Cientista Curioso's List: OpenOffice

=====
"This tutorial continues by highlighting OOo Options you may want tochange, discusses the PDF exporting feature, and shows how to overcometwo issues you may encounter when working with images."

http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/tutorials/6532/1/


Harmonizing With MS Office, Managing Large Complex Documents
============================================================
"We’ll give you a few ways to make your documents convert better, soyou can share your work with those who only use MS Office. You’ll alsodiscover the Navigator in this tutorial. This window in OOo can helpyou jump from here to there in your document and gives you a quick wayto modify the structure"

http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/tutorials/6537/1/

=====
A little different and very good

"Using the free and open-source productivity suite OpenOffice.org canbe a godsend for those that don't want to hand over more money toMicrosoft. Its word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, and databaseapplications almost mirror that of the MS Office suite. ..."

http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/tutorials/6506/1/

OpenOffice.org Tips and Tricks Part II
===================================
Importing MS Office Custom Dictionary.
"... This part of the series will take you through the process ofimporting the custom dictionary of MS Office, setting OOo to alwayssave in the MS Office format, and using MS Office. Ready, set, go! ..."

http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/tutorials/6515/1/


OpenOffice.org Tips and Tricks Part III
=======================================
Inserting Fontwork (WordArt)

Are you a WordArt fanatic? Can't find an equivalent text effect creatorin OOo? Well, you don't have to fret any longer, OOo's Fontwork featureis here to save your day. As Figure 1 shows, Fontwork creates textsimilar to WordArt.

http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/tutorials/6519/1/



Installing OO.o 3.0 on WINE
============================
"..I asked APT to install Wine on my Debian Linux with some documentation,
than I wondered what to do next ... and quickly learned to just invoke
...And to get an OOo running, including "quickstart" etc...

http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/wine


A False Sense of Security
=========================
When one thinks about signing, I dare to say, many only think about theintegrity aspect. That is, a digital signature prevents tamperingaround with the data without being unnoticed. For example, duringinstallation of some signed software the system could report that thesignature is broken. The reasons could be that the data got garbledduring transmission, for example while downloading, or that someonemodified it.

http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/a_false_sense_of_security

=========================
"The office where I am network administrator switched most users to
OpenOffice.org (OOo) back at version 1.1, and has followed the upgrade
process to the current version 2.3 (a few poor users who have to exchange
documents outside the office with high fidelity are still clinging to
their MS Office 97). Our receptionist does a lot of general secretarial
duties, including lots of letters, envelopes, and labels that involve
mail merge. Since this seems to be a sticking point for many people,
I am putting everything I have learned from helping her and have gleaned
from various sources on the Internet together in this tutorial."

http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/articles/mail_merge_openoffice_org


Video showing the new PDF import feature for OpenOffice.org
===========================================================
"I just created a short video in which I demo the new Sun PDF Import
Extension (beta) for OpenOffice.org. Don't expect a perfect screencast!
It's just a quick hack. It was more of an experiment! It was interesting
for me to realize that I started to "stutter" and to have my brain
"go blank" the more the longer I played with the screencast software.
I'm sorry that I can't offer more / different video formats right now!
Anyway, I think the video should still give a good impression of the
new PDF import feature. Have fun!"

http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/video_showing_the_new_pdf


Ten fantastic keyboard shortcuts in OpenOffice.org
==================================================
"A lot of software users I meet seem to feel they are not using their
software as efficiently as they could. If that includes you, then listen
up. Here is my list of the ten, lesser-known, OpenOffice.org Writer
keyboard shortcuts that will help you improve your productivity."

http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/columns/ten_fantastic_keyboard_shortcuts_openoffice_org

====
"The PDF Import extension allows you to import and modify PDF documents
in OpenOffice.org Draw and export it to the Open Document Format (ODF).
We keep the layout of imported PDF document as close as possible to the
original document. This version supports PDF documents up to version 1.4.
Import of PDF documents with restricted permissions is not yet possible,
this feature will be available in later versions. You can install this
extension via the extension manager in the tools menu of OpenOffice.org.
You need at least OpenOffice.org 3.0 beta or later to install this
extension. You will find the extension at the OpenOffice.org
extension repository. "

http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/pdf_import_extension_is_now

========
"Of course, I do not want to suggest that MySQL "...is a Desktop
Database", because it's not. Rather, MySQL is a general-purpose
database, so there's no reason at all to dismiss it for typical
"Desktop Database" purposes.

Even though MySQL is a server product, MySQL resembles a typical
Desktop Database in a number of ways. For example, MySQL is not
extravagantly resource-hungry, and does not require much maintenance
- (not for this purpose anyway). So, there's not much against using
MySQL here.

In fact, it's probably a good idea to back your Desktop Database
applications with MySQL. A lot of the typical problems (resource
contention due to locking, file corruption due to crashing application
programs, scale limits, and much much more) that you encounter as
these applications grow larger, are either not-existent or easily
solved using a server solution such as MySQL.

So - let's dive in, and see what it takes to use MySQL in the daily
office. Oh yeah - I once did a write-up on connecting MS Access and
MySQL. This time, we won't be using MS Office at all. We'll use
OpenOffice.org instead."

http://rpbouman.blogspot.com/2006/12/mysql-meets-openofficeorg.html


Updating XSLT based filters – enhancing XHTML export
====================================================
"Svante Schubert (Co-lead XML project) has finished an update for the
XHTML export filter. It was the 14th of April where the CWS arrived
ready for QA-status. In the meanwhile Svante and Mathias Bauer also
have discussed about updating the XSLT based filters via an extension
[issue 88270] to be independent from update cycles of the whole office
application. So the iTeam decided to expand the scope of the
CWS DEV300/xsltfilter09 and I am really happy that we have done that.

One week later – 21st of April – the CWS was again ready for QA and
with the integration of the CWS xsltfilter09 to the DEV300 master
workspace the OpenOffice.org will get some really great enhancements
for the XHTML export and also the other XSLT based filters
(e.g. DocBook XML):

 * change of the default extension for the XHTML export from .xhtml to .html

   - with that change the Internet Explorer is able to load the exported
     XHTML documents of OOo [issue 85268]


 * Footnotes are now supported also in XHTML export [issue 34424]

 * Field values are now supported in XHTML export [issue 75125]

 * Export of headings greater six now according to XHTML specification
 [issue 80679]

Great work Mathias and Svante!"

http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/updating_xslt_based_filters_enhancing

===================
"Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ:JAVA - News), the leading Open Source
company, and the OpenOffice.org(TM) community today announced the
availability of more than 100 extensions in the OpenOffice.org Extension
Repository with the most popular ones achieving downloads of more
than 200,000. Extensions are additional components downloaded on top of
an existing OpenOffice.org installation to add extra features,
templates, languages and dictionaries to the software.

Created through worldwide community collaboration, the OpenOffice.org
Extension Repository includes template packs, a report designer, tools
for professional writers, translation, presentation compression
functionality and more. Two new OpenOffice.org 3.0 features,
highlighted on the product roadmap and expected to be released as
extensions within weeks are the Sun Presenter Console and the
Sun PDF Import Extension. The Sun Presenter Console extension is
available now to preview from the extension repository. It allows
users to view their speaker notes, the next slide and the time on
their laptop screens while presenting via a connected projector.
The Sun PDF Import Extension allows users to edit PDF files."

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/080529/20080529005946.html?.v=1

====
"If you use OpenOffice.org Base to connect to your MySQL database, you
probably know that OOo's existing implementation requires you to install
an additional driver – either the Connector/ODBC or the Connector/J from
the MySQL site. OpenOffice.org itself wraps the external driver,
to accommodate to some peculiarities.

Well, this is neither convenient (ever installed an ODBC driver on Unix?),
nor efficient, plus prone to losing functionality in the different
involved abstraction layers.

Yesterday, our friends over there at MySQL announced a preview release of
the MySQL Connector/OpenOffice, a dedicated, native driver which
implements OpenOffice.org's database access API, providing access to
your MySQL databases."

http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/a_native_database_driver_for


Make the best out of OpenOffice.org extensions
==============================================
"The OpenOffice.org project offers help for all ISVs, help to port or
migrate their solutions to OpenOffice.org. Or even to implement new
solutions for OpenOffice.org. It's quite easy to offer that because you
can join and ask on our mailing lists for help, it's FREE. And most often
you will get answers from the developers directly. Where get you direct
developer support apart from open source projects? And of course if you
need more help and if you are willing to invest some money there are a
lot offerings from OpenOffice.org specialist available too including
Sun Microsystems.

By the way i am happy with all extensions, the free and open and the
commercial ones. Especially the ones that are coming from individual
community members and i hope that they will and can do more and more
in the project."

http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/make_the_best_out_of


Doing a mail merge via API
==========================
I lately talk quite a bit to ISVs about the integration of StarOffice,
OpenOffice.org and ODF. One topic that frequently comes up is mail merge.
Thus, I thought it can't hurt to mention in my blog how a mail merge can
be done via API. In case you are interested in this topic, you should
take a look at this code snippet and this IDL reference. In this context,
you also might want to check out the SugarCRM extension on java.net.

http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/doing_a_mail_merge_via


"An OpenOffice Letterhead Tutorial"
===================================
"This tutorial is a guideline on making your own letterhead on Open Office.
Although there are letterhead templates in the wild, you may have a design
in mind that you can only put together yourself. This should give you
enough background information to do this on your own. Depending on how
much glitter you want on it, it may take some artistic skill - sorry,
I cannot impart that in this document."

http://lxer.com/module/newswire/view/101243/

###########################################

"Creating a Contacts Database in OpenOffice"
============================================
"Last week we learned how to make pages of labels, business cards, and
form letters using OpenOffice Writer and Base. The steps for setting up
any mail-merge document in OpenOffice are easy; the one potentially
gnarly bit is creating your contacts database in the first place. Your
contacts list must be in Base, which is a bit of a pain. But the good
news is Base can import data from most other databases, spreadsheets,
text-delimited files, and email address books."

http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/tutorials/6469/1/


Writing long documents with OpenOffice.org
==========================================
I recently had an email exchange with students about writing
a thesis using OpenOffice.org. It became apparent from that email
thread that many people are still not aware of the master document
feature in OpenOffice.org. In case you also don't know how to use
the master document feature, you should check out one or all of
the following links:

    * Create A Master Document
    * Use master documents
    * Combining OpenOffice.org text documents using master files
    * Chapter 13 - Working with Master Documents
    * Creating and Using Master Documents

The other area where both more tools and documentation are needed is
the area of bibliographic and reference management tools. Here is a
list of different applications that have varying support for
OpenOffice.org and ODF:

    * Zotero
    * Bibus
    * Citavi
    * Endnote

If any of these vendors or projects don't yet provide the level of
integration that you need, either use the feedback forms to submit
your feature requests or contribute to the projects!

http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/writing_long_documents_with_openoffice


Statistics with OpenOffice.org
==============================
People who have to do all kinds of statistical analysis might want to
check out the new extension that provides an integration between the
R project and OpenOffice.org. Documentation is also available and
Niklas Nebel provides additional information in his latest blog entry.

http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/statistics_with_openoffice_org


SugarCRM and OpenOffice.org
===========================
People who want to do mail merges with OpenOffice.org based on SugarCRM
data should check out this blog entry about the OpenOffice.org Extension
for SugarCRM.

http://blogs.sun.com/vanga/entry/openoffice_extension_for_sugarcrm
https://sugarcrm-ooo-integration.dev.java.net/


OpenOffice.org Plugin for Alfresco
==================================
"The purpose of the plugin is to provide Alfresco functionality from
within OpenOffice.org. This functionality includes the ability to:
navigate Alfresco spaces, search and open documents; check documents in

and out; view document details; and invoke some actions, such as work
flow steps."

https://oo-plugin-for-alfresco.dev.java.net/


sage Classic Line works with OpenOffice.org
===========================================
Cool! I just learned that the German sage Classic Line, a popular ERP
solution for SMB's, works with OpenOffice.org. OpenOffice.org was even
featured in one issue of their user magazine. It's very encouraging to
see more an more ISV's support OpenOffice.org and ODF. With about one
million downloads per week, OpenOffice.org simply can't be ignored
any longer.

http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/sage_classic_line_works_with


Per-incident support available for OpenOffice.org
=================================================
If you are really stuck with a terrible problem, and if you are unlucky
and don't find the right answers to your problem in the public user
forums, you might want to try out the new per-incident support for
OpenOffice.org.

http://www.support-central.org/openoffice


Controlling OpenOffice.org with a cell phone
============================================
"The objective of the Project is to create a set of tools that make the
user able to create/update ODF documents in mobile devices such as cell
phones and PDA's and also interact with the OpenOffice.org suite through
these devices."

https://mooo.dev.java.net/

###########################################

Impressive Eye Candy: 3D OpenGL Transitions
===========================================
"PowerPoint's old push-down transition has done its 15 years of service,
and it's time for it to retire. Do the sleepy faces in your meetings
agree? OpenOffice.org Impress 2.4 has the answer in the form ten 3D
OpenGL-rendered transitions:

    * Flipping tiles
    * Outside turning cube
    * Revolving circles
    * Turning helix
    * Inside turning cube
    * Fall
    * Turn around
    * Iris
    * Turn down
    * Rochade"

http://www.oooninja.com/2008/02/eye-candy-3d-opengl-transitions-impress.html


PDF/A Support in OpenOffice.org
===============================
The first release candidate for OpenOffice.org 2.4 has just been
release. One of the key new features is the built-in PDF/A export
capability. The new Chart features are very cool as well! Please
check if the release candidate is good enough for being promoted
to a final version!

http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/pdf_a_support_in_openoffice


Table2Clipboard Firefox Extension
=================================
"Make copying tables from web pages to offline office apps easier with
Table2Clipboard, a free Firefox extension. The low-key app simply adds
a single item to the Edit and right-click context menus, "Copy whole
table," that retains a table's formatting and makes it far easier to
paste and manipulate in Microsoft Word or Excel, OpenOffice.org and
other programs."

http://www.lifehacker.com.au/tips/2008/02/15/copy_tables_and_keep_their_formatting_with_table2clipboard-2.html


Links about the usage of MySQL with OpenOffice.org
==================================================
"Here is what I have found so far:

* MySQL meets OpenOffice.org
* Connect OpenOffice.org to MySQL
* Database Specific Problems
* Connect MySQL and Base
* Connect to MySQL in OpenOffice.org

With respect to potentially using MySQL as an alternative to Microsoft
Access,
people might find the following links useful, too:

* Migrating from Microsoft SQL Server and Access to MySQL
* Access To MySQL
* Migrating a Microsoft Access application to MySQL using
  ActiveGrid Studio
* Building a Java Desktop Database Application
* Connecting to a MySQL Database in NetBeans IDE
* Connecting a GUI to a Java DB Database with NetBeans IDE
* Creating a Simple Web Application in NetBeans IDE Using MySQL
* DBForms from MS Access to PHP + MySQL"

http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/links_about_the_usage_of


Solveig talks about SUMIF function
==================================
"You want to add up all the items that are in one particular category
since you want to know how much you're spending on music festivals; how
much on climbing related purchases; etc. But the items are entered like
this. Not really well categorized. ... If you'd like to play with the
spreadsheet, here it is. Right-click on the link and choose to save it
to your computer."

http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2008/02/a-nice-little-c.html


OpenOffice.org 3.0 and cooperation with the RedFlag 2000 framework team
=======================================================================
"Today I want to give you a new overview on what features and
enhancements we are working on in cooperation with the RedFlag 2000
framework team.

We enhanced the “Change Icon” dialog again to enable user to import
images more easily. Currently users have to scale their images to the
two supported icon sizes (16x16 for small icons and 26x26 pixel for
large icons) before they can import these images. Although this solution
enables users to use their own tool set to scale images it sets a high
hurdle for others. Sometimes users just want to import images and use
them as quick as possible. The new import images implementation now
automatically scales images, while preserving their aspect ratio.

The next picture gives you an impression how the new scaling
implementation works."

http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/openoffice_org_3_0_and


Intermediate OpenOffice.org API Plugin for NetBeans 6

=====================================================
"We still have one little issue that is no real error but it is
definitely not nice. But the plugin works and is completely functional
and because of many requests we decided to provide an intermediate
version 1.1.1 on api.openoffice.org."

http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/intermediate_openoffice_org_api_plugin


Built-in SVG import
===================
"Two weeks ago, I had the privilege to work on a fun project using
company time - it was Novell HackWeek again. So I teamed up with
friend & colleague Fridrich to finally get OOo its long-deserved
built-in SVG import - in fact, this is the most voted-for feature of
the whole project."

http://blog.thebehrens.net/2008/02/28/built-in-svg-import/

==================
"I just found out about Citavi. Citavi is an alternative to bibliography /
citation tools like Endnote. Currently, Citavi is only available in German,
but I guess the company is willing to add more languages based on user
feedback. Thus, send your language and feature requests per email to
Citavi!
The interesting thing about Citavi is that there is a free entry version of
Citavi which should be sufficient for the needs of most students, at least
for the first years.
...
Have you heard of Zotero? Zotero is a Firefox extension for managing
bibliographies that has a "cite as you write" extension for OOo. It works
great, is cross-platform (Linux, OS X, and Windows all supported), and,
most importantly, it has a Free software license.
http://www.zotero.org/

Zotero incorporates the open standard CSL citation language developed by
the co-leader of the OOo bibliographic project team (OOoBib), Bruce
D'Arcus,
who recommends Zotero for everyday use:
http://www.mail-archive.com/dev@bibliographic.openoffice.org/msg00896.html"

http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/alternative_to_endnote_bibliography


New Chart features in OpenOffice.org 2.4
========================================
"Now, it is possible to display the equation for a trend line (regression
curve) next to it. The formula object can be moved around, formatted with
a number format, font and graphical formatting.
...
Axes can be reversed, i.e. they point in a different than usual direction.
In the example the y-axis points down from the top, instead of the usual
orientation.
...
You can set individual number formats for the value displayed in a data
label, as well as for the percentage."

http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/new_chart_features_in_openoffice


Improved picture cropping for Draw/Impress
==========================================
" Of course there is an existing OpenOffice.org Issue for this (i3545)
and in my daily work I get a lot of feedback from users who need and want
this functionality, too. But unfortunately our developers are busy with
more important features. So I decided to specify the needed redesign in
my free time and I found a developer who saw the same need for this
improvement. Christian Lippka from the Graphics team supported me and
helped in his free time to get this working. Great job, thanks again!

By now there is a quite good beta version implemented in CWS cropmaster2000
and there is not much work left to be done. So I hope soon this will make
its way into the master build.

And this is how it works:

Selecting an inserted picture brings up the picture toolbar. Clicking on
the cropping-button brings up 8 blue object-handles on the sides and
angles of the picture. Moving the mouse cursor over these handles shows
the cropping cursor. Now you can easily grab one of those and crop the
picture by dragging these handles. It's as simple as that and works in
Draw and Impress."

http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/improved_picture_cropping_for_draw


Macros in Database Documents – Milestone 1
==========================================
A while ago, I talked about macros in database documents, and that we had
finished the work to re-factor various parts of OpenOffice.org's
application and scripting frameworks, so that we could start embarking
upon implementing the real feature: Basic macros as well as JavaScript,
BeanShell and Python scripts embedded in database documents.

Nearly 3 months passed, and what I now want to advertise is the first
milestone of this implementation: If you're interested in, you can get
your hands onto a version of OpenOffice.org which allows you to put your
macros into your database document, and then run those macros from all
sub components of the database: from within your forms, reports, the
query, table and relation designer, and from within the table data view.
Well, of course also from within the database document itself.

The CWS which is dedicated to implementing the feature is called
odbmacros2, and a snapshot of it is available to everybody for download,
as Linux and as Windows version.

For the details of what you can expect, please refer to the feature
specification in our Wiki, and to the release notes in the
download directory.

http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/macros_in_database_documents_milestone