OpenOffice.org OpenOffice - 3.0 Quick Start Guide

Getting Started with OpenOffice.org 3This PDF is designed to be read onscreen, two pages at a time. If you want to print a copy, your PDF viewer shoul

What is OpenOffice.org?OpenOffice.org (OOo) is both a software product and a community of volunteers who produce and support the software.NoteBecause

To turn autoformatting on or off, go to Format > AutoFormat and select or delete the items on the sub menu.Creating numbered or bulleted listsThere

Hyphenating wordsTo turn automatic hyphenation of words on or off:1) Press F11 to open the Styles and Formatting window (Figure 72).2) On the Paragrap

You can also set hyphenation choices through Tools > Options > Language Settings > Writing Aids. In Options, near the bottom of the dialog, s

Figure 76: List of actions that can be undoneAfter changes have been undone, Redo becomes active. To redo a change, select Edit > Redo, or press Co

For a book similar to this user guide, with one column of text, some figures without text beside them, and some other figures with descriptive text, u

For a document with terms and translations to appear side-by-side in what appear to be columns, use a table to keep items lined up, and so you can typ

4) Select Insert > Fields > Title. The title should appear on a gray background (which does not show when printed and can be turned off).5) To

Method 1:1) Place the cursor in the first paragraph of the new page.2) Click Format > Paragraph.3) On the Text Flow tab of the Paragraph dialog (Fi

• Using the Page Style dialog—can specify margins to two decimal places.NoteIf you change the margins using the rulers, the new margins affect the pag

To insert a note in the text, place the cursor in the text and select Insert > Note or press Ctrl+Alt+N. The anchor point of the note is connected

Impress (presentations)Impress provides all the common multimedia presentation tools, such as special effects, animation, and drawing tools. It is int

Creating a table of contentsWriter’s table of contents feature lets you build an automated table of contents from the headings in your document. Befor

Creating indexes and bibliographiesIndexes and bibliographies work in a similar way to tables of contents. Chapter 12 (Creating Tables of Contents, In

Controlling printingFor more control over printing, use File > Print to display the Print dialog (Figure 81).On the Print dialog, you can choose:•

Figure 82. Printer Options dialog for WriterSelecting print options for a documentSelections on the Printer Options dialog apply to this printing of t

Printing in black and white on a color printerYou may wish to print documents in black and white on a color printer, to save expensive color ink or to

The Writer window changes to display the current page and the following page, and shows the Page Preview toolbar in place of the Formatting toolbar.Fi

2) Click Options. In the Pages section of the Printer Options dialog, choose Brochure and Right pages. Click OK twice to print the first side of each

Figure 85. Choosing addressee and sender informationFigure 86. Choosing positioning and size of elements 4) In the lower left of this page, choose the

You can also choose a different printer or alter printer setup (for example, specify the tray that holds envelopes) for this print job.Figure 87. Choo

required information, as described in Chapter 11 (Using Mail Merge) in the Writer Guide.Figure 88. Labels dialog, Labels page3) Select the label stock

The advantages of OpenOffice.orgHere are some of the advantages of OpenOffice.org over other office suites:• No licensing fees. OOo is free for anyone

5) Click Save to save your new format.6) When you have finished formatting, click New Document to make your sheet of labels or click Cancel (or press

Tracking changes to a documentYou can use several methods to keep track of changes made to a document.1) Make your changes to a copy of the document (

Using master documentsMaster documents are typically used for producing long documents such as a book, a thesis, or a long report; or when different p

referencing (see below); automatic numbering of figures, tables, headings, and other elements; and a wide range of other functions—far too many to des

You can leave this page open while you insert many cross-references.3) Click on the required item in the Selection list, which shows all the items of

Chapter 5 Getting Started with CalcUsing spreadsheets in OpenOffice.org

What is Calc?Calc is the spreadsheet component of OpenOffice.org (OOo). A spreadsheet simulates a worksheet on your computer: you can fill the workshe

Figure 93. Parts of the Calc windowThe icons on these toolbars provide a wide range of common commands and functions. The toolbars can be modified, as

Formula barOn the left of the Formula bar (see Figure 95) is a small text box, called the Name box, with a letter and number combination in it, such a

At the top of the columns and at the left-hand end of the rows are a series of gray boxes containing letters and numbers. These are the column and row

• No vendor lock-in. OOo3 uses OpenDocument, an XML (eXtensible Markup Language) file format developed as an industry standard by OASIS (Organization

• The zoom level. Double-click to modify the zoom level.• Selection mode. Click to toggle between default mode (STD), extended mode (EXT) and incremen

From a templateCalc documents can also be created from templates, if you have any spreadsheet templates available. Follow the above procedures, but in

If the spreadsheet has not been saved previously, then each of these actions will open the Save As dialog. Here you can specify the spreadsheet name a

Moving from cell to cellIn the spreadsheet, one cell, or a group of cells, normally has a darker black border. This black border indicates where the f

Figure 100: Customizing the effect of the Enter keyThe four choices for the direction of the Enter key are shown on the right side of Figure 100. Depe

Using the keyboardPressing Control+PgDn moves one sheet to the right and pressing Control+PgUp moves one sheet to the left.Using the mouseClicking one

Range of contiguous cellsA range of cells can be selected using the keyboard or the mouse.To select a range of cells by dragging the mouse:1) Click in

Selecting columns and rowsEntire columns and rows can be selected very quickly in OOo.Single column or rowTo select a single column, click on the colu

Single sheetClick on the sheet tab for the sheet you want to select. The active sheet becomes white (see Figure 96).Multiple contiguous sheetsTo selec

NoteWhen you insert a single new column, it is inserted to the left of the highlighted column. When you insert a single new row, it is inserted above

from a third-party distributor. The project maintains a list of distributors, but the distributors are not connected with, nor endorsed by, OpenOffice

Working with sheetsLike any other Calc element, sheets can be inserted, deleted and renamed.Inserting new sheetsThere are many ways to insert a new sh

Deleting sheetsSheets can be deleted individually or in groups.Single sheetRight-click on the tab of the sheet you want to delete and select Delete Sh

scrolling around within the sheet, any frozen columns and rows remain in view.Figure 105 shows some frozen rows and columns. The heavier horizontal li

UnfreezingTo unfreeze rows or columns, select Window > Freeze. The check mark by Freeze will vanish.Splitting the windowAnother way to change the v

2) Immediately above this button you will see a thick black line (Figure 107). Move the mouse pointer over this line and it turns into a line with two

3) Hold down the left mouse button and a gray line appears, running up the page. Drag the mouse to the left and this line follows.4) Release the mouse

Entering numbers as textIf a number is entered in the format 01481, Calc will drop the leading 0. (Exception: see Tip below.) To preserve the leading

Fill tool, selection lists, and the ability to input information into multiple sheets of the same document.Using the Fill tool on cellsAt its simplest

To add a fill series to a spreadsheet, select the cells to fill, choose Edit > Fill > Series. In the Fill Series dialog, select AutoFill as the

Figure 113: Predefined fill seriesClick New. The Entries box is cleared. Type the series for the new list in the Entries box (one entry per line), and

Free OpenOffice.org supportUsers Mailing ListFree community support provided by a network of hundreds of experienced users. You must be subscribed to

CautionThis technique overwrites any information that is already in the cells on the other sheets—without any warning. For this reason, when you are f

Replacing all the data in a cellTo remove data and insert new data, simply type over the old data. The new data will retain the original formatting.Ch

Formatting multiple lines of textMultiple lines of text can be entered into a single cell using automatic wrapping or manual line breaks. Each method

Using manual line breaksTo insert a manual line break while typing in a cell, press Ctrl+Enter. This method does not work with the cursor in the input

For more control or to select other number formats, use the Numbers tab (Figure 121).Figure 121: Format Cells > Numbers• Apply any of the data type

To choose the size of the font, click the arrow next to the Font Size box on the Formatting toolbar. For other formatting, you can use the Bold, Itali

Autoformatting cells and sheetsYou can use the AutoFormat feature to quickly apply a set of cell formats to a sheet or a selected cell range.1) Select

6) Click OK to save. The new format is now available in the Format list in the AutoFormat dialog.Formatting spreadsheets using themesCalc comes with a

To hide or show selected cells, choose Format > Cells from the menu bar (or right-click and choose Format Cells). On the Format Cells dialog, go to

If you no longer need a group, place the mouse cursor in any cell in it and select Data > Group and Outline > Ungroup. To remove all groups on a

A list of independent consultants and the services they offer, listed alphabetically by region and then by country, is provided on the OpenOffice.org

Advanced filters are structured similarly to standard filters. The differences are that advanced filters are not limited to three conditions, and thei

DirectionSets whether rows or columns are sorted. The default is to sort by columns unless the selected cells are in a single column.PrintingPrinting

Selecting sheets to printYou can select one or more sheets for printing. This can be useful if you have a large spreadsheet with multiple sheets and o

Figure 127. The Sheet tab of the Page Style dialogPrintYou can specify which details to print. Those details include:• Row and column headers• Sheet g

ScaleUse the scale features to control the number of pages the data will print on. This can be useful if a large amount of data needs to be printed mo

Printing rows or columns on every pageIf a sheet is printed on multiple pages, you can set up certain rows or columns to repeat on each printed page.F

2) Select Insert > Manual Break.3) Select Row Break or Column Break depending on your need.The break is now set.Row breakSelecting Row Break create

Headers and footers are assigned to a page style. You can define more than one page style for a spreadsheet and assign different page styles to differ

Header or footer appearanceTo change the appearance of the header or footer, click More.From this dialog (Figure 130) you can set the background and b

Figure 131: Edit contents of header or footerAreasEach area is independent and can have different information in it.HeaderYou can select from several

open the other components (Draw, Calc, Impress, Base), go to the File menu of the Writer window and select the component you want.OOo does not automat

Chapter 6 Getting Started with ImpressPresentations in OpenOffice.org

What is Impress?Impress is OpenOffice.org’s slide show (presentations) program. You can create slides that contain many different elements, including

Figure 132: Main window of ImpressSeveral additional operations can be performed on one or more slides in the Slides pane:• Add new slides at any plac

Tasks paneThe Tasks pane has five sections.Master PagesHere you define the page style for your presentation. Impress contains 28 prepackaged Master Pa

Each view is designed to make completing certain tasks easier. In summary:•Normal view is the main view for creating individual slides. Use this view

Figure 133: NavigatorWorking with viewsThis section describes the use of the five views.Normal viewNormal view is the main view for working with indiv

Figure 134: Outline viewOutline view serves at least two purposes.1) Making changes in the text of a slide:• You can add and delete the text in a slid

Notes viewUse the Notes view to add notes to a slide.1) Click the Notes tab in the Workspace (Figure 135).2) Select the slide to which you want to add

Slide Sorter viewSlide Sorter view contains all the slide thumbnails (Figure 136). Use this view to work with a group of slides or with only one slide

To select a group of slides, use one of these methods:• Use the Control (Ctrl) key: Click on the first slide and, while pressing Control, select the o

Figure 1: Quickstarter popup menuDisabling the QuickstarterTo close the Quickstarter, right-click on the icon in the system tray, and then click Exit

Handout viewHandout view is for setting up the layout of your slide for a printed handout. Click the Handout tab in the workspace, then choose Layouts

Who is to see the presentation? How will it be used? What is the subject matter? What should be in its outline? How detailed should the outline be? Wi

Figure 139. Choosing the type of presentation1) Select Empty Presentation under Type. It creates a presentation from scratch.NoteFrom Template uses a

Figure 140. Selecting a slide design3) Choose a design under Select a slide design. The slide design section gives you two main choices: Presentation

5) Click Next. The Presentation Wizard step 3 appears.Figure 141. Selecting a slide design6) Choose the desired slide transition from the Effect drop

Formatting a presentationNow put your presentation together based on your outline.CautionRemember to save frequently while working on the presentation

Inserting additional slidesThe steps for inserting additional slides are basically the same as for selecting the title page. It is a process that has

CautionChanges to any of the pre-packaged layouts can only be made using View > Normal, which is the default. Attempting to do this by modifying a

CautionWhen resizing a graphic, right-click the picture. Select Position and Size from the context menu and make sure that Keep ratio is selected. The

2) Would an additional slide make a particular point clearer? If so, another slide needs to be created.3) Would some custom animations help some of th

Starting from the command lineYou may want to start OOo from the command line (using the keyboard instead of the mouse). Why? Well, by using the comma

slides based on that slide master; it is, however, possible to modify each individual slide without affecting the slide master.Slide masters have two

Creating slide mastersYou can create a new slide master in a similar way to modifying the default slide master.To start, enable editing of slide maste

2) Select in the new dialog the template from which to load the slide master. Click OK.3) Click OK again to close the slide design dialog.The slide ma

CautionAny changes made to one slide when in Master View mode will appear on all slides using this slide master. Always make sure you close Master Vie

• Author—First and last names listed in the OpenOffice.org user data• Page number (slide number)• File nameTipTo change the number format (1,2,3 or a,

Figure 145: Selected text box showing the green resizing handles and text toolbarYou can move, resize, and delete text boxes. For more information, se

Pasting unformatted textIt is normally good practice to paste text without formatting and apply the formatting later. To paste without formatting, eit

Creating bulleted and numbered listsThe procedure to create a bulleted or numbered list is quite different depending on the type of text box used, alt

Creating a new outline level1) If necessary, press Enter to begin a new line.2) Press Tab. Each time you press Tab the line indents to the next outlin

If the list was created in an AutoLayout text box, then an alternative way to change the entire list is to modify the Outline styles. Changes made to

CopyrightThis document is Copyright © 2005–2008 by its contributors as listed in the section titled Authors. You may distribute it and/or modify it un

Option Description-helpGet a complete list of options.-nologoDo not show the startup screen.-show <odp-file>Start presentation immediately.-view

After the table is created, you can modify it in much the same ways as you would modify a table in Writer: adding and deleting rows and columns, adjus

Alternatively, select Insert > Spreadsheet from the main menu bar. This opens a small spreadsheet in the middle of the slide. When a spreadsheet is

Slide transition choices are also found on the Tasks pane. For more information about slide transitions, see Chapter 9 in the Impress Guide.TipThe Sli

Chapter 7 Getting Started with DrawVector drawing in OpenOffice.org

What is Draw?Draw is a vector graphics drawing program. It offers a series of powerful tools that enable you to quickly create all sorts of graphics.

Figure 148. Initial Draw windowRulersYou should see rulers (bars with numbers) on the upper and left-hand side of the workspace. These show the size o

To modify the units of measurement of the rulers, right-click on one of the rulers. The two rulers can have different units.Status barThe Status bar i

You can also select the buttons that you wish to appear on the corresponding toolbar. On the View > Toolbars menu, select Customize, click on the T

The tools available in the various toolbars are explained in the following sections. The appearance of the toolbar icons may vary with your operating

Figure 154. Changing the color paletteTo load another palette, click on the Load Color List button (circled). The file selector dialog asks you to cho

• View contains commands for controlling the display of the document such as Zoom and Web Layout.• Insert contains commands for inserting elements int

Figure 155. Defining color schemesOptions toolbarThe Options toolbar lets you activate or deactivate various drawing aids. The Options toolbar is not

Icon FunctionSnap to object bordersSnap to object pointsAllow quick editingSelect text area onlyDouble-click to edit textSimple handlesLarge handlesCr

Snap to gridUse this function to move an object exactly to a grid point (see Figure157). This function can be switched on and off with View > Grid

Figure 158. Setting grid optionsChanging the color of the grid pointsThe default grid dots are light gray, which can be hard to see. To improve visibi

In the Drawing / Presentation section, you can change the color of the grid points. On the Color Settings pulldown menu, select a more suitable/visibl

the selection mode (green for simple selection and blue when in point edit mode). This effect is easily apparent if on the Options toolbar both Simple

Drawing lines and arrowsClick on the small black triangle on the Lines and Arrows icon to open a floating toolbar with ten tools for drawing lines a

Drawing a circle or ellipseTo draw an ellipse (also called an oval) or a circle, use the Ellipse icon from the Drawing Toolbar. (A circle is simply a

Figure 165: Floating Curves toolbar (incorrectly titled “Lines”)If you move the mouse cursor over one of the icons, a tooltip pops up with a descripti

When you type text, the upper toolbar includes the usual paragraph attributes: indents, first line, and tab stops.You can change the style of all or p

The tear-off toolbars can be floating or docked along an edge of the screen or in one of the existing toolbar areas. To move a floating tear-off toolb

the Gluepoints icon on the Drawing toolbar and then move the end of a connector over the object.Connectors are a type of line or arrow whose ends do

Basic shapesThe Basic Shapes icon makes available the range of tools for drawing basic shapes.If you choose the rectangle tool from this toolbar, it

Stars and bannersThese tools are associated with the Stars icon .You can add text to all these shapes. See Chapter 2 (Drawing Basic Shapes) and Chapte

Changing the selection modeTo go from one mode to another, you can do one of the following:• Toggle the Points button on the Drawing toolbar to switch

NoteThere may be some variation in the use of the Alt key on different operating systems. In general the Alt key on a Windows computer functions as de

Moving and dynamically adjusting an object’s sizeThere are several ways of moving or changing the size of an object. The method described here will be

Dynamic size modification of objectsTo change the size of an object (or group of selected objects) with the mouse, you need to move one of the handles

Figure 169: Rotating an objectInclination and perspectiveTo slant or shear objects, use the red handles located at the midpoint of an edge of the sele

1 Styles and Formatting2 Line3 Arrow Style4 Line Style5 Line Width6 Line Color7 Area8–9 Area Style / Filling10 ShadowFigure 170: Line a

Figure 172: The vertical lines have different levels of transparency (0%, 25%, and 50%).Drawing arrowsArrowheads (and other line endings, usually refe

Floating toolbarsOOo includes several additional context-sensitive toolbars, whose defaults appear as floating toolbars in response to the cursor’s cu

In most cases, you will choose one of the standard fill options, which are all available from the Line and Filling toolbar. You can also define your o

This dashed line is the axis of symmetry. The object will be reflected about this line. Move one or both ends of the line with your mouse to set the a

transparency gradient, the direction and degree of an object’s fill color changes from opaque to transparent (in a regular gradient, the fill changes

Cross-fadingCross-fading transforms a shape from one form to another, with OpenOffice.org handling all of the intermediate transitions. The result is

Grouping by common selectionWhen several objects are selected, any operations you carry out are applied to all of the objects. For example, you can ro

• Distributing the distance and space between objectsSee Chapter 5 (Combining Multiple Objects) in the Draw Guide for more information.Editing picture

Exchanging objects with other programsTo save a Draw image in a foreign format, use File > Export. Draw can save to many graphic file formats, as l

Chapter 8 Getting Started with BaseOpenOffice.org’s database component

IntroductionA data source, or database, is a collection of pieces of information that can be accessed or managed by OpenOffice.org (OOo). For example,

Base creates relational databases. This makes it fairly easy to create a database in which the fields of the database have relationships with each oth

Customizing toolbarsYou can customize toolbars in several ways, including choosing which icons are visible and locking the position of a docked toolba

the car’s license plate and driver’s license every four years did not fit into any of these. It will be a table of its own: license fees.What fields f

Creating a new databaseTo create a new database, click the arrow next to the New icon. In the drop-down menu, select Database (Figure 175). This opens

Caution As you create a database, you should save your work regularly. This means more than just saving what you have just created. You must save the

Since none of the fields we need for our Automobile database are contained in any of the wizard tables, we will create a simple table using the wizard

Figure 177: Order of fieldsCaution Below the Selected Fields list are two buttons: one with a +, and one with a –. These buttons are used to add or to

NoteIf any of these fields requires an entry, set Entry required to Yes. If Entry required is set to Yes, this field must have something in it. For ex

NoteEach field also has a Field Type. In Base the field type must be specified. These types include text, integer, date and decimal. If the field is g

Creating a table by copying an existing tableIf you have a large collection of music, you might want to create a table for each type of music you have

Creating tables in Design ViewDesign View is a more advanced method for creating a new table. It allows you to directly enter information about each f

Figure 180: Primary key fieldClick Primary Key in the context menu. This places a key icon in front of FuelID.NoteThe primary key serves only one purp

• Use File > Wizards for some types of documents.Opening an existing documentWhen no document is open, the Welcome screen provides an icon for open

Use Currency as the Category and your currency as the Format. My currency has two decimal places. Use what is appropriate for your currency.Figure 182

Figure 183: Example of Description entriesCreating tables for the list boxWhen the same information can be used in several fields, design a table for

Figure 184: Table in Design ViewNote: If you have several tables to create with the same fields, design one table and produce the other tables by cutt

Figure 185: View of some fields from the Vacations tableA View is also a table. Its fields come from the fields of one or more tables of the database.

of the other tables which use the entries of the Payment Type table. That will be done when the forms are created.The Fuel and Maintenance tables do n

• Click and drag the Date field in the Fuel table to the Date field in the Vacations table. When you release the mouse button, a connecting line forms

a) Right-click the line connecting the Date fields in the two table lists to open a context menu.b) Select Edit to open the Relation window (Figure 19

made from the same table with a text label (Fuel Purchases), a list box placed in PaymentType, and a graphic background.Using the Wizard to create a f

Figure 196: Adding a subformStep 3: Add subform fields.This step is exactly the same as step 1. The only difference is that not all of the fields will

Figure 198: Selection of joined subform and main form fields1) Select Date from the First joined subform field dropdown list. This is the Date field i

Password protectionTo protect an entire document from being viewable without a password, use the option on the Save As dialog to enter a password. Thi

1) Arrangement of the main form: Click Columnar - Labels on top. The labels will be placed above their field.2) Arrangement of the subform: Click As D

Modifying a formWe will be moving the controls to different places in the form and changing the background to a picture. We will also modify the label

•Control+click a label or field selects only the label or the field (Figure 201).Figure 200: A selected control• By using the Tab key, you can change

TipWhen either changing a size or moving a control, two properties of the Form Design toolbar should be selected: Snap to Grid, and Guides when Moving

Click the default No setting to open the list. Click Yes to select it.TipTo see what the Date field will look like, click the Form Mode On/Off icon (t

1) Click the first control you want to move. A border appears around the control with eight green handles.2) Move the cursor over the label or field o

– Use the spacebar to make SnackNo into two words.– Place a . (period) after the No. (Figure 209).– Close the properties window.Figure 209: Multi-word

Step 6: Replace fields with other fields.We want to replace the PaymentType field with a List Box. Then we can choose the type of payment from the Pay

Figure 213: Dropdown list open to reveal choices5) Click the Data tab.•Type of list contents is a dropdown list. Change it to Sql.Figure 214: Type of

TipYou should be able to copy and paste SELECT "Type", "Type" FROM "Payment Type" from above directly into the List cont

Using the Open and Save As dialogsYou can choose whether to use the OpenOffice.org Open and Save As dialogs or the ones provided by your operating sys

3) Scroll down to the Scrollbars setting. Change the selection from None to Vertical in this dropdown list.Figure 217: Scrollbar selections in the Pro

2) Select Replace with, and then select List box from the context menu.3) Again right-click the label PaymentType to open a context menu.4) Select Col

4) Use the spacebar to move the cursor to where you want the heading to start.5) Type the heading Meals.6) Use the spacebar to move the cursor to the

d) Change the Background selection from Default to Light cyan. (This is a dropdown list.)2) Select the other labels in the same way and then change th

Figure 225: Left side of Font Effects tabd) Click OK to close the Paragraph Style: Heading 2 dialog.e) Press the F11 key to close the Formatting and S

d) Select this file and click Open.e) In the Type section, select Area.f) Click OK to close the Page Style: Default window.The form should look like F

Figure 229: Tab Order window• Find the txtMPayment listing near the bottom of the list and click it.• Click the Move Up button until txtPayment is jus

Creating forms in Design ViewThis method requires using the Form Controls and Form Design toolbars extensively. These techniques are beyond the scope

Accessing a dBase database1) File > New > Database opens the Database Wizard window.NoteClicking the New icon and Database in the drop-down menu

2) Select Connect to an existing database. Select Spreadsheet as the Database type (Figure 231).3) Click Browse to locate the spreadsheet you want to

For OpenOffice.org documents that have been saved with more than one version, use the version drop-down to select which version you wish to open in re

This brings up Tables and Queries. Click on the + next to Tables to view the individual tables created. Now click on a table to see all the records he

Using data sources in OOo documentsData can be placed into Writer and Calc documents from the tables in the data source window. In Writer, values from

3) Replacing the first name:• Continue typing after <Breakfast>: paid by making sure to add a space afterward.• Click the Bpayment field name an

Figure 235: Selected row in data source window1) Navigate to the place you want to place the table and click the location.2) Click the gray box to the

5) Select the settings for your table. Use the default settings as in Figure 236.6) Click OK.7) Save the document.Calc spreadsheetsThere are two ways

4) Close the Data Source window: use F4.5) Save the spreadsheet and click the Edit File button to make the spreadsheet read only. All of the fields wi

The first step to entering data in a form is to open it from the main database window.1) Click the Forms icon in the Database list.2) Find the form’s

• If two or more elements of the list have the same first letter, repeated typing of the first letter will cycle through the elements with this same f

• Or, click the New Record icon.TipThe number in the Record box is the number of the record whose data is shown in the form. (The data from the second

from the Fuel table includes what our fuel economy is. We will do this using the Design View.NoteQueries blur the differences between a database and a

To open the Navigator, click its icon on the Standard toolbar, or press F5, or choose Edit > Navigator on the main menu bar. You can dock the Navi

NoteWhen working with a query, more than one table can be used. Since different tables may contain the same field names, the format for naming fields

In our query, the artist is most important. The album title is less important, and the date purchased is of least importance. Of course, if we were in

NoteThese conditions apply to numbers, letters (using the alphabetical order), and dates.1) Since we are only searching for one thing, we will use the

Caution The procedures we will be using only work with relational databases. This is because of how relational databases are constructed. The elements

3) Double-click the FuelQuantity field.The table at the bottom of the query window should now have three columns (Figure 246).Figure 246: Query tableS

2) Add the Fuel table to the query just as you did in step 2: Addtables. But, do not close the Add Tables window.3) Add the End-Reading query to this

Step 8: Enter the FuelID difference field.We want the difference between the FuelID value of the Fuel table and FuelID value of the End-Reading query

Caution When entering fields for these calculations, you must follow this format: table or query name followed by a period follow by the field name. F

Figure 258: Making a field invisible in a query run5) Rerun the query (Figure 259).Figure 259: Query run with aliasesStep 10: Close, save, and name th

CautionDynamic reports update only the data that is changed or added to a table or query. It does not show any modifications made to a table or query.

ContentsChapter 1 Introducing OpenOffice.org...9What is OpenOffice.org?...

Closing a documentTo close a document, click File > Close.You can also close a document by clicking on the Close icon on the document window. This

from to pay the expenses.) At the present time, using the data from the queries in a spreadsheet is the best way to handle reports like this. In the n

• Click the field label you want to change and make your changes as you would in any text box.• Shorten Miscellaneous to Misc. Click Next.5) Since we

Figure 262: Setting the criterion for a query2) Save, name, and close the query. (Suggestion: Vacation Fuel Purchases.)TipWhen using dates in a query,

Creating a dynamic reportWe will create a report with some statistics on our fuel consumption. To do this, we have to modify two queries: End-Reading

3) Add the FuelCost field from the End-Reading query to the Fuel Economy query:• Right-click the Fuel Economy query and select Edit from the context m

Modifying a reportAt the end of the last section, we left the Fuel Statistics report open in the edit mode (Figure 265). We will be working on that re

Step 2: Change the column widths.The column widths can be changed by moving the cursor over the right border of each column so that it becomes a doubl

5) Change the Fuel Cost field.a) Right-click in the cell below Cost per mile.b) Select Number Format.c) In the Category list, select Currency.d) In th

More ways to create reportsAn extension is available to assist in report creation. Sun Report Builder creates stylish, complex database reports. You c

Chapter 9 Getting Started with MathOpenOffice.org's equation editor

Chapter 2 Setting up OpenOffice.orgChoosing options to suit the way you work

What is Math?Math is OpenOffice.org (OOo)’s component for writing mathematical equations. It is most commonly used as an equation editor for text docu

The equation editor uses a markup language to represent formulas. For example, %beta creates the Greek character beta (). This markup is designed to

TipYou can hide (or unhide) the Selection window with View > Selection.Example 1:5×4For this example we will enter a simple formula:5×4On the Selec

Figure 274. Result of entering "5" and "4" next to the "times" operatorTipTo keep the equation from updating automatical

MarkupYou can type the markup directly on the equation editor. For example, you can type “5 times 4” to obtain 5×4. If you know the markup, this can b

NoteA complete table of Greek characters is included in Chapter 16 (Math Objects) in the Writer Guide.Another way to enter Greek characters is by usin

Figure 277. Tooltip indicates the "Relations" button.Step 4: Delete the <?> text and add “3.14159” at the end of the equation. Hence w

Figure 279. Hold down the Control key and double-click on the border of the math editor to turn it into a floating window.Figure 280 shows the result.

Figure 281. Changing the font size for a formula2) Select a larger font size under “Base Size” (top-most entry), as shown in Figure 281.Figure 282. Ed

Formula layoutThe most difficult part of using OOoMath comes when writing complicated equations. This section provides some advice about writing compl

Choosing options for all of OOoThis section covers some of the settings that apply to all the components of OpenOffice.org. For information on setting

Common problem areasHow do I add limits to my sum/integral?The “sum” and “int” commands can (optionally) take in the parameters “from” and “to”. These

OOoMath provides “scalable” brackets. That is, the brackets grow in size to match the size of their contents. Use the commands left( and right) to mak

Now you can double-click on the formula to edit it. For example, here is the Riemann Zeta function:  z =∑n= 1∞1nz (3)You can reference an equation

Chapter 10 Printing, Exporting, and E-mailing

IntroductionThis chapter provides general information about printing, exporting, and e-mailing documents from OOo.Quick printingClick the Print File D

Figure 285. The Print dialogSelections on the Printer Options dialog are different in Writer, Calc, Impress, and Draw, but in all cases they apply to

Make your selections, and then click Export. Then you are asked to enter the location and file name of the PDF to be created, and click Save to export

Images section• Lossless compression: Images are stored without any loss of quality. Tends to make large files when used with photographs. Recommende

an odd page, OOo inserts a blank page between the two odd pages. This option controls whether to export that blank page.Initial View page of PDF Optio

Figure 288: User Interface page of PDF Options dialogUser interface options section• Hide menubar. Causes the PDF viewer to hide the menu bar.• Hide t

Figure 12: Filling in user dataGeneral optionsIn the Options dialog, click OpenOffice.org > General. The options on this page are described below.F

Figure 289: Links page of PDF Options dialogExport URLs relative to file systemIf you have defined relative links in a document, this option exports t

• With an open password set, the PDF can only be opened with the password. Once opened, there are no restrictions on what the user can do with the doc

In addition, OOo Writer can export to BibTeX (.bib), LaTeX 2e (.tex) and MediaWiki (.txt). OOo Draw and OOo Impress can export to Macromedia Flash (.s

To use the Mail Merge Wizard to send a previously-created Writer document:1) Click Tools > Mail Merge Wizard. On the first page of the wizard (Figu

Figure 294: Selecting an address list5) In the left-hand list, click 8. Save, print or send. OOo displays a “Creating documents” message and then disp

Figure 296: Sending a document as an email messageDigital signing of documentsTo sign a document digitally, you need a personal key, the certificate.

On Windows operating systems, the Windows features of validating a signature are used. On Solaris and Linux systems, files that are supplied by Thunde

Chapter 11 Graphics, the Gallery, and Fontwork

IntroductionYou can add graphic and image files, including photos, drawings, scanned images, and others, to OpenOffice.org documents. OOo can import v

image remain as two separate files, and they are merged together only when you open the document again.Linking an image has two advantages and one dis

Help AgentTo turn off the Help Agent (similar to Microsoft’s Office Assistant), deselect this option. To restore the default Help Agent behavior, clic

Figure 298: The Edit Links dialogNoteGoing the other way, from embedded to linked, is not so easy—you must delete and reinsert each image, one at a ti

1) In the graphics program window, select an area of the image to be copied.2) Move the cursor over the selected area and press Control+C to copy.3) S

The box on the left of the gallery window lists the available themes. Click on a theme to see its graphics displayed in the Gallery window.Figures 300

Inserting objects as linksTo insert an object as a link:1) Choose Tools > Gallery and select a theme.2) Select an object with a single click, then

Adding objects to the GalleryYou may wish to add to the Gallery any images that you use frequently, for example, a company logo. You can then very eas

Deleting images from the GalleryTo delete an image from a theme:1) Right-click on the name of the image file or its thumbnail in the Gallery.2) Click

The location of the user Gallery is specified in Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org > Paths. You can change this location, and you can copy you

Figure 304. The Fontwork Gallery3) Double-click the object to edit the Fontwork text. Type your own text in place of the black Fontwork text that appe

Editing a Fontwork objectNow that the Fontwork object is created, you can edit some of its attributes. To do this, you can use the Fontwork toolbar, t

Fontwork Alignment: Changes the alignment of characters. Choices are left align, center, right align, word justify, and stretch justify. The effects o

Memory optionsIn the Options dialog, click OpenOffice.org > Memory. Some considerations:• More memory can make OpenOffice.org faster and more conve

Note that in this figure the toolbar has been undocked for ease of illustration: unless you have chosen to float the toolbar in this way, it appears i

Area optionsArea icon: Opens a dialog (Figure 310) with seven tabs: Area, Shadow, Transparency, Colors, Gradients, Hatching, Bitmaps. • Area tab: Choo

Positioning optionsRotate icon: Rotate the selected object manually using the mouse to drag the object.To Foreground icon: Moves the selected object i

On the Position and Size dialog (Figure 311), you can enter precise values concerning size and position. For more information, see the Draw Guide.Figu

Chapter 12 Creating Web PagesSaving documents as HTML files

IntroductionThis chapter describes how to save documents as web pages from Writer, Calc, Draw and Impress.NoteCross references do not become hyperlink

Figure 312. Hyperlink dialog showing details for Internet linksThe top right part of the dialog changes according to the choice made for the hyperlink

• Set the value of Frame to determine how the hyperlink will open. This applies to documents that open in a Web browser.• Form specifies if the link i

NoteWriter does not replace multiple spaces in the original document with the HTML code for non-breaking spaces. If you want to have extra spaces in y

Creating web pages using a WizardOOo’s Web wizard allows you to create several types of standard web pages. To use it:1) Select File > Wizards >

depending on the screen fonts available on your system. However, it does not affect the actual font size of the text in your documents.Figure 15: Choo

3) Chose a layout for the web site by clicking on the layout boxes. Click Next.4) Chose the information to be listed and the screen resolution. Click

5) Select a style for the page. Use the drop-down list to choose different styles and color combinations. You can browse to a background image and ico

To edit or view the document’s underlying HTML code, click View > HTML Source or click the HTML Source icon on the Main toolbar.Saving Calc sprea

1) To begin, select File > Export and choose HTML Document as the file type.2) Create a folder for the files, supply a name for the resulting HTML

•WebCast: generates an ASP or Perl application to display the slides. Unfortunately OOo has no direct support for PHP as yet.5) Decide how the images

This page of the Wizard does not display if Create title page was not chosen.7) Choose the navigation button style to use to move from one page to ano

9) Click Create to generate the HTML files. If this is a new design, a small dialog pops up. If you might want to reuse this design, you can give it a

Chapter 13 Getting Started with MacrosUsing the macro recorder

Your first macroA macro is a saved sequence of commands or keystrokes that are stored for later use. An example of a simple macro is one that “types”

Figure 314: OOo Macro Organizer dialog, DBInspection library selected5) The default module name is Module1; choose a better name. Although it is still

formatting (Figure 16, Right). The fonts you will see listed are those that are installed on your system.Figure 16. Font list (Left) With preview; (Ri

Figure 316: Select your macro and click RunThere are other methods to run a macro. For example, use Tools > Macros > Organize Macros > OpenOf

dispatcher = createUnoService("com.sun.star.frame.DispatchHelper")rem -------------------------------------------------------------dim args1

• Another kind of subroutine is called a function. A function is a subroutine that returns a value. The keyword FUNCTION is used rather than SUB to de

CreateUnoService accepts the name of a service and it tries to create an instance of that service. On completion, the dispatcher variable contains a r

first column indicates the constant name. Each name is followed by a space and a tab.DONTKNOW The font weight is not specified/known.THIN specifies

10) Press Backspace twice to remove the two trailing spaces.11) Press Home to move the cursor to the start of the line.12) Press Ctrl+V to paste the s

dispatcher.executeDispatch(document, ".uno:InsertText", "", 0, args6())rem (6) Press Ctrl+Right Arrow twice to move the cursor to

Cursor movements are used for all operations (as opposed to searching). If run on the DONTKNOW line, the word weight is moved to the front of the line

The dispatch framework can also be used to send “commands” back to the UI (User Interface). For example, after saving the document, the File Save comm

as you learn more. Learning to read generated macros is a good place to start.If you record Calc macros, and the recorder can correctly generate a mac

Mouse positioningSpecifies if and how the mouse pointer will be positioned in newly opened dialogs.Middle mouse buttonDefines the function of the midd

• A library container contains one or more libraries, and each library is contained in one library container.• A library contains zero or more modules

Macros container. The My Macros container is stored in your user area or home directory.If a macro is contained in a document, then a recorded macro w

example, on one or more of my OpenOffice.org upgrades, all of my macros disappeared. Although the macros were still on disk, the macros were not copie

Figure 321: Select a macro library to importNavigate to the directory containing the library to import. There are usually two files from which to choo

Downloading macros to importMacros are available for download. Some macros are contained in documents, some as regular files that you must select and

Figure 323: Use the Macro Selector dialog to run macrosAlthough you can use Tools > Macros > Run Macro to run all macros, this is not efficient

To add a menu item, keyboard shortcut, or toolbar icon that calls a macro, use the Customize dialog (see Figure 325). Open this dialog in either of th

ToolbarMacros can be added to toolbars. For more about modifying toolbars, see Chapter 14 (Customizing OpenOffice.org).Menu itemUse Tools > Customi

Figure 325: Assign macro to an application level eventA common use is to assign the Open Document event to call a specific macro. The macro then perfo

Figure 326: Assign macro to the document open eventFigure 327: PrintHello is assigned to the Open Document eventExtensionsAn extension is a package th

Figure 17: Choosing general printing options to apply to all OOo componentsTipIf your printouts are coming out incorrectly placed on the page or chopp

Although individual extensions can be found in different places, there is an extension repository at: http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/.For m

Finding more informationNumerous resources are available that provide help with writing macros. Use Help > OpenOffice.org Help to open the OOo help

http://documentation.openoffice.org (contains content related to macros)http://ooextras.sourceforge.net/ (examples)http://sourceforge.net/project/show

Chapter 14 Customizing OpenOffice.org

IntroductionThis chapter describes some common customizations that you may wish to do.You can customize menus, toolbars, and keyboard shortcuts in Ope

Figure 328. The Menus page of the Customize dialogCreating a new menuIn the Customize dialog, click New to display the dialog shown in Figure 329.1) T

Figure 329: Adding a new menuModifying existing menusTo modify an existing menu, select it in the Menu list and click the Menu button to drop down a l

3) Add a tilde (~) in front of the letter that you want to use as an accelerator. For example, to select the Save All command by pressing Alt+V, enter

Menu Content. Click the Modify button and choose the required action from the drop-down list of actions.Most of the actions should be self-explanatory

To customize toolbars:1) In the Save In drop-down list, choose whether to save this changed toolbar for the application (for example, Writer) or for a

Deleting styles...68Using a template to create a document...

Figure 18: Viewing the paths of files used by OpenOffice.orgColor optionsOn the OpenOffice.org – Colors page (Figure 19), you can specify colors to us

2) The Add Commands dialog is the same as for adding commands to menus (Figure 330). Select a category and then the command, and click Add. The dialog

Example: Adding a Fax icon to a toolbarYou can customize OpenOffice.org so that a single click on an icon automatically sends the current document as

Figure 334: Adding a Send Fax command to a toolbarAssigning shortcut keysIn addition to using the built-in keyboard shortcuts (listed in Appendix A),

NoteAll existing shortcut keys for the currently selected Function are listed in the Keys selection box. If the Keys list is empty, it indicates that

2) To have the shortcut key assignment available only with one component (for example, Writer), select that component’s name in the upper right corner

Loading a saved keyboard configurationTo load a saved keyboard configuration file and replace your existing configuration, click the Load button near

2) In OOo, select Tools > Extension Manager from the menu bar. In the Extension Manager dialog (Figure 336), click Add.3) A file browser window ope

PDF ImportEnables you to make minor modifications to the text of existing PDF files when the original source files do not exist or you are unable to o

Report BuilderCreates stylish, complex database reports from Base. You can define group and page headers, group and page footers, and calculation fiel

Appendix A Keyboard Shortcuts

Font optionsYou can define replacements for any fonts that might appear in your documents. If you receive from someone else a document containing font

IntroductionYou can use OpenOffice.org (OOo) without requiring a pointing device, such as a mouse or trackball, by using its built-in keyboard shortcu

Function key shortcutsShortcut Keys ResultF1Starts the OpenOffice.org Help.In the OpenOffice.org Help: jumps to main help page.Shift+F1Activates What’

Shortcut Keys ResultBackspaceWhen a folder is shown: goes up one level (goes back).Ctrl+Shift+SpacebarRemoves direct formatting from selected text or

Shortcut keys in the GalleryShortcut Keys ResultTabMoves between areas.Shift+TabMoves between areas (backwards).In the New Theme area of the GalleryS

Selecting rows and columns in a database table (opened by F4)Shortcut keys ResultSpacebarToggles row selection, except when the row is in edit mode.Ct

Shortcut keys ResultAlt+Up/Down/Left/ Right ArrowMoves the selected Drawing Object one pixel (in Selection Mode).Re-sizes a Drawing Object (in Handle

Appendix B Background InformationHistory, licensing, and file formats

IntroductionOpenOffice.org is both a product and an open-source project. If you are new to OOo, its open source development, and the community that pr

on the wrong side of the digital divide. For tens of thousands of community members, this makes the OpenOffice.org community their volunteering opport

For more information on Free and Open Source software, visit these websites:Open Source Initiative (OSI): http://www.opensource.orgFree Software Found

Security optionsUse the OpenOffice.org – Security page (Figure 21) to choose security options for saving documents and for opening documents that cont

Unified Office Format text (.uot, .uof)Ichitaro 8/9/10/11 (.jtd and .jtt)Hangul WP 97 (.hwp)T602 Document (.602, .txt)AportisDoc (Palm) (.pdb)Pocket W

Opening graphic filesIn addition to OpenDocument formats (.odg and .otg), Draw 3 can open the formats used by OOo 1.x (.sxd and .std) and the followin

Rich Text Format (.rtf)StarWriter 3.0, 4.0, and 5.0 (.sdw)StarWriter 3.0, 4.0, and 5.0 Template (.vor)Text (.txt)Text Encoded (.txt)Unified Office For

Saving presentationsIn addition to OpenDocument formats (.odp, .otp, and .odg), Impress 3 can save in these formats:OpenOffice.org 1.x Presentation (.

May I use OpenOffice.org in a business?Yes.Is OpenOffice available in my language?OpenOffice.org has been translated (localized) into over 40 language

How can I contribute to OpenOffice.org?You can help with the development of OOo in many ways, and you do not need to be a programmer. To start, check

IndexA accessibility features 410accessibility options 44advantages of OpenOffice.org 12antialiasing screen font 36appearance options 44Apply St

database form activation order 275background 272creating in Design View 277creating using a Wizard 257entering data 285modifying 261subform 25

extensions 389, 405extensions and addons sources of 16F fax icon, adding to toolbar 120, 401fax sending 120FDF 327fields 193fields bookmark

HTML export 51HTML Export Wizard 363hyperlinks editing 357inserting 355I icon size and style (user interface) 36icons in menus 36IDE 370ignor

Ctrl-click required to follow hyperlinks. In older versions of OOo, clicking on a hyperlink in a document opened the linked document. Now you can choo

REM 371resources 391running 369, 384storage 381subroutines 371, 379variables 372viewing 370writing 390Mail Merge Wizard e-mailing Writer docu

EPS images 327export documents to 325form 327image compression and resolution 327initial view selection 328pages to export 326password-protect

scanner 341screen font antialiasing 36security 26security options 42selecting objects 223selection clipboard 38selection modes 222send backward

update document styles from 73Template Changer extension 408Template Management dialog 66templates importing 78text bulleted or numbered list 1

Appearance optionsWriting, editing, and page layout are often easier to do when you can see as much as possible of what is going on in your document.

Accessibility support relies on Sun Microsystems Java technology for communications with assistive technology tools. See “Java options“ below. The Sup

If you are a system administrator, programmer, or other person who customizes JRE installations, you can use the Parameters and Class Path pages (reac

Choosing options for loading and saving documentsYou can set the Load/Save options to suit the way you work.Figure 27: Load/Save optionsGeneral Load/S

update links is affected by the Load user-specific settings option. Some settings (printer name, data source linked to the document) are always loaded

Size optimization for ODF format. OpenOffice.org documents are XML files. When you select this option, OOo writes the XML data without indents and lin

Starting new spreadsheets...130Opening existing spreadsheets...

Microsoft Office Load/Save optionsOn the Load/Save – Microsoft Office page (Figure 30), you can choose what to do when importing and exporting Microso

Figure 31. Choosing HTML compatibility optionsImport - Use 'English (USA)' locale for numbersWhen importing numbers from an HTML page, the d

create the OpenOffice.org Basic macro; otherwise the script will not be inserted. OpenOffice.org Basic macros must be located in the header of the HTM

Change locale and language settingsYou can change some details of the locale and language settings that OOo uses for all documents, or for specific do

Figure 34: Extra pages available when enhanced language support options are selectedChoose spelling optionsTo choose the options for checking spelling

Here you can also check which user-defined (custom) dictionaries are active by default, and add or remove dictionaries, by clicking the New or Delete

Figure 37: The AutoCorrect dialog in Writer, showing the five tabs and some of the choices56 Getting Started with OpenOffice.org 3

Chapter 3 Using Styles and Templates

What is a template?A template is a model that you use to create other documents. For example, you can create a template for business reports that has

In addition, styles are used by OpenOffice.org for many processes, even if you are not aware of them. For example, Writer relies on heading styles (or

Positioning objects with helper lines...214The basic drawing shapes...

Table 1. Styles available in OOo componentsStyle Type Writer Calc Draw ImpressPage X XParagraph XCharacter XFrame XNumbering XCell XPresentation X XGr

Figure 38: The Styles and Formatting window for Writer, showing paragraph styles.Using Fill Format modeUse Fill Format to apply a style to many differ

You can open this list and click once on the style you want, or you can use the up and down arrow keys to move through the list and then press Enter t

Changing a style using the Style dialogTo change an existing style using the Style dialog, right-click on the required style in the Styles and Formatt

TipIf you are in the habit of manually overriding styles in your document, be sure that AutoUpdate is not enabled.Updating styles from a document or t

4) In the Create Style dialog, type a name for the new style. The list shows the names of existing custom styles of the selected type. Click OK to sav

Using the Template Management dialogTo copy or move styles using the Template Management dialog:1) Click File > Templates > Organize.2) In the T

Figure 43: Copying a style from one document to another.Loading styles from a template or documentYou can copy styles by loading them from a template

NoteTo copy the styles from another document, click the From File button to open a window from which you can select the required document.CautionIf yo

4) Select the template that you want to use. You can preview the selected template or view the template’s properties:• To preview the template, click

Chapter 10 Printing, Exporting, and E-mailing...323Introduction...

3) From the main menu, choose File > Templates > Save. The Templates dialog opens (see Figure 46).4) In the New template field, type a name for

Creating a template using a wizardYou can use wizards to create templates for letters, faxes, agendas, presentations, and Web pages.For example, the F

Editing a templateYou can edit a template’s styles and content, and then, if you wish, you can reapply the template’s styles to documents that were cr

Updating a document from a changed templateThe next time you open a document that was created from the changed template, the following message appears

Figure 50: Newly-added package of templates.Setting a default templateIf you create a document by choosing File > New > Text Document (or Spread

Although many important settings can be changed in the Options dialog (see Chapter 2), for example default fonts and page size, more advanced settings

1) Use File > New > Templates and Documents. Choose the template you want. If the template has unwanted text or graphics in it, delete them.2) O

Creating a template folderTo create a template folder:1) In the Template Management dialog, click any folder.2) Click the Commands button and choose N

To delete a template:1) In the Template Management dialog, double-click the folder that contains the template you want to delete. A list of the templa

Examples of style useThe following examples of common use of page and paragraph styles are taken from Writer. There are many other ways to use styles;

Macro organization...379How to run a macro...

Changing page orientation within a documentA Writer document can contain pages in more than one orientation. A common scenario is to have a landscape

Chapter 4 Getting Started with WriterWord processing with OpenOffice.org

What is Writer?Writer is the word processor component of OpenOffice.org (OOo). In addition to the usual features of a word processor (spell checking,

Status barThe Writer status bar provides information about the document and convenient ways to quickly change some document features. From left to rig

Section or object informationWhen the cursor is on a section or object (such as a picture), information about that item appears in this field. For det

When in Web Layout, you can use the Zoom slider on the Status bar, as described above. In Print Layout, you can use both the Zoom slider and the View

Figure 57: Navigation toolbarClick an icon to select that object type. Now all the Previous and Next icons (in the Navigator itself, in the Navigation

TipTo have OOo save documents by default in the Microsoft Word file format, go to Tools > Options > Load/Save. See “Choosing options for loading

NoteMacintosh users: substitute the Command key when instructions in this chapter say to use the Control key.Figure 59: Selecting items that are not n

Figure 60: Selecting a vertical block of textCutting, copying, and pasting textCutting and copying text in Writer is similar to cutting and copying te

Chapter 1 Introducing OpenOffice.org

Type the text you want to find in the Search for box.To replace the text with different text, type the new text in the Replace with box.You can select

Inserting special charactersA special character is one not found on a standard English keyboard. For example, © ¾ æ ç ñ ö ø ¢ are all special characte

Figure 64: Ruler showing default tab stopsDouble-click on a blank part of the ruler to open the Indents & Spacing page of the Paragraph dialog. Do

Here are some more features of the spelling checker:• Right-click on a word with a wavy underline to open a menu. If you select from the suggested wor

Figure 66: The Language menuThe following options are available:• For selection: select this option to apply a specified language to the selected text

The language used for checking spelling is also shown in the status bar, next to the page style in use.You can also configure the language for a parag

You can customize word completion from the Tools > AutoCorrect > Word Completion page:• Add (append) a space automatically after an accepted wor

Inserting dashes and non-breaking spacesYou can insert a dash by using the Special Characters window or by using AutoCorrect. For more about AutoCorre

system and the selection of icon size and style in Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org > View.TipIt is highly recommended that you use paragraph

The appearance of the icons may vary with your operating system and the selection of icon size and style in Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org >