OpenOffice.org Training, Tips, and Ideas

Using named data ranges to have a more readable reference to items in formulas, in OpenOffice.org Calc spreadsheets

Who doesn't love a formula like this?

=(E18*F25)/((AVERAGE(C23:C20)) + SUM(D18:D29))

Now, the math is fairly complex and I just made it up to look extra complex, but just looking at it, you're not sure what it's referring to.

If you used names, which let you give more clear, descriptive names to parts of your spreadsheet, it could look like this.

=(TotalSales*TotalMonths) / ((AVERAGE(2006Sales)) + SUM(SalesBonus))

Ahh.....that's a little clearer. (Since it's a random made-up example, it might not make total sense from a business standpoint, but you're at least in the ballpark now.)

That's all very well, but how to do you add the names?

You can assign any name you want by selecting one or more cells and choosing Insert > Names > Define.

Type the name, click Add, and click OK.

Then you can create formulas like this.

Note that you can't do this:
=Ement+Admit

because those names refer to ranges. You can't do  =Ement+Admit because you can't do =B17:B20+E17:E20

You'd need to create more names to refer to just the totals. You'd create another name for the total field where the =SUM(Ement) total is, so that then you can type =TotEment+TotAdmit  (total Entertainment Expenses plus Total Admission Expenses).

 

There's a quicker way to get all your columns named. Let's say you've got this data.

Select all the data and choose Insert > Names > Create. In this case it makes sense to select the checkmarks for top row and left column since that's where the labels are. Then click OK.

To look at the names created, choose Insert > Names > Define.

Now you can create totals, for instance, like this. Note that when you're in a formula and you start to type a name, it will appear in the Formula field as Prepaid_Taxes does here. Press Enter to accept it so you don't have to type the whole name.

As mentioned before, you'll probably want to make fields to just refer to the totals. Select the cell and choose Insert > Names > Define. Type the name, click Add, and click OK.

And then you can do something like this for the formula. (Yes, you might do a SUM(range) for this but let's say that you've got all these amounts, Bus exp and Salary etc all over on different sheets or farther apart, so you would have to do the + instead. )

and get a result.

Tip: If you want some visual help figuring out where all those names come from, now that you don't have the cell references, you can choose Tools > Detective > Trace Precedents.

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Taking Your Microsoft Office Templates, and Making Them Available in OpenOffice.org or StarOffice

If you have a bunch of Microsoft Office templates that you love, you can just choose File > Open in OpenOffice.org to use them. However, if you want them to be available in the wizard when you create a new presentation, or available from File > New > Templates and Documents in OpenOffice.org, you need to do two things: convert them to OOo format, and put them where OOo expects to find them.

Converting Your Microsoft Office Templates to OpenOffice.org/StarOffice Format
You need to convert them to OpenOffice format. Choose File > Wizards > Document Converter. Follow the wizard through to create a converted set of copies of the templates.

Step 1.

Step 2, then just follow the wizard as prompted.

Pointing to Templates to Use: Approach 1
(Use Approach 2 if this doesn't work)
Now, choose Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org > Paths. Select the Templates line.

Click Edit, then click Add, and add the path to the templates you want to point to. (Click this image to see a larger version if you like.)

Click OK, and OK, and OK  again.

Now you'll see the templates when you choose File > New > Templates and Documents.

Pointing to Templates to Use: Approach 2 (Usually Need to Do This for Impress)
1. Copy the directory of converted copies.
2. Paste it into this directory:
openoffice\share\template\en-us (or whatever your language is)
3. If they don't show up in the wizard, restart OpenOffice.org and your computer if necessary

If You Only See One of the PowerPoint Templates That You Converted, in the OpenOffice Wizard
See this entry.

For More Information on Templates
For more information on templates, see this post, which includes this information.

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Remember to install extensions for OpenOffice.org

The flexibility of open source, and the handy Extensions system, lets the community write functionality for OpenOffice.org without having to make it part of the main program.

I love extensions. If you haven't looked at them, check them out. Installation is insanely easy, and I consider several of them essential:

• Import/Export to Zoho or Googledocs
• PDF Editor
• Pagination extension that lets you easily put no page number on the first page and page numbers on the 2nd and subsequent pages. (Here's my loopily excited blog about it.)
• You might also want to check out the Sun report writer extension -- very powerful but I haven't used it yet. Here's my blog on it.

Here's everything I've written about extensions--at least, everything I've written about extensions that I've categorized that way.

Here's the specific blog on how to install extensions.

Installing Extensions in OpenOffice.org

Installing extensions is pretty easy. Download the extension.

Then in OpenOffice.org, 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 OpenOffice.org.

To use it, look for a new menu, new menu items, new toolbars, or all three. Often there's a toolbar or menu called Add-On.

Installing Fonts so They'll Show Up in OpenOffice.org

I've gotten a few questions about this lately, so wanted to post briefly. I'm not a fonts expert, but I just copy fonts files into the Fonts folder on my computer such as Windows\Fonts  and it works. Sometimes I need to restart OpenOffice.org or, if that doesn't work, restart the computer. But OpenOffice.org does pick up the fonts you have on your operating system.

If the font shows up in the list but doesn't look right or print, choose Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org > Fonts and check to see whether a font substitution has been set up.

Making a Specific Template Come Up When You Create Any New Document, in OpenOffice.org Writer, Calc, Impress, or Draw

Anytime you can help users do something without actually have them do anything is great for them and great for you.

Templates are a great way to save time. Set up templates with the styles, graphics, etc. that people need, and they don't need to re-create them. (Or create them in the first place.)

However, getting users to use the templates is another step. For them, choosing File > New > Templates and Documents might not be something they'll want to do or remember to do every time.

What if one of the templates you've created is one that many or all users use all the time as the basis for new documents?   You can make it come up when users just choose File > New > [type of document] by setting it as the default template. I.e. the user uses the template but doesn't even need to select it.

First, create a new document and make it how you want it: create styles, apply styles, include canned text, whatever.

Choose File > Templates > Save. Select a category and name the template. Click OK.

Choose File > Templates > Organize.

Open the category your template is in, in the left side.

Right-click on the template and choose Set as Default Template.

Click Close. You're done! Choose File > New > [type of document] and you'll see the effect.

To switch back to the normal original boring blank document, repeat the steps but this time choose Reset Default Template > [type of document]

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Things that don't work when you save in .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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