OpenOffice.org Training, Tips, and Ideas

Who's using OpenProj, and how's it going?

I'm moving into some other areas for instruction and materials, including OpenProj, the alternative to Microsoft Project.

It seems like a very reasonable piece of software--type your tasks, indent the subtasks, specify the precedents, create and assign resources with various % for each task, different calendars per project and per resource, etc.

I'd like to hear from those who are using it: how do you like it, what topics are difficult and (of course ;> ) your thoughts on the needs for books (I've found one other one) and training.

Thanks!

Solveig

How to take a spreadsheet that has firstname, lastname, and initial all in the same column, and turn it into two columns

Sometimes your data isn't as broken down, as granular, as you'd like.

Name

Hanson,John B

Herman,Jill

Jenson,Jim J

What you typically want, for the most power over your data, is this.

Lastname	Firstname
Hanson	John B
Herman	Jill
Jenson	Jim J

Here's how to split it automatically, not manually.

First, you need to take out that space between the comma and the first name. Select all the cells in that name column.

Choose Edit > Find and Replace. Type a comma immediately followed by a space in the Search For field and just type a comma in the Replace With field. Click More and select Current Selection Only.

Then click Replace All.

And you'll see the data looks like this.

 

Now you're ready to split it at the comma. First, be sure that you have an empty column to the right of the Name column, to put the first name and initial into. Then click on the column header to select the whole column.

Choose Data > Text to Columns.

Select the comma, but nothing else. You'll see a preview of how it will be split.

Then click OK and you'll see the actual data split.

Sorting mixed 5- and 9-digit zip codes in OpenOffice.org Calc or Microsoft Excel

Every advance leads to benefits and to problems.

The 9-digit zip code is great for delivery accuracy. But they aren't required. So you have mixed 5-digits and 9-digits.

Now just try sorting your address info by zip code when there's mixed 5s and 9s. Here's what you get when you sort a standard address list by zip code.  It's like cattle and sheep, they don't mix.

What do you do?

There are three things you can do:
1 - Enforce a 9-digit zip. Everyone without four digits gets -0000 whether they want it or not.
2 - Put a ' in front of every zip code. It doesn't print but it forces the zip code to think of itself as text. (This also helps with not losing leading zeroes.)
3 - Split the column into two, so you have the zip in one column and the four-digit extension in the other. This is kind of like the forcing-9-digit solution.

The explanations follow but if you want to root around in an example spreadsheet, here's a spreadsheet with options 2 and 3.

Solution 1
Solution 1 is self-explanatory.

Solution 2
Just type a '   a regular apostrophe on the keyboard, to the left of the first character of every zip code. It doesn't show but it forces text format.

See? The ' is there in the entry field but it doesn't show in the spreadsheet cell.

Typing ' into thousands of cells takes a while. So you can search and replace. There might be a better way to do this but this at least doesn't suck.

Click in the Zip Code heading in your spreadsheet, then  choose Edit > Find and Replace. Click More Options and fill out the window as shown, searching for ^0, caret zero, and replacing with '0, apostrophe zero.

You'll need to do this once for 0, then for 1, then for 2, and so on. (I've tried to figure out a faster way, plus submit any suggestions.) 

Either replace one at a time if you're cautious, or go nuts and replace all. You might want to select the whole column of zip codes, too, and select the Current Selection Only checkbox.

When you're done, and when you sort that data, the zip codes sort correctly.

Solution 3

You can split your data into two cells with the LEFT and RIGHT functions. I'm throwing in IF too because sometimes you'll want the right-hand four digits (the extension) and sometimes you'll want 0000. (Or just leave it blank, whatever you want to do.)

This is what I want to achieve.

And this is how I get it. The formula for the first column, where I extract the first five digits, is simple.

The right-hand side is a little more complicated since you're dealing with variable-length zip codes. But basically you're saying if the zip code is just five digits, then create a new 4-digit extension, "-0000" (or just "0000" depending on how you want to deal with the dash). And then if it isn't just five digits, then you want to see the right-hand five digits of the zip code (including the dash) or the right-hand four digits (if you want to leave out the dash and put it in manually somehow).

Then you just drag down those formulas to all the zip code cells.

If you want to turn those columns into normal text, just copy them, choose Edit > Paste Special, choose to NOT paste formulas, and click OK.

The pasted results are nothing but numbers.

Now when you sort, you just need to be sure to do it by two levels, first by the main zip code, then by the extension. BE SURE that you set the Ascending or Descending the same for both.

And you get your results, sorted correctly.

Here's a spreadsheet with options 2 and 3.

When in doubt, right-click.

When in doubt, right-click.

The right-click context menu gives a very nice list of many of the operations you can do with the selected item. Not everything, of course, but it's a good place to start. (Click to see a bigger version.)

Checking for broken links when you're using Edit > Paste Special, Link, in OpenOffice

Paste Special is a great feature. Copy something, then go to a different spreadsheet sheet, or a different OpenOffice.org, and choose Edit > Paste Special. (Or Ctrl Shift V.) You get these options.

If you're pasting a spreadsheet to a spreadsheet

If you're pasting a spreadsheet to a text doc

If you're pasting a text doc to a text doc, or a text doc to a spreadsheet

 

If you select the Link option in spreadsheet-to-spreadsheet, or the DDE Link option when pasting any other time, you get a connection between the pasted from doc and the pasted into doc. When what you originally copied changes, then the pasted version of it changes, too.

This continues to work unless somebody deletes, renames, or otherwise messes with the original file you copied.

Unfortunately, if this happens, there's no big red flag waving to tell you. The data is still there; the link is just lost.

Here's how to check to see if the link is still working. Choose Edit > Links.

If you see links listed there, they're working and nobody has messed up the name or location of the original file.

If the the Links option is dimmed, or if a link to the file you're checking on isn't listed, then the link is broken and you need to do Paste Special, Link again to make the pasted data update when the original data does.

Distorting Shapes to Make the Objects You Need: Using the OpenOffice Draw Distortion Tools

I like to fiddle around with Draw. In the 2.0 release I need to do it less because of all the great prefab shapes. However, sometimes you just need to create your own shapes. Make a shape vaguely like a Hershey's kiss, or just make something totally unusual.

You have the tools to do this with the Mode toolbar. Choose View > Toolbars > Mode.

The far right tool on the upper row and the first two on the lower row are the fun ones.

Here's how it works. Just draw a normal shape. Select it, then click on the icon you want. You'll see a message like this; click Yes.

So let's take a look at what happens to perfectly innocent shapes when you use the distortion and set-in-circle tools. Here are the perfectly innocent shapes I'll work with, but you can use any polygon shape include the smiley face shown at the top.

I'll show the effects of this tool first.

I select the blue shape then click the Set in Circle tool. When I move my mouse over the shape and drag a corner, I get something like this.

 

Here's the effect of some random distortion of the three original shapes.

Next, let's look at the Set to Circle (slightly different)  icon.

Here's what it looks like when you start fiddling with a shape. It doesn't show here but your mouse pointer will look like a little crown when you move it over a corner.

Here are the three original shapes, just showing what I happened to do with them. Your results will vary.

And here's the last of the three icons, Distort.

Here's how I chose to distort the objects.

The Set in Circle item is the most fun, I think, and that's what I used to create the purple shape at the top. However, they're all quite useful depending on what kind of shape you need to create.

And don't overlook distorting a shape, then making it 3D. Select the distorted shape, right click, and choose Convert > To 3D. (NOT 3D rotation object.)

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How to lay out a page using tables and two or more columns

I've created some quick-reference sheets. The layout looks like this. Click the image to see it bigger. It's tables that repeat in three columns on each page. I needed columns so that I could keep the procedure name, in the left column of each table, together with the content in the right side of each table, the steps for the procedure. I also needed a heading at the top that spanned the columns.

I fiddled with a few ways to do it but here's what I ended up with.

- I set the top margin of the first page as 1.5 inches or so from the top, then inserted a frame the width of the page, to hold the heading content. (Insert > Frame.)

- I set up the page layout with three columns. (Format > Page, Columns tab.)

- Then I just put in the tables. I made sure that the tables were allowed to break over page and column breaks, and I used the Break options when I needed to have the columns start at the top of various columns and pages.

I set the table width to the total width of the column. Then I set the proportions of the columns within the table. I did both using the table properties window. (Table > Table Properties, Table tab and Columns tab.)

I fiddled a bit with column sections but the page layout approach was simpler.

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How to make sure that your graphics are embedded (not linked) in your documents, especially for templates

When you add a graphic to a document, you can either plop it straight in so it's stored in the document, or you can link the graphic so that the document just points to where the graphic is stored.

It looks the same either way, but here's the thing. When you email your document to someone, or post your template in a network directory, what happens to that link pointing to the graphic?

The link points back to your directory at home\documentdrafts\2008\graphics\teamphoto.gif  or whatever the path is. And your cousin in Phoenix or the other people on your team can't get to that graphic.

So what you want to do, typically, when you're sending documents or templates to other people that those people need to work with, is to make sure that your graphics are embedded in your document.

NOTE: If you're doing large books or other documents where there are significant benefits to just linking to graphics, or if you have really big graphics of a few hundred KB or more, think hard before doing only embedded graphics. You'll have some issues, including really really big documents. Consider working with the documents only on the network so that the graphics are there on the network too and you don't have path issues. You might want to link as you work with the document, then if necessary break the links (see the last section here) or even better, make a PDF, before distributing the document.

How to Insert Graphics in Documents so They're Not Linked

When you drag a graphic from the Gallery (Tools > Gallery) into your document, it's automatically embedded. But when you choose Insert > Picture > From File, then you can choose to link or to not. If you want the graphic embedded, then don't select Link.

How to Add Graphics to the Background of Headers, Footers, or Pages So They're Not Linked

You can just click in a header or footer and choose Insert > Picture > From File. But you can also set up headers, footers, and pages with a graphic in the background.

Choose Format > Page.

Click the Header, Footer, or Background tab.

For Headers or Footers click the More.

Then you'll see this window. Select Graphic then click Browse. Find the graphic. Again, just be sure you don't click the Link checkbox which in this case is next to the Browse button.

 

How to Un-Link (Embed) Graphics When They're Already In Your Document

Let's say you've got a document chock full of linked documents and you reallllly don't want to re-insert them. It's easy to fix; just break the link and the graphics will be embedded.

Under the Edit menu, look at Links. If it's dimmed as shown, then you don't have any linked graphics and you're good.

If it's not dimmed, then choose Edit > Links. In the Edit Links window, just select the graphics listed and choose Break Link. The graphics stay, but now they're embedded and you can mail the document wherever you want or store it in another location.

(You could also select a graphic link and choose Modify to change where it's pointing to.)

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My article on transitioning to OpenOffice.org from Microsoft Office

I really thought that I had posted this article, but I have not seen it in a quick page through.

http://www.fanaticattack.com/2008/switching-office-suites-from-microsoft-office-to-openofficeorg.html

It is a big, big article with most of what I recommend about setting up and switching, with the primary focus on individual users. But it applies to transitioning groups, as well.

See also this blog post, which has some really specific info about how to distribute clip art to many users on a network.

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Norwegian translation of an article on transitioning to Openoffice.org

Thanks to Rosetta Media  for getting the translation done.

http://www.rosetta.no/demofiler/mykovergang.pdf

http://www.rosetta.no/rosetta/kprog.html

My parents will be so proud! (They love all things Norwegian. We all have tshirts about rommegrot.)

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.

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Fun with OpenOffice Draw: Creating Text Boxes, Converting Text to 3D, and Formatting 3D Text

It's been a while since I sat down with some big sheets of paper and my crayons, and just colored. (I had that 64-color set of crayons with the extra-glamorous sharpener on the back....got it for Christmas my sixth birthday, I think, and I LOVED it. Sky Blue was my favorite.)

What I do these days, though, although the old set of crayons is actually on my shelf of cute collectibles along with my Star Trek popup book and a picture my parents the day they met, is to waste many fun hours with Draw.

One of the hidden but dramatic and fun features in Draw is the ability to create and twiddle around and format text in 3D.

Creating the text box

Find the text tool on the Drawing toolbar.

Click it, then move your mouse to the work area and draw a text box.

Immediately type in the text box

Converting the text box to 3D

Click on the text box where the border is, so that you get the green handles as shown. Then right-click on the border between or on the green handles and choose Convert to 3D.

The text will be converted.

Apply a lighter color if it's black so that you can see it better.

Modify the text by dragging one of its handles, so that the proportions are better.

To rotate the text in 3D, click in the middle of the text once; you'll see round red handles as shown and the mouse will change when you position it over a handle.

Drag a handle to move the text in 3D.

Click off the text, then once on again if you want to get the green handles back so that you can resize or re-proportion the text.

Applying standard fills

You can apply colors, but also gradients, hatchings, and bitmaps to the text. Think of it as a shape now, not text (you can't retype it at this point).

Here's a gradient.

Here's a bitmap.

Applying official 3D formatting

To apply 3D formatting, generally you should have a plain color applied, though there's no real cut-and-dried rule. Right-click on the text and choose 3D Effects.

Select from the many options, then click the green Apply checkmark to apply effects.

To export your text so you can make it into a GIF or similar graphic, see this post.

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Web 2.0 and Openoffice.org in the Netherlands

The folks at O3Spaces continue to do some interesting stuff with OpenOffice.org.

The City of Heerenveen (NL) uses and relies on an OpenOffice.org Web 2.0 work environment based on O3Spaces Workplace. By implementing the newly released O3spaces workplace, including the integrated template and extension, the City of Heerenveen can now benefit from document management, collaboration, template management as an integrated part of their OpenOffice.org environment.

Read more.

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Issues with Insert External Data

Some people are having problems inserting data from a CSV or TXT file into a spreadheet, using Insert > Link to External Data.

http://www.openoffice.org/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=1834

If this doesn't work for you, try Insert > Sheet From File instead.

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Help Digg the Great Story about OpenOffice.org 2.3!

There's a great story about OpenOffice 2.3 in EWeek. Give it a read, and Digg it to help draw attention!

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Using regular expressions in OpenOffice Calc filters -- phrases like "contains" rather than equals, less than, etc.

Life just isn't cut and dried. Sometimes when you're filtering you don't want to just say "give me all the people whose last name is Hanson." You want Hanson, Hansen, and Hansengaaardennn (those Dutch really go for the jawbreaker names).

You'd like to filter out everyone except those whose names contain "Hans".

Here's how to do that. Select the item in the Comparison Field from the dropdown list in the standard filter, then type what you want in the other field. Click More, and select Regular Expressions, then click OK.

Example of what you want	What to enter in the Condition field	Syntax for what to enter in the Value field	Example of what to enter in the Value field
Begins with Hans	=	^x.*	^Hans.* (you can also skip the ^, I've found)
Does not begin with Hans	<>	^x.*	^Hans.*
Ends with Hans	=	.*x$	.*Hans$
Contains Hans	=	.*x.*	.*Hans.*
Does not contain Hans	<>	.*x.*	.*Hans.*

Here are some examples. Let's say you want all names that start with Hans, but not all names that simply contain Hans.

Here's the data.

Select all  the data, or just click in the headings, and choose Data > Filter > Standard Filter. Make the window look like this.

Click OK and you get this; Bob Montrahans is not included. (It's not because of the case.)

Here's a different example. I want names that DON'T CONTAIN the series of letters Hans.

Data

The window with the restrictions:

And the results.

Here's some information from the OOo wiki about regular expressions.

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Using the Advanced Filter

In the Standard Filter you only have three slots for info.

That's a bit limiting. So the Advanced Filter lets you enter up to 8 criteria.

Using the Advanced Filter

Here's your data. Click the image to see it larger.

Now, here's how you enter your critera. Copy your headings and paste them somewhere else in the spreadsheet. Then type the values you want. Click this image to see it larger. I've entered Fargo for the city, ND for the state, and =>5 for the Years of Service. Note that they are all on the same row.  This means they are ANDed together.

Click in the data (not the criteria but the main data) and choose Data > Filter > Advanced Filter. In the window, click in the right-hand field and draw a box around the area where you typed the criteria. Click OK.

You'll see the results. Click the image to see it larger.  ( Simon being the first name for both is just a coincidence.)

Now, if you want OR logic, just enter the values in your critera section on different rows, like this. Click to see a larger version of the image.

These are the corresponding results. Because of the OR, you get a lot more results. Click the image to see a bigger version.

Removing the Filter
To turn off the filter, it's the same as with the standard filter. Click in the filter results, and choose Data > Filter > Remove Filter.

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Using the Standard Filter

The Autofilter is a quick way to restrict what you're looking for. If you need some more flexibility, though, you need to move on to the Standard filter or the Advanced filter.

Maybe you have people from 12 states and you want to see the ones from Ohio OR Montana OR New Jersey. Or you want to see people with five or more years of service. Or you want to see anyone with more than three overdue library books who is also from Denver, because you're traveling to Denver and you want to drop by their houses and scare the heck out of them in person.

These are a challenge for the AutoFilter, so you move on.

Here's how to use the Standard Filter. Let's say you've got this data.

Click somewhere in the data and choose Data > Filter > Standard Filter.

In the window, enter your data. Note that any ORs will open up the results more than you might expect. Here's a filter.  Either from MT or OR, and with 5 or more years of service.

Here are the corresponding results. Note the person from MT with only 1 year of service, but there's no one from OR with fewer than 5 years of service. The logic is
"anyone from Montana"
or
"anyone from Oregon who also has 5 or more years of service."

As with the AutoFilter, you need to click in the filter results to take away the filter. If you don't click in the filter results, as shown, the Remove Filter option is dimmed.

Click in the filter results, as shown, and choose Data > Filter > Remove Filter to get rid of the standard filter.

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Using the AutoFilter: A useful if slightly twitchy tool

Sooner or later, you're going to get a huge spreadsheet with way too much data to scan visually.

How do you, ahem, filter out what you don't want to see?

One way is to use the AutoFilter.

AutoFilter Basics

Let's say you've got this spreadsheet of employees.

You'd like to just take a look at those from Montana, or those with a particular number of years of service. Something like that.

Click somewhere in the data, and choose Data > Filter > AutoFilter.

You see arrows by all the headings.

Click on one  of the arrows, and choose to view all records containing one of the values, or all records containing the top 10, i.e. the ten most frequently occurring values in that column.

Here are the results for selecting one value for one column.

If you choose another value in another column, then you get rows that have the selected value for BOTH columns.

Here, I get rows for people who are in Montana, AND in Kalispell. Which works out fine since Kalispell is a city in Montana.

 

However, if I choose to view records for people from Montana, and from Portland (a city in Maine and in Oregon but NOT in Montana), I get nothing.

To go back to viewing all the values, select All from the list.

Then you get to view all the records again, once you've selected All for any columns you restricted.

When you're done and want to get rid of the little arrows, click somewhere in the data, and choose Data > Filter > AutoFilter again. There'll be a checkmark and when you select AutoFilter, it will go away.

There's the data the way it was before you started.

Issues With AutoFilter

Here's where things get a little twitchy. What if you try to turn off the AutoFilter and you have not selected a cell somewhere within the AutoFilter results?

You get this.

When you get this, click OK and click somewhere in the data.

Then choose Data > Filter > AutoFilter again. You won't see the checkmark, but that's OK.

Then choose Data > Filter > AutoFilter yet again. This time you'll see the checkmark.

And then the arrows will disappear and you're back to normal.

I also recommend liberal use of the Undo feature, Ctrl Z or click the Undo icon. You can undo at least 20 and possibly more depending on how your system is set up.

Can You Delete Rows When in the AutoFilter Without Deleting the Intervening Data?
I'm glad you asked. Yes, you can. Here's a demo.  Look at the range from row 15, Dan Montbatten, to row 20, Beth Jerlin. They're both from Montana.  In between you've got Jon, Marcus, and Kyle.

I'm going to view only people from Montana, which includes Dan and Beth but excludes the three rows between.

Now I'm going to delete Dan and Beth.

And they go away. However, Jon, Marcus, and Kyle are still there.

 

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Things that don't work when you save Writer documents in Word's .doc format

OpenOffice.org has a feature that lets you automatically save documents in Microsoft Office format. Save Writer as Word, save Calc as Excel, etc. This lets your users send out documents to the outside world without having to remember to save in MS format first.

Choose Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org > Load/Save and use the lists in the bottom half of the window.

Likewise, you can save an OOo document in MS format by choosing File > Save As, or by choosing File > Send > Document as [microsoft format for that document type].

However. There's a but. It's not a huge but, but it's significant.

In some versions of OpenOffice.org, the following features don't work when you save a Writer document in Word format. It's not just the automatic saving, it's saving in Word format through File > Save As, as well. So the only way to get around it is to save as PDF (click the PDF icon on the toolbar or choose File > Export as PDF).

This isn't a complete list; please add your own through comments. I just tested all of these on the standard 2.3 release.

Mail merge prints field names, not content. If you save your mail merge document in Word format, then print, all you'll get is the names of the fields, like Firstname, rather than the data, like Bob.

Background graphics disappear. If you choose to put a graphic in the background of a header footer or page, under Format > Page, the graphics will disappear when you save in Word format.

Custom frame, page, and list styles get screwed up This one is an issue because page styles are the basis for doing so much really good, powerful stuff. (I hope this is on the list of things to fix, and/or not a problem in other builds.) I just tested, in 2.3, a file I'd created with custom page styles to automatically switch from a page style with no page number on the first page footer to a page number on subsequent page footers.

If you insert page breaks between page styles with Insert > Manual Break, and the  Break With feature in the Text Flow tab of a paragraph style, do preserve more formatting than the Next Style feature in the Organizer tab, which preserves nothing.  The headers and footers are preserved in the first two approaches, as are page borders and jumps from page 2 to page 66.  Landscape versus portrait is also preserved.

However, no background formatting is preserved, and the page style names are changed to Default for the first one, Convert1 for the second, and so on.

If these are issues for you, please vote to have the following bugs prioritized as things to work on. (I'm actually having trouble bringing up the OOo issue tracker right now; I think these are correct but I will check them later.)

http://www.openoffice.org/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=78723

http://www.openoffice.org/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=73533

http://www.openoffice.org/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=11522

http://www.openoffice.org/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=22635

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Fixing problem OpenOffice files by unzipping, mixing, and matching

One of the great things about OpenOffice.org is that you can open corrupted Word files with it. Or Word files that are just too big to open in Word, open fine in OpenOffice Writer.

However, every so often you will get a rogue OpenOffice file that just won't behave. It crashes constantly, or behaves in other ways that just don't make sense.

In that case, the best approach is surgery.

OpenOffice file formats can be unzipped to reveal their components. Once you see their components, you can take copy different components from a different uncorrupted file and replace the corrupted ones in your problem file. Zip it all up together again, and whammo, your file works.

I'll show an example in Writer but the same principles apply to Calc, Draw, and Impress.

So you have your file. Let's say this is the file you're having problems with. It's got a couple styles, a picture, and of course content.

I like to make a copy of the problem file, just to make sure I can always get back to the original version. So I create a copy, give it a different name, and change the extension to .zip. (Or gzip, or whatever works for you on your operating system.)

Then unzip the .zip file, and you'll get a directory of component files and directories.

Here's what's inside that new directory.

I'm not going to go into painful detail about all of the content. But content.xml contains the content, styles.xml contains the style definitions, Pictures contains the graphics, and so on.

Here's a snap of part of the content.xml.

And of the styles.xml.

And the Pictures directory. Note that the file name is different than the inserted picture.

So here's what I do. If I have content but don't care about the styles, pictures, whatever else in the problem document, I:

- create a new totally empty OpenOffice document of the same type (Writer, Calc, etc.)

- change the extension to .zip and unzip it

- copy the content.xml file from the problem doc directory into the new empty doc directory, replacing the empty doc's content.xml file

- zip up the new empty doc directory

- change the .zip extension to .odt, .ods, or whatever

- and open it up again, using this as the new version of the problem document

If you have pictures and styles in the problem document that you need, then just copy the Pictures and Thumbnails directories, and the content.xml and styles.xml files, into the new empty doc directory, replacing the corresponding directories and files.

It's a techy but quite effective way to redo a document.

Would it be better to just copy and paste the content of the problem document to another new empty document? Not always--nasties have a nasty way of accompanying the content. But sure, try that first, and if that doesn't work, then do this.

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Google Docs Extension for OpenOffice

There's a nice little extension for OpenOffice.org that lets you quickly upload your document to your googledocs account. Click here to get it.

Installing the extension gives you this toolbar, as well as a Google Docs menu.

 

Click it to get this window; just enter the appropriate information.

 

Your document will be automatically uploaded to your account in Google. It works pretty nicely.

Installation

Installing extensions is pretty easy. Download the extension. Then choose Tools > Extension Manager. Select My Extensions and click Add.

 

Find the extension file you downloaded, an installation process runs, and you’ll see Enabled next to the extension. For some extensions, you’ll need to restart. Look for a new menu, new menu items, new toolbars, or all three.

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Another way to tweak labels, and save the format

In this entry I talked about a fairly straightforward but manual way of giving your labels a little room to breathe.

In this entry, I'll go through how to use the Format tab to tweak a particular layout, then save it for re-use.

When you create labels, you of course choose File > New > Labels. You select your type and layout here, then add your content, and then click New Document.

You get something that looks like this.

Now, what if you then print and everything is too high, too low, too much to the left, etc.?

Well, you just adjust it, then save that adjustment as a specific format you can select next time.

When you're in the Labels window, click the Format tab.

Here's what all the measurements mean. I suggest starting by changing the left and top margin, then get into changing the pitch if necessary.

Horizontal pitch

The distance from the left of one label to the left of the label to the right of it. If you want to actually increase the distance between columns of labels, i.e. if labels get increasingly (or decreasingly) cut off as you go across the sheet, change this.

Vertical pitch

The distance from the top of one label to the top of the label below it. If you want to actually increase the distance between rows of labels, i.e. if labels get increasingly (or decreasingly) cut off as you go down the sheet, change this.

Width

Just the width of the actual space for the label content.

Height

Just the height of the actual space for the label content.

Left margin

The distance from the left side of your sheet of labels to where content begins. If all your labels are getting cut off on the left, adjust this.

Upper margin

The distance from the top of your sheet of labels to where content begins. If all your labels are getting cut off on the top adjust this.

Columns

The number of columns. You don't need to adjust this.

Rows

The number of rows. You don't need to adjust this.

Examples

Here's a normal sheet, next to one where I increased just the top margin. Click the image to see it larger.

Here's an example where I increased the vertical pitch by a half inch. You wouldn't want to increase it that much, but I made it big to make sure you could see the effect. Click the image to see it bigger.  Note that on the right, you only are at the 5th row while at the same place on the left, you're at the 7th row.

Once you've got the label adjustments where you want them, click Save in the Format tab. Name the label in the window that appears, and click OK.

Then when you create labels again, that saved format will be in the list.

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Sun Report Builder Extension

Anyone who's worked with the OpenOffice.org Base report writer knows that it's....a first generation product. It works but it doesn't have huge features. So I’m particularly glad to see some work being done with reports, in the new Report Builder extension from Sun.

http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/    for all extensions

http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/project/reportdesign   for the Sun Report Builder

The Report Builder extension looks like it has a lot of powerful features, though not exactly easy to see how to use. I’ve spent a few hours with it and one thing that bugs me a bit is that the tab for selecting the data source for the report disappears if you click on something else first. Ease of use aside, though, it does have quite a feature set, including grouped records, sorting of records, different alignment of text fields, and calculations.

I'm going to have to spend a lot more time with this to really figure it out and give some procedures, but here's a short tour of the basics.

To use the Sun Report Writer extension, download and install it first. (Tools > Extension Manager). Then open the .odb database file for the database you want to create a report for. Choose Insert > Report, and you’ll see the report writer interface.

 

This is the tab that disappears too quickly. Select Table or another type of data, then select the actual source. Once you make that selection, the Add Field palette appears; use it to drag fields onto the appropriate section of the report.
   

Click the Sorting and Grouping icon on the toolbar to get this window where you have a lot of control over how the fields and the report behave.

 

When you’ve dragged fields onto the report, set options, inserted page numbers, and done other formatting, save the report. The report will show up in the Reports area of the main editing windows of the .odb database file.

 

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Things that control how content is displayed in OpenOffice.org Calc spreadsheets

If you spend all day in spreadsheets, sooner or later you want something to help you spot what's important or different. The motion study expert Frank Gilbreth told factories to paint parts different colors to help factory workers spot the right pieces more quickly; Calc has roughly equivalent features to help point out the different types of data you're working with.

Many of the settings are controlled here. Choose Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org Calc > General. Click the image to see it bigger.

Here's a sample spreadsheet, shown the usual way.

Here's what it looks like when, in the Display section of the Options window, you mark the Formulas option.

Here's what it looks like  when you mark Shown References in Color. It means if you double-click a formula, the referenced cells are shown color coded.

And if you mark the Value Highlighting option, then formulas are shown in a different color than formulas.

And in the same options window on the left side, you can change the color of the borders between the cells from light gray to whatever you want. Here's what they look like in magenta.

There are also some options that help you see the relationships among your data; the Tools > Detective menu item.

Tracing precedents means, for the selected cell or cells, show other cells that are a step up in the calculation. For instance, the tax rate is used in the selected cell to figure out after tax monthly income, so it's a precedent.

Tracing dependents is the same, but the other way around. Monthly Income depends on the selected cell, total income.

And, if you've got some errors, the Trace Errors feature will show what other cells are involved in the error cell.

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Summary of new features in OpenOffice.org 2.3

Here’s a summary of the features from the 2.3 new features list that I considered the most useful or important to write about. This page  http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/New_Features_2.3 about the new features is an excellent guide, as well.

General

• This is convenient for anyone who prints to multiple printers, all over the world. You can load or ignore the printer settings for your documents. This means you don’t end up accidentally printing to the printer in building 4 which is on the opposite side of the country, just because you were on a business trip there last week and that’s where you last printed your document.
  

• If your document isn’t wider than the OpenOffice.org window, then it will be centered in the window, not left-aligned.
  

• Lots of locale information was added, for locations such as Tagalog, Frisian, and Hausa.
  

Writer and Web

• The HTML editor now has a preview feature. Choose File > Preview in Web Browser and the document opens in the default browser.

• I love this feature. You know how when you get a hyperlink but then want to retype it or reformat it, but clicking on it takes you to the target of the link? No more. You can select hyperlinked text all you want; you now have to Ctrl Click to open a link. This is very nice.
  

• The notes say that there is a new compatibility option on Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org Writer > Compatibility: Do Not Justify Alignment in Lines Ending With Manual Line Break. However, I’m mentioning this because I couldn’t see it. The illustration shows the compatibility options that are there.
  

• When you open the Styles and Formatting window (Format > Styles and Formatting), you can set what kinds of styles you wanted to see: Applied, Custom, Automatic, etc. Previously, you had to reset this every time you opened a new document or re-opened OpenOffice.org. Now, thankfully, that category will stick. The setting is saved per application. However, the choice you make for Paragraph, Character, Frame, List, or Page doesn’t stick.
  
  

• When you right-click on text, you used to see Default as one of the options. Now you see Default Formatting, which is clearer. (Default Formatting is a great way to just clear out any extraneous formatting and apply the default style to the selected item.) This is a very nice feature regardless of the text; for one thing, it’s the best way to remove the hotlink from a URL.
  

• A new export filter lets you export to MediaWiki format. Choose File > Export and select MediaWiki in the file format list.

Calc

• This is a very, very smart change. By default, the print options for Calc are now set to Print Only Selected Sheets and Suppress Output of Empty Pages. If the Print Only Selected Sheets option is enabled, the Calc page preview shows only the displayed sheet and the message “There is nothing to print.” To change these options, choose Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org Calc > Print, or choose File > Print and click the Options button.
  

• Here’s another very smart change that will screw up all my documentation. :) The SUM icon on the main Calc toolbar has changed. Now you can select the range of numbers to add, click the SUM icon, and get the total in the first cell below the selected range. Phew. But if you liked it the old way, it still works that way, too.
  

• Graphics can be linked to macros. This should help with Excel compatibility.
  

• The Excel export filter now handles the cotangent functions COT, ACOT, COTH, and ACOTH.

• Calc now supports inline matrix/array constants in formulas. An inline array is surrounded by curly braces '{' and '}'. Elements can be each a number (including negatives), a logical constant (TRUE, FALSE) or a literal string. See this link for more detail. http://sc.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=features&msgNo=230

• You can now use dynamic ranges, rather than absolute ranges defined with $, in lists in Data Validity. Choose Data > Validity, and under the Criteria tab select Cell Range from the list.
  
  

• The GETPIVOTDATA function returns a result value from a DataPilot table, so it can be used in a cell formula.
  

Mail Merge, Databases, and Forms

• The infamous checkbox on the print message when you print a mail merge document, Do Not Show Warning Again, is gone. Phew! See this blog http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2006/10/how_to_get_the_.html for why that caused problems.
  
  

• This is nice. When you choose File > Print with a mail merge document, in the Mail Merge window, you can choose to save the document as separate documents or as one document.
  
  

• Unfortunately, in Base there is still no File > Export or File > Import feature. File > Export does appear, but it’s dimmed.

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Question: Novell and Excel Macros?

I have heard various statements or rumors about the Novell version of OpenOffice.org being able to convert Excel macros to OpenOffice.org format. Can anyone comment on this, with personal experience? It is of course a fabulous thing to be able to do, if it's possible.

Solveig

Sun, StarOffice, Calc, and Forks

Thanks to Scott for tipping me off to this.

Here's  something interesting. The question: what happens when contributors and, I'll just say publishers, want different things?

The result seems to be that Openoffice.org, as Linux did, is going to have different versions. Perhaps not for the same reasons.

Kohei Yoshida wrote a long post on the history of Calc Solver, which is an optimization solver module for the Calc component of OpenOffice.org. After three years, they don't agree on some aspects of the licensing.  Now Michael Meeks has announced ooo-build (previously just for build fixes) is now a formal fork of OpenOffice  to be located at http://go-oo.org/.

The fork looks pretty interesting as it includes several things that have not make it into the official build.

Intrigue in the OpenOffice.org world.  In ten years will there be as many versions of OOo as there are of Linux?

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Removing a white background, or switching any color to another color

This is a useful if well-hidden feature, in OpenOffice Draw and Impress.

Let's say you've got some lovely  graphics for your business, and you're going to put them on your web site.

So you add the logo, the first one, to your web page. But! Hey, what's up with that? There's a white background that didn't show up before. And you're not about to change the pink background.

So to get rid of the white background, here's what you do.

1. Create a new Draw document and insert the graphic.  (File > New > Drawing, then choose Insert > Picture > From File and find your graphic.

2. To see things better, put a colored object behind the graphic, or make the background colored. To change the background, choose Format > Page, Background tab, and instead of None, select Color from the list. Select any color and click OK.

3. Choose Tools > Eyedropper.

4. Click on the graphic. Then click in the first checkbox on the left.

White is the default source color. However, if there's a different background color, or just to practice, you can then move your mouse over the white part of the graphic and click on it to select the color you want to get rid of.

5. Select Transparent in the corresponding dropdown list on the right. Again, this is the default.

6. Click Replace. The white will be replaced by Transparent.

7. If you didn't get rid of enough white, increase the tolerance to 20% and try again. Keep going as necessary; sometimes you need to do 50% or more, up to 99%.

8. Select the graphic and choose File > Export. Select the format you want: PNG, JPG, etc. Click Export, and enter any additional options if prompted.

Now you can insert the new picture wherever you need it.

Now, what happens with other pictures, when you try to replace one color with another color? It all depends on the picture. Here's what happens when I replace a light lavendar with a darker lavendar in the cupcake graphic. The following illustration shows before and after. It works better if you have something very structured where there are no gradations of colors.

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A fabulous way to do list numbering. Note: with great power comes great responsibility and a little extra setup work.

OpenOffice Writer numbering is powerful but it lacks at least one very important feature. Well, two. Here's the first.

First Problem

To restart the list at 1, you have to do it manually. You have to click on something like this, click on the first item:

6. Badgers
7. Toads
8. Owls

and click the Restart at 1 icon on the numbering toolbar

to make it look like this.

1. Badgers
2. Toads
3. Owls

NOTE However that this restart attribute is NOT available when you create a style. You can't create a style that restarts at 1. So it's a manual-only attribute. This can be annoying. Especially since importing new versions of the style you're using can wipe out the restart setting.

Second Problem

The numbers are inserted automatically so you can't click between the number and the text to insert a tab, or just format the number directly, or whatever. You can do this all through the numbering setup window, so it's not a huge issue, but sometimes it's nice to just grab hold of something and format it.

Here's what you might want to do if these are problems for you and you're up for something completely different.

I really like it. It's powerful and reliable.

The solution comes from my colleague Jean Weber, at www.jeanweber.com.  She has an excellent book on Writer, including high-end complex issues like this.

Here’s the link to the OOo doc, to which she contributed. http://documentation.openoffice.org/manuals/oooauthors2/

Here’s a link to her book on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/OpenOffice-org-Writer-Free-Alternative-Microsoft/dp/0596008260/sr=8-1/qid=1163013762/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-0539644-5923228?ie=UTF8&s=books

Here’s a link to the file you’re going to be using to solve this problem. http://documentation.openoffice.org/manuals/oooauthors2/0214WG-WorkingWithFields.pdf

What you do is, you create a numbering series of your own that has nothing to do with the normal numbering.

I’ll leave the particular details to Jean’s guide; go to the section called Defining your own numbering sequences. Here’s what you need to accomplish.

1. Create a single number range for every level. For instance, if your top level is regular Arabic, your second level is Alphabetic, and your third level is lower Roman, then create a single number range for each of those called Arabic, Alpha, and Roman (or one two and three, or Larry Moe and Curly, or whatever). Choose Insert > Fields > Other, click the Variables tab, choose Number Range on the left, and the rest is pretty clear. Jean's guide provides lots of nice detail for this.

2. Create paragraph styles with the indenting you want, one style for each level. The paragraph styles are what will take care of the indenting. You also need to set up the correct tabs since you’ll press Tab between the number range and the text.

Here are examples for levels 1, 2, and 3. In this formatting example  there’s an indent of .3 inches from the left margin of the document for all text. Also the distance from the number to the text is .3 inches.

Level 1 (plus set a .3 tab in the Tabs tab)

Level 2 (plus set a .3 tab in the Tabs tab)

Level 3 (plus set a .3 tab in the Tabs tab)

3. Start inserting the numbers, just anywhere in the document. You're going to insert them, then make shortcuts so that you can insert them more easily.

Choose Insert > Fields > Other, select your top level variable such as Arabic, specify 1 in the Value field, and click Insert.

Now   create your ArabicContinued field.  Press Return or just make a space or two. Still in the Fields window, delete the 1 from the Value field, and click Insert to insert another field of the same range. It’ll show up in the document as  2. Click Insert again if you want to prove it's working; it'll show up as 3.

DO NOT set up different variables here for the regular and the restart. They need to have the same name.

Do the same for the first item and the next item at all the levels you’re using.

4. Apply the appropriate paragraph styles to each number range you're using. If you created a paragraph style called TopLevelNumbering, apply it to all the Arabic fields (or whatever you're using at the top level). Also press Tab to insert a tab after each number.

5. If you have a lot more work to do, you want all this inserting stuff to be easier so make AutoTexts.

5.a. Select the first top-level numbering item, the Arabic one that equals 1 and the tab. (Not crucial, but as long as you're saving yourself some work, you can make the tab show up automatically, too.) Be sure the appropriate style is applied so that you can bundle the number and the correct style into one convenient autotext.

5.b. Choose Edit > AutoText. Type a name like ArabicRestart, make the shortcut something obvious like AR for ArabicRestart. Click and hold down on the Autotext button and choose New.

5.c. Repeat the steps for the next number at that level, the one that doesn’t have 1 as the value. So select the field that shows 2 in your document, choose  Edit > AutoText,  and call this one just Arabic or ArabicContinued. Make the shortcut something like A or AC.

5.d. Repeat those  steps for every level.

6. Now just keep on formatting or typing your list by inserting numbers. Type AR F3 (the shortcut plus the key that says "insert the autotext with that shortcut" to insert a numeral 1 plus a tab. Type AC F3 to insert a sequential continuous number.   

Note on inserting: You can't have the cursor immediately next to any existing text or the AutoText tool will get confused about what you want to do. There has to be at least a space between the cursor and any other text.

Alternately, if your list already exists, copy and paste the appropriate restart and continuous number variables to the appropriate spots, rather than using the shortcut keys.

In Conclusion

Is it wildly different from normal numbering? Yes. Is it complicated to set up? No more than any other complex numbering.

Does it offer much more reliability and control than other numbering in OpenOffice Writer, for complex lists? Yes, yes, oh god, yes.

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Sorting: Sorting by months or days of the week, in date order instead of alphabetical order

All right. It's time to do some really advanced sorting.

Let's say you have a schedule and you want to sort it by day of the week. What's the first day of the week? Monday. But alphabetically it's not first. Friday, for instance, comes before Monday. So here's how to sort by days of the week, months, etc.

You've got your data.

Select it and choose Data > Sort.

Click the Options tab and make the appropriate selection for Range Contains Column Labels.

Now select Custom Sort Order and select the one you want.

Click the Sort Criteria tab and select the column to sort by that contains the corresponding kind of data.

Click OK.

And you get your results.

Wondering "Where did that sort order come from?"

Wondering "Could I perhaps make my own sort order, like President Vice-President Secretary Treasurer or High Card, Pair, Two Pair, Trips, and so on?"

You will have your questios answered in the next installment of Sorting.

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A podcast: Solveig Talks to Barton George from Sun

I ran into Barton George at LinuxWorld in August. Barton develops relationships with the various GNU/Linux communities as well as Sun's relationship with the FSF.

Barton and I chatted about various things; read about them here  and/or listen here.

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Sorting: More powerful sorting using the Sort window

You want to do some good, hard sorting. Not just sorting by the first column, but by perhaps the third column. Maybe you want to sort first by state, then by city, then by last name. For that, you need the Sort window under Data > Sort.

You have your data.  Select all the data to sort, and either select the headings or not. You're good either way.

Choose Data > Sort.

Click the Options tab. You need to tell Calc whether you've got headings selected or not. If you've got headings selected, you want the option shown, "Range Contains Column Labels," to be selected. If you didn't, unmark it.

Now click the Sort Criteria tab. If you selected headings you'll see the headings themselves; if you didn't then you'll just see Column A, etc. Select the column to sort by, and Ascending or Descending.

Click OK.

You get your results. Here, the amounts under the column for the year 2000 are sorted in ascending order.

Now, let's look at a different set of data. You have a lot of people from the same state, and several cities per state. In this case you might want to just sort by last name, but you could also group by location. So you'd sort by state (the broadest category), then city, then alphabetically by last name. Click the image to see more detail.

Select the data, with or without headings, and choose Data > Sort. In the Options tab, be sure to select the Range Contains Column Labels option if you selected headings.

In the Sort Criteria tab, select first State, then City, then Last Name.

Click OK.

You get your results. Here's a closeup of one section, followed by the complete data. Click either to see them closeup.

This window that I've covered in this blog entry is pretty much what you need. If you want to go a little farther and sort by something else, like days of the week in the order they come, not alphabetical order, tune in for the next sorting blog.

IBM's already making a difference: publicity about new office suites

Here's the article, on CNet.

"After years of watching Microsoft rake in billions of dollars from its desktop software franchise, its competitors are pouncing.

IBM on Tuesday announced the release of Lotus Symphony, a suite of free desktop applications based on the OpenOffice.org open-source product...." and so on.

Now, this article is about seven years too late since Sun had StarOffice out there a while ago. But Sun didn't....really....go gangbusters marketing StarOffice. There were the tshirts and bus ads, yes, a year or so ago, but not much else that I saw.

Let's hope the publicity, and recognition of OpenOffice.org and its variants, continues!

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OpenOffice.org 2.3 has been released!

http://www.openoffice.org/

This is the version with the new charting tool. See blogs here and here.

Also, take a look at this. I will be writing about it soon.
It's a fancy new report writer tool extension.

http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/project/reportdesign

 

And it seems like that would be enough, but today is also a day to, well, note (certainly not celebrate, that would be unsportsmanlike ;> ) that the EU has upheld its judgment against Microsoft, and the big ol' fine.

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Sorting: Your basic everyday sorting

In the mood of fall cleaning and to celebrate having gotten my office organized, I'm going to blog this week about sorting. Today, it's just basic run-of-the-mill sorting using the sorting icons on the toolbar.

Let's say you've just got this list, and you want to sort it alphabetically.

Select it, without selecting any data you don't want sorted.

Click either the A-Z or Z-A icon.

You get your results.

Be sure not to select any headings, i.e. the word Employee in this case, or you get this result, which you don't want.

What if you have something like this, though? Something with multiple columns.

Here's the thing. Selecting, say, the 2000 column and clicking a sort icon will NOT give you good results. It will sort just the data in the 2000 column and leave all the other data behind. So all of a sudden your data is wrong.

You cannot specify the column to sort by, using the simple sort icons. That's covered in my next blog entry on sorting.

Here's what you can do. You can sort by the first column in the data set. You select ALL the data, again without the headings.

You click the sort icon you want.

And you get your results; the data is sorted by the first column. That's your only choice.

If you had selected just one column, the data would be goofed up.

For more control over sorting, tune in for the next sorting blog.

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Educators, this is for you! The first K-12 Open Minds (open source software) conference is October 9-11, 2007 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The first K-12 Open Minds conference is going to be held October 9 - 11, 2007, in Indianapolis, Indiana. The kick-off reception is Tuesday, the 9th, with the regular conference sessions on Wednesday and Thursday, the 10th & 11th.

The Open Minds Conference is the first national K-12 gathering for teachers, technicians and educational leaders to share and explore the benefits of open source in education. Virtual Learning Environments that provide 24X7 access to teaching and learning resources, cutting-edge and easy-to-use desktop applications, coupled with powerful management tools and low-cost computer strategies make the classroom of tomorrow available today!

Schools around the United States and the world are discovering the the benefits of open source software. In Indiana alone, over 100,000 students use open source software every day. Not only does open source save money, it allows schools to extend the benefits of technology more broadly, affording a better education to students.

I think this is the must-attend event of the year relating to Free and Open Source Software in K-12 education.  There are currently over 55 planned conference sessions, covering a the use of Linux and Open Source use in classroom, teaching, technical, and leadership aspects.

The individual registration fee is $100, or $89 each for groups of three or more. Register on the website or call Anthony Yanez, Registration Coordinator, at 800.940.6039, extension 1348.  Compared to other conferences I've been to, this is a huge bargain.

This is a great opportunity to really find out how much you can benefit, and how much money you can save, by using open source software. And of course to learn enormous amounts about using the software.

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IBM's coming to the OpenOffice.org party

Information Week puts it very nicely.

IBM's participation could make OpenOffice.org a more serious threat to Microsoft's stranglehold on the productivity software market.

Here's what I think. Benefits:
- Money
- Connections to a zillion enterprises across the world
- Money
- Name recognition among end users, which Sun doesn't have
- Money
- It's entirely possible they'll be throwing some marketing dollars behind OpenOffice.org

But here's something else. People who hear of OpenOffice.org think "Why is it free?" "What's open source?" "What's up with this craaaaazy communist kind of software development?" My point is, there's  nervousness surrounding something that's free and open source and not Controlled. (Anyone with experience with normal controlled software projects knows that's no guarantee of success, a good product, releasing on time, releasing at all, etc., but that's a separate issue.)

IBM has such a buttoned-down, conservative, reliable, "Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM" image that that might be the single biggest advantage about IBM's participation.

As the old Klingon saying goes, "Only Nixon could go to China." Perhaps only IBM could get OpenOffice.org on 51% of desktops.

Read more:

Desktop Linux

Information Week

Why Open Source Matters: A Larger View

When I teach, one of the most common questions about OpenOffice.org is "How can it be free?"

I answer with a hodgepodge of topics from "Sun wanted to piss off Bill Gates" to "you know how your printer is really cheap but the cartridges are more expensive?" to "well, when geeks go home and want to relax, they don't play volleyball, they code." And I vow to read The Cathedral and the Bazaar when I get home.

I'm traveling soon so I'll be able to fulfill that vow before my next training class. Before I delve into the official or popular views of open source software, however, I'm going to open up the chest of my own opinions. Here's one thought. Software development is an odd combination of useful for mass numbers of people, and fun for others to develop. Usually, things that are fun enough to do voluntarily are not that useful to other people.  There might not be as much of a benefit to millions of people from group collaboration in, say, acting or singing or lounging around in the back yard -- other more traditionally enjoyable activities. But there are enough people who enjoy, or are significantly rewarded by in nonmonetary forms, software development, to create a lot of usable software. And it's far more useful for the rest of us to have a free office suite, than for a bunch of people around the world to have united to read some great novels while sipping gin and tonics. ;>

So this is one way it's possible for open source software to be, metaphorically, delicious and calorie-free because, well, it's different. The context and assumptions of the nature of software development are different than other products and services.

Then there's others' opinions that I want to share and expand on. I came across this article/blog which I thought was another interesting angle on open source from a larger standpoint.

It's not really hot news; it's about the keyword that characterizes Web 2.0 and all the associated buzzwords: participation. But I haven't talked about that theme much on this blog, having generally focused on specifics like exactly what to choose to make an inter-subdocument cross reference show up. Thus I'd like to emphasize the link between OpenOffice.org and the big ideas.

The article mentions the attempts to create an online encyclopedia.

"Larry Sanger and Jimmy Wales were running into problems on the other side of the Atlantic. Together they were working on Nupedia, an encyclopedia they planned to make available to the public, free of charge, via the Internet. They considered it the ultimate democratization of knowledge. Sanger and Wales found renowned academics who were prepared to write entries for the site as well as to edit others’ contributions. Great plan. But it had one drawback: It was impossible to get anything done. Two years in, Nupedia included only 24 articles. “The pace was horrible,” Wales says now."

And then they discovered wikis. They opened up the process and now of course wikipedia is the first place many of us look for information if we just want a definition, some background and examples....in fact, an online encyclopedia entry.

Open source information goes much farther back than that. The Professor and the Madman chronicles the development of the Oxford English Dictionary, or OED, begun in the late 1890s. Where did many of the entries, many excellent entries come from? An inmate of Broadmoor who was imprisoned for murder. On the up side, he was still a very intelligent man, and of course had plenty of time to write definitions. I don't want to imply anything about today's software developers ;> with this analogy, but simply to point out that a venerable, dignified, and very old mainstay of our culture was developed with participation from many outside sources rather than an officially appointed and restricted group.

Let's keep in mind that  the odds of any software project successfully producing the desired outcome, on schedule, are roughly on par with going on a diet before your high school reunion and getting to your ideal weight in time. The structure of a standard project doesn't seem to be that much of a benefit. "It's impossible to put a precise number on the failure rate," says Karl Fogel, author of Producing Open Source Software, "but anecdotal evidence from over a decade in open source, some casting around on SourceForge.net, and a little Googling, all point to the same conclusion: the rate is extremely high, probably on the order of 90 to 95 percent."

Obviously, open source software can fail too. But my point is that developing outside the cube farm is not the risk.

Free software  seems odd to a lot of people, I think, because it's just new. We get free entertainment through TV; free information all over the place on the Internet; and overpriced $5 1000-calorie macchiatos while we're enjoying the free stuff.

The simplicity and rigidity of money = value , in an environment of better communication and participation, can't be applied as uniformly anymore. Barter, whether actual or less obvious, has a role too: you're bartering your willingness to dig a little on the Internet for information instead of being handed a thick manual. (And for those who have read through thick software manuals, sometimes they're worth the price of the software....sometimes they're not.)

I've been sitting here, staring across the coffee shop (past my $2 iced tea) trying to come up with a splendid, eloquent final sentence that ties everything together. So far, no luck. I will go with something like "Open source is more normal than you think, and was providing many valuable, reliable, free products long before Linux came along."

OpenOffice Template for Writer: Suppressing the Page Number on the First Page

Suppressing the page number on the first page of a document is, unfortunately, not available simply by selecting the Suppress First Page Number checkbox.

You can set up your own documents, using page styles, so that you nave no page number on the first page, but a page number on the second and subsequent pages.
http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2006/12/merry_christmas.html

http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2006/09/starting_page_n.html

But if you want a template already made, here are two.
No page number on first page, second page is numbered page 1

No page number on first page, second page is numbered page 2

Here's how to use them.

1. Right-click on each item to download it. Save each file to a location on your computer or a network drive you can access.

Note: You might want to just save the templates to the location already listed under Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org > Paths, Templates item. Then in step 3 choose Commands > Update instead of Commands > Import.

2. Then in OpenOffice.org Writer choose File > Templates > Organize.

3. If you saved the template to one of the existing template paths, choose Commands > Update instead and continue to step 4.

If you saved the template to another location, then select a category on the left side,  click and hold down on the Commands button and choose Import as shown.

Find the files where you downloaded them. To select both, select the first, then hold down Ctrl and select the second. Click Open.

4. The templates will appear. Click Close.

5.  If you want one of the templates to be what comes up when you choose File > New > Text document, then right-click on it and choose Set as Default Template. I strongly recommend customizing the default template, whether you use this one or another one.

6.  Click Close.

7. To access the templates, choose File > New > Templates and Documents. If necessary, click the Templates icon at the left, double-click the name of the category you put the templates in in step 3, and you'll see the templates. Select the one you want.

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50 Open Source success stories in Business, Education, and Government

Success stories! If you're considering switching to any open source program, read on.

http://www.crmchump.org/2006/10/in_a_world_wher.html

Here's one story.

Golden also mentioned the implementation of SugarCRM Oregon Department of Human Services. The service provider needed a CRM put into place quickly, due to new HIPAA regulations in electronic billing. Believe it or not, Oregon DHS was sold on the idea when an IT engineer surfed the internet, found open-source SugarCRM, downloaded it onto a laptop and showed it around the department the next day. After “a couple of days” configuring, Oregon DHS went live with the system via the same laptop.

And get this, especially the end.

CRMBlog recently reported the story of the implementation over at Learning.com, a developer of online technology integration and assessment tools for public schools. Within six months of installing NetSuite, Learning.com had achieved results in acceleration of its business processes by a crazy 1500 percent and ultimately doubled business in 2005. And best of all, Learning.com reportedly required no extra personnel or personnel costs in making the switch.

Click here to read more.

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Support ODF; Support Democracy in Texas!

Texas is discussing open document format, the format used by OpenOffice.org and not so much by Microsoft.

Read more on Sam Hiser's blog.

http://fussnotes.typepad.com/plexnex/2007/03/support_odf_sup.html

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Importing Fonts Into OpenOffice.org 2.1

OpenOffice.org will just pick up whatever fonts you've got on your system. As someone who's worked with a lot of desktop publishing projects and who's mostly on Windows, I have a lot of fonts.

But let's say you don't have a lot of fonts, and you want more fonts for OpenOffice.

OpenOffice is there for you. In 2.1 there's a link from the Wizards to an installation site.

Choose File > Wizards > Install Fonts From Web.

Just follow the wizard through. Here are the windows.

Click on English and here's the text you see.

===========================

FontOOo

Version 1.6.1

FontOOo is a wizard allowing free fonts installation.

 

FontOOo is a wizard to simplify the downloading and installation of selected, high-quality fonts available on the internet.  License restrictions prevent these fonts from being directly shipped as part of OpenOffice.org but do allow end-user installation and use for no cost.   Please carefully read and follow the license for each of the fonts you install.

 

Click the button to start the wizard

Notes:

You will have to restart OpenOffice.org and the quickstarter to see your new fonts.

FontOOo only works at OpenOffice.org level and no font is installed at operating system level

 

This wizard is licensed under the terms of the LGPL, available here:
http://www.opensource.org/licenses/lgpl-license.php

Author: Laurent Godard – © 2004–2006 – LaurentGodard@openoffice.org

===========================

Select available fonts. If they're dimmed, click Next and select any that are available.

I selected all these and installed them.

Selectwhat you want installed and click Next. The process will run. Restart OpenOffice.org and the quickstarter when you're done.

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Getting Started With Firefox

As mentioned on Monday, I recently wrote and taught a class on Thunderbird and Firefox for the first time. 

At any rate, I thought I'd post an excerpt of some of the instructions I wrote for the class. These are not exercises per se, just instructions.

Click here for an excerpt of my Firefox  instructions, including using tabs or windows, and changing the default download location to something besides the desktop.

And here's an additional tip I just picked up. If you close a tab that you didn't mean to close, type Ctrl Shift T  to get it back.

Also:

F6 (or Alt-D or Alt-L) = switch focus to the address bar and highlight address. So you can hit F6 and then start typing the address immediately

Ctrl-PageUp and Ctrl-PageDown = move to next or previous tab. You might find it easier than Ctrl-Tab and Ctrl-Shift-Tab

Hold Alt while scrolling a page to scroll one line at a time instead of three.

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Getting Started With Thunderbird

I recently wrote and taught a class on Thunderbird and Firefox for the first time. I tell ya, I like it. It's a nice little program. Not overblow;  I'm not one for the big Outlook-style programs that tell you when you need to blow your nose and offer to schedule it for you (and also, Thunderbird doesn't have scheduling features).

At any rate, I thought I'd post an excerpt of some of the instructions I wrote for the class. These are not exercises per se since with email it's harder to control, and less necessary to control, the files and environment in which one uses the program.  If you're looking for a nice little email program for Windows or Linux, give Thunderbird a whirl.

Click here for an excerpt of my Thunderbird instructions including setting up accounts.

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Vista Launch Will Boost Desktop Linux

I'm glad lots of other people are spreading the word that, you know, Vista....is not necessarily worth the money.

"The launch of Windows Vista has created a huge opportunity for Linux vendors to take a larger share of the corporate desktop market, according to the president of Linux Australia."

http://scott2096.blogspot.com/2007/01/vista-launch-will-boost-desktop-linux.html

http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/software/soa/Vista_launch_will_boost_desktop_Linux/0,130061733,339273059,00.htm

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Indian State Moving to Open Source

The Indian state of Tamil Nadu is making a move to adopt open source software, due to concerns over security and the high cost of Windows systems.

Makes sense to me.

Read more.

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Open Source: The Year in Quotes

Matthew Aslett has a nice compilation of open source related quotes for the year.

http://www.businessreviewonline.com/os/archives/2006/12/open_source_web.html

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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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