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Using AutoCorrect to create a table
You can also create a table by typing a series of hyphens (-) or tabs separated by plus
signs. Use the plus signs to indicate column dividers, while hyphens and tabs are used to
indicate the width of a column.
For example, this character sequence:
+-----------------+---------------+------+
Creates a table like this:
This function can be disabled or enabled in Tools > AutoCorrect. On the Options tab,
deselect or select Create table.
When using tabs instead of a table to line up your data, always make sure that you know
how wide they are set and remember that default tabs may be different when the
document is displayed on a different computer or even when copying the same data in a
new document.
Create a table from formatted text
It is possible to create a table starting from plain text by means of the Table > Convert >
Text to Table menu. In order for this command to work effectively, the starting text needs
to have clear demarcation between what will become the columns of the table.
Paragraph marks indicate the end of a row.
To convert text to a table, start by selecting the text you want to convert and select Table
> Convert > Text to Table to open the dialog box shown below.
Dialog box to configure the text to table conversion
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In the top part of the dialog box, select the symbol that separates the columns. This
would normally be a tab, but it could be a semicolon or comma if you are importing a CSV
file. The other options in this dialog are the same as those in the dialog used to insert a
table shown above.
Example
In this example we will convert the following text into a table.
Row 1 Column 1; Row 1 Column 2; Row 1 Column 3
Row 2 Column 1; Row 2 Column 2; Row 2 Column 3
In this case, the separator between elements is a semicolon. By selecting the text and
applying the conversion, we obtain the following result.
Row 1 Column 1 Row 1 Column 2 Row 1 Column 3
Row 2 Column 1 Row 2 Column 2 Row 2 Column 3
You can also use the Convert menu to perform the opposite operation; that is, to
transform a table into plain text. This may be useful when you want to export the table
contents into a different program.
To transform a table into text, place the cursor anywhere in the table, select Table >
Convert > Table to Text in the main menu, pick the preferred row separator, and
click OK to finish.
3.2.7 Drawing - Tools
You can use Writer‘s drawing tools to create graphics, such as simple diagrams using
rectangles, circles, lines, text, and other predefined shapes. You can also group several
drawing objects to make sure they maintain their relative position and proportion.
You can place the drawing objects directly on a page in your document, or you can insert
them into a frame.
You can also use the drawing tools to annotate photographs, screen captures, or other
illustrations produced by other programs, but this is not recommended because:
● You cannot include images in a group with drawing objects, so they may get out of
alignment in your document.
● If you convert a Writer document to another format, such as HTML, the drawing
objects and the graphics will not remain associated; they are saved separately.
In general, if you need to create complex drawings, it is recommended to use
[Link] Draw, which includes many more features such as layers, styles, and so
on.
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Creating drawing objects
To begin using the drawing tools, display the Drawing toolbar, by clicking View > Toolbars
> Drawing.
If you are planning to use the drawing tools repeatedly, you can tear off this toolbar and
move it to a convenient place on the window.
1 Select | 2 Line | 3 Rectangle | 4 Ellipse | 5 Freeform Line | 6 Text | 7 Callouts
| 8 Basic Shapes | 9 Symbol Shapes | 10 Block arrows | 11 Flowcharts | 12 Callouts
| 13 Stars | 14 Points | 15 Fontwork Gallery | 16 From File | 17 Extrusion On/Off
Drawing toolbar
To use a drawing tool
1. Click in the document where you want the drawing to be anchored. You can
change the anchor later, if necessary.
2. Select the tool from the Drawing toolbar. The mouse pointer changes to a
drawing-functions pointer .
3. Move the cross-hair pointer to the place in the document where you want the
graphic to appear and then click-and-drag to create the drawing object. Release
the mouse button. The selected drawing function remains active, so you can draw
another object of the same type.
4. To cancel the selected drawing function, press the Esc key or click on
the Select icon (the arrow) on the Drawing toolbar.
5. You can now change the properties (fill color, line type and weight, anchoring, and
others) of the drawing object using either the Drawing Object Properties toolbar or
the choices and dialog boxes reached by right-clicking on the drawing object.
Set or change properties for drawing objects
To set the properties for a drawing object before you draw it:
1. On the Drawing toolbar, click the Select tool.
2. On the Drawing Object Properties toolbar, click on the icon for each property and
select the value you want for that property.
3. For more control, or to define new attributes, you can click on
the Area or Line icons on the toolbar to display detailed dialog boxes.
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The default you set applies to the current document and session. It is not retained when
you close the document or close Writer, and it does not apply to any other document you
open. The defaults apply to all the drawing objects except text objects.
1 Line | 2 Arrow Style | 3 Line Style | 4 Line Width | 5 Line Color | 6 Area | 7 Area Style
/ Filling | 8 Rotate | 9 To Foreground | 10 To Background | 11 Bring to Front | 12 Send
to Back | 13 Alignment | 14 Change Anchor | 15 Ungroup | 16 Group
Drawing Object Properties toolbar
To change the properties for an existing drawing object
1. Select the object.
2. Continue as described above.
You can also specify the position and size, rotation, and slant and corner radius
properties of the drawing object:
1. Right-click on the drawing object and then click Position and Size from the pop-up
menu. The Position and Size dialog box is displayed.
2. Choose any properties, as required.
Resizing a drawing object
The same considerations for resizing an image apply also to resizing an object. Select the
object, click on one of the eight handles around it and drag it to its new position. For a
scaled resizing, select one of the corner handles and keep the Shift key pressed while
dragging the handle to its new position.
For more sophisticated control of the size of the object, select Format > Object > Position
and Size from the menu bar. Use the Position and Size dialog box to set the width and
height independently. If the Keep ratio option is selected, then the two dimensions
change so that the proportion is maintained, allowing for a scaled resizing.
Grouping drawing objects
To group drawing objects:
1. Select one object, then hold down the Shift key and select the others you want to
include in the group. The bounding box expands to include all the selected
objects.
2. With the objects selected, hover the mouse pointer over one of the objects and
choose Format > Group > Group from the menu bar or right-click and
choose Group > Group from the pop-up menu.
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3.2.8 Printing Documents
Quick printing
Click the Print File Directly icon to send the entire document to the default printer
defined for your computer.
Controlling printing using the Print dialog box
For more control over printing, use File > Print to display the Print dialog box.
Print dialog
On the Print dialog box, you can choose:
● Which printer to use (if more than one are installed on your system) and the
properties of the printer—for example, orientation (portrait or landscape),
which paper tray to use, and what paper size to print on. The properties
available depend on the selected printer; consult the printer's documentation
for details.
● Which pages to print, how many copies to print, and in what order to print
them.
● Use dashes to specify page ranges and commas or semicolons to separate
ranges; for example, 1, 5, 11-14, 34-40.
● Selection is the highlighted part of a page or pages.
● Which items to print. Click the Options button to display the Printer Options
dialog box. For details about print options and setting defaults for
Writer(Printing, Faxing, Exporting, and Emailing).
Previewing pages before printing
The normal page view in Writer shows what each page will look like when printed, but it
shows only one page at a time. If you are designing a document to be printed double-
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sided, you may want to see what facing pages look like. OOo provides a way to do this in
Page Preview.
Click File > Page Preview, or click the Page Preview icon.
The Writer window changes to display the current page and the following page and the
Page Preview toolbar replaces the Formatting toolbar.
Page Preview toolbar
● To display left and right pages in their correct orientation (facing pages), click
the Book Preview icon .
● To print the document in this page view, click the Print page view icon.
● To choose margins and other options for the printout, click the Print options page
view icon to display the Print Options dialog box. For more
information, (Printing, Faxing, Exporting, and Emailing).
Exporting to PDF
[Link] can export documents to PDF (Portable Document Format). This industry-
standard file format for file viewing is ideal for sending the file to someone else to view
using Acrobat Reader or other PDF viewers.
Quick export to PDF
Click the Export Directly as PDF icon to export the entire document using the default
PDF settings. You are asked to enter the file name and location for the PDF file, but you
do not get a chance to choose a page range or the print quality.
Controlling PDF content and quality
For more control over the content and quality of the resulting PDF, use File > Export as
PDF. You are asked to enter the location and file name of the PDF to be created, and
then the PDF Options dialog box opens.
Here you can choose which pages to include in the PDF, the type of compression to use
for images (which affects the quality of images in the PDF), and other options.
Closing a document
To close a document, click File > Close.
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You can also close a document by clicking on the Close icon on the document window. In
Windows XP, this button looks like the red X shown in Figure 10.
If more than one OOo window is open, each window looks like the sample shown on the
left in Figure 10. Closing this window leaves the other OOo windows open.
If only one OOo window is open, it looks like the sample shown on the right in Figure 10.
Notice the small black X below the large red X. Clicking the small X closes the document
but leaves OOo open. Clicking the large red X closes OOo completely.
Figure 10 Close icons in Windows XP
If the document has not been saved since the last change, a message box is displayed.
Choose whether to save or discard your changes.
Figure 11 Warning about unsaved changes on close
● Save: The document will be saved and then closed.
● Discard: The document will be closed, and all modifications since the last save
will be lost.
● Cancel: Nothing will happen, and you will return to the document.
3.2.9 Operating with MS Word documents
Create and edit doc and docx documents with OpenOffice Writer online
OpenOffice Writer online is an extension that allows to create, edit and view any
Microsoft Word documents in both doc and docx formats. It is a word processor and
publishing tool. It allows to create large documents, reports, and books, and simple
enough for a quick memo.
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It is a document editor integrated with our file manager to manage only DOC, DOCX and
ODT file types with this desktop app.
The Open Office writer main features are:
● Wizards for standard documents such as letters, faxes, agendas, minutes, or
carrying out more complex tasks such as mail merges. You can also create your own
templates, or download templates from the Templates repository.
● Advanced Styles and Formatting.
● Table of Contents & References to increase the usefulness of your long, complex
documents by generating a table of contents or indexing terms, bibliographical
references, illustrations, tables, and other objects.
● Text frames and linking for publishing tasks like newsletters and flyers
● Notes and comments on the side of the document. This makes notes a lot easier to
read.
● AutoCorrect dictionary to trap typing mistakes on the fly, checking your spelling as
you type.
● AutoComplete to reduce typing effort. It also suggests common words and phrases to
complete while you are typing.
*****
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UNIT – 4
OFFICE APPLICATIONS - II
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Introduction to MS Office – MS Excel and Open Office - Calc
4.1. MS Excel
4.1.1 Introduction
Spreadsheet and its application
● Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet tool capable of performing calculations, analyzing
data and integrating information from different programs.
● By default, documents saved in Excel 2010 are saved with the .xlsx extension.
How to open Excel?
Start the excel application following the below mentioned steps.
Step 1 − Click on the Start button.
Step 2 − Click on All Programs option from the menu.
Step 3 − Search for Microsoft Office from the sub menu and click it.
Step 4 − Search for Microsoft Excel 2010 from the submenu and click it.
The following basic window appears as below: