Microsoft Office  labels  mail merge    printing  

Mail Merge Labels in OpenOffice 2.0

This post is similar to the big post here on how to do version 1.1 labels, etc. It works pretty much the same way. However, this is a nice little standalone HTML post on how to do labels in 2.0 so you might prefer this.

First, create a database. You can do this by choosing File > New > Database. I've written an article on how to do this if you just want to connect to a spreadsheet, text file, or address book as your data source. I recommend spreadsheets.

Once you've got the database set up in OpenOffice.org, you're ready to go.

 

1. Choose File > New > Labels. (To do Envelopes, open an OpenOffice.org Writer document, and choose Insert > Envelope.)
2. In the Labels tab of the Labels window, select the data source  you created and want to use from the Database dropdown list. (Click the picture to see a larger image.)

3. Select a table, Sheet1 if you're working with a spreadsheet, from the Table list.
4. Select the first field you want to use from the Database Field list.

5. Click the arrow next to it to insert it in the text field. Type a space after the field and you can add the next field, such as LastName.

6. Use the Database Field list to insert any other fields you need. If you want fields on the second line, click after the last character of the last field you inserted, in the big text box, and just press Enter. If you need to change the arrangement later in the created label document, you can.
7. In the Brand dropdown list, select Avery Letter Size.
8. In the Type dropdown list, scroll through the billions of labels. Select the type of label you're using, 8160 Inkjet Address. The label type is on the label sheet or box of labels.

9. Click the Options tab.
10. Select the Synchronize Contents option.

11.Click the Setup button next to the printer display.
12. Select the printer you want to print to.
13. In the printer options (this will vary according to your operating system) specify the appropriate paper feed or tray. For now, select Manual Feed.
14. Click the New Document button at the bottom of the window. The labels will appear.

If you need to make changes, like adding spaces, rearranging fields, or changing formatting, do so in the upper left label, then click Synchronize to apply those changes to all labels.
Choose File > Print.
A message will ask if you want to print a form letter. Click Yes.
15. If you want to print labels for only certain records, you can select them in the scrolling list of records. Select one, press Ctrl, select the next, and so on. Or you can select a range of records like 1-20.

16. If you want to just print all the labels, choose All.
17. When you're ready, just click OK.

If you have any problems printing, check your printer setup using your operating system setup tools.

Note: You can save the label document and just go back to it again when you need to use it again.

Note: Feel free to use the formatting features. Make the text an interesting font, or make it the size you need. You can also right-click on the border of the upper right label, choose Frame, go to the Border tab, and give it a background color.

 

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Tags

OpenOffice.org    open office    OpenOffice.org training    open office training   open source   open source training   Office 12  Linux   Ubuntu   education   Microsoft Office  labels  mail merge    printing   

TechTarget.com Article: Connecting to Existing Data Sources Like Spreadsheets

I'm cleaning up my blog's sidebar areas, and categorizing posts. This post is one of the results--linking directly to an article on TechTarget.com.

This is an article on creating an OpenOffice.org datasource that''s actually just a spreadsheet, text file, or address book.

See also the articles on forms in the new OpenOffice.org 2.0 database tool: part 1 and part 2.

See also part 1 and part 2 of an article about creating databases in the new database tool in OpenOffice.org 2.0, and the article on  views in OpenOffice.org 2.0.

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Tags: OpenOffice, open office, open office, open source, training, openoffice training, openoffice.org training, linux, education, databases

What I'm Learning This Week in OpenOffice Training in Largo, Florida

I always learn something when I teach a StarOffice or OpenOffice class. In Green River, Wyoming two weeks ago, I learned how to redock the slide pane in Impress/Draw (for some versions of the software). Click here to see the post.

I also learned that cleaning the dash on a Subaru can knock your hazards on, and they don't flash so it looks like they're your regular lights. I also learned that Green River Imports is a very fine car-fixing establishment that doesn't laugh at you when you bring in your car for something like that.

This week I'm in Largo, Florida at the City of Largo. The weather is gorgeous. I'll post pictures when I get back. I'm teaching an all-Linux set of classes this week--notable, the City of Largo completely skipped Microsoft Office. Never had it or Windows running for the city. Fabulous.

A few of the things I learned from student questions, or things that students discovered and told me about,  include:

- You can just click somewhere in a table, then choose Table > AutoFormat, to apply an autoformat--you don't need to select the whole table.

- When you're putting spacing between columns under Format > Page, Columns, or for a section too, it won't accept a space between the columns if you type the measurement. You have to use the arrows to put in the spacing.

- I should have seen this earlier but in mail merge documents, you need to specify the printer before you print. In labels or envelopes just click the Options tab and specify the printer. Or in any created document, choose File > Print Properties and select the printer. Then choose File> Print, click Yes to print a form letter, be sure the Printer radio button is selected, and click OK. Used to be, you got a chance after that window to specify the printer. Not anymore.

- The mail merge wizard in 2.0.1 now does let you do manual editing when you set up the contents and layout of the address block, so it's now less annoying.

 

- To sort a data source for mail merges, so that for instance everything prints in order by zip code, here's what you do. Choose File > Open to open the data source, the .odb file. Double-click the table you're basing the mail merge on. In the editing window, click the column you want to sort by, and click one of the sort icons, Sort Ascending or Sort Descending. Then do your mail merge. If you need to then change the sort for another mail merge, just repeat these steps.

- I've been reminded that it's not a bad idea to just export your Impress slides to PDF and run your presentation in Adobe Acrobat. (In OOo, File > Export as PDF.) For anyone looking for an OpenOffice.org Impress viewer application, PDF might be all you need. Granted, it won't run your cool effects but unless you're presenting on something where you need to demonstrate motion, you don't technically need custom animation or slide transitions.

You can of course also export to HTML and to Flash; I haven't played enough with Flash to know how the transitions come over, if at all.

- Hyperlinks transfer over to PDF!!! This did not happen in 1.x. However, in 2.0 OpenOffice.org, any hyperlink in a document such as a hyperlinked table of contents or any link period, transfers to the PDF when you choose File > Export as PDF. This is GREAT.  To create a plain old hyperlink, select some text to link and click the Hyperlink icon on the top toolbar.

- In labels, to go from one frame to another on the keyboard (or to go from one label to another, period), press Esc  Tab  Enter. Intuitive, huh? You can also choose Tools > Customize, click Keyboard, and set up a control key for it.

- Cuban food is yummy. I had a pork with black beans and rice thing the other day for lunch. However, when you carry the bag of Cuban food the wrong way, the black beans leak out of the container, out of the paper bag, and splash all over your light beige suit, when you don't have time to drive back to the hotel to change.  However,  my polyester suit from the fine folks at Target was easy to dab down and get clean with just soap and water. So that was a relief. (I mostly love Target, but will take this opportunity to plead with them to carry tall sizes in pants and jeans.)

 

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Tags: OpenOffice.org OpenOffice.org, Open Office, StarOffice, StarOffice training, openoffice.org training, openoffice training, education, open source, city government, Largo

TechTarget.com Article: Creating Forms in Base 2.0

I'm cleaning up my blog's sidebar areas, and categorizing posts. This post is one of the results--linking directly to an article on TechTarget.com.

This is an article on creating forms in the new OpenOffice.org 2.0 database tool: part 1 and part 2.

See also part 1 and part 2 of an article about creating databases in the new database tool in OpenOffice.org 2.0, and the article on  views in OpenOffice.org 2.0.

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TechTarget.com Article: Creating Views and Queries in OpenOffice.org Base 2.0

Views and queries let you cherrypick what fields, and what data, you want to see. You can also create calculated fields to add data, and change the field names. You can then base mail merges, among other things, on what you've created.

This is an article on creating views in OpenOffice.org 2.0. Queries are pretty much the same thing with a few differences.

See also part 1 and part 2 of an article about creating databases in the database tool in OpenOffice.org 2.0, and the forms article, part 1 and part 2.

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TechTarget.com Article: Creating Databases in Base 2.0

I'm cleaning up my blog's sidebar areas, and categorizing posts. This post is one of the results--linking directly to an article on TechTarget.com.

Here's part 1 and part 2 of an article about creating databases in the new database tool in OpenOffice.org 2.0.

See also articles on views  and the forms article, part 1 and part 2.

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Printing Envelopes in OpenOffice.org 2.0

I don't usually link to other content but I get a lot of questions about envelopes. A lot. I wrote an article for TechTarget.com about how to do envelopes in OpenOffice.org 2.0, and for this post I'm just going to link to it.  : )

I included some templates there; here are the same envelope templates for OpenOffice.org 2.0.

• Envelope template, not hooked up to a data source, using frames
• Envelope template, not hooked up to a data source, not using frames

The article is long and detailed. Here's the key point. You need to get to know your printer and let it know to expect envelope shapes, not letter or A4 shapes. You also need to fiddle around for a while and figure out where--left, right, perpendicular, parallel--in the tray your printer expects envelopes. Buy a box of cheap envelopes and expect to waste a few while you experiment.

Then make sure that your envelope document is set up to print to the envelope size your printer is expecting. Envelope 10 is good.

You can type in your data for the envelope or use a data source. My article goes over both.

The simplest way is to just choose File > New > Envelope, then Format > Page Size and instead of Letter or A4, choose Envelope 10 and change the orientation to landscape.  Then either with standard margin formatting or with frames, put the text where you want.

You can also choose Insert > Envelope, and use the three-tabbed window that appears.

Then just print the envelope. (If you're using data sources, click Yes in the dialog box that appears.)

The next time you want envelopes, just use that same document you already created, and change the addresses. Either save the document in myimportantdocuments\envelopes, or if you're a template kind of person, make it a template.

Note: Doing it in 2.0 is quite similar to how to do it in OpenOffice.org 1.1. Here are my posts how to do that; they're excerpted from my OpenOffice.org workbooks.

• OpenOffice.org 1.x Mail Merges, Envelopes, and Labels
• OpenOffice.org 1.x Plain Labels and Envelopes

Tip on Printer Setup
Some of the pain of envelopes is the printer setup. Here's a GREAT tip from Miriam:
"I just read your envelope printing tip. Instead of constantly changing and checking the printer settings, I add another instance of the printer, configure it for envelopes and name it "envelope." When I want to print an envelope I choose this printer instead of the default one. That way my settings are always the same."

Envelope Mantra
Here's the other main point I want to make sure everyone understands.

Envelopes aren't too bad once you figure out how to do it the first time. Honest.

I hope the article helps.

OpenOffice.org 1.x Mail Merges, Envelopes, and Labels: From the GetOpenOffice.org Workbook

Note: You can get label templates from several online resources including the WorldLabel templates here.

OpenOffice.org 2.0 is out, but I wanted to make sure that everyone out there in OpenOffice.org 1.x land knows how to do mail merges. Everyone isn't going to be converting to OpenOffice.org 2.0 the day it comes out,  so I hope this information will be useful for quite a few people for a while.

Mail merges are things like sending a holiday newsletter to everyone in your address book, with the same content but addressed to Dear Bob, Dear Mary, and so on. Mail merges also apply to envelopes and labels, since you might also want to print one envelope with the address for Bob on Main Street, Mary on Elm, and so on.

The procedure for doing mail merges isn't hard...it's just not obvious.

I'm posting the mail merge procedures from my GetOpenOffice.org Comprehensive Writer workbook, as well as the lab files that you need to do the exercises.

Enjoy! It's easy when you know how.

Click here get the procedure PDF document. Download mailmerge.pdf

Click here to get the spreadsheetM document you can use as the data for the mail merge. Download spreadsheetM.sxc