This is the spreadsheet component of the OpenOffice.org package, and contains many useful features, including an array of functions and plenty of charting options. It is fully inter-operable with Microsoft Excel, though the function separators differ in the two packages.
Click to view screen shot Fig 10.3 OpenOffice.org Calc.
To start this, it is available via
Main Menu --> Office --> OpenOffice.org Calc
or if you already have an existing window of OpenOffice.org open,
File --> New --> Spreadsheet.
Spreadsheets contain many rows and columns, and each row and column combination is called a cell (like A1, B4, and so on). Upon inputting text into a cell, you might realize that the text is wider than the cell allows for - this can be re-sized via right-clicking the cell, and selecting the Format Cells option. There under the Alignment tab, selecting Line Break is what is required.
Formatting
Like other parts of OpenOffice.org, Calc also comes with the Stylist. But let's get around to understanding the various differing formatting options available in this component of the package.
If there is some information that you already have created, and the area should be formatted, one particular quick and easy option is to use the AutoFormats available in Calc. This is done after selecting the area then:
Format --> AutoFormat
These are pre-defined styles that are available in Calc, and if you have created your own particular style, you can add them into your new AutoFormats.
In the object toolbar, there is an option to set the font colour within the cell. There are also options to increase/decrease the indents within a cell, and in the image below, controls for enabling:
- Currency
- Percentage
- Add/Remove significant decimal places
Click to view screen shot Fig 10.4 Part of the Object toolbar (Calc)
These are quick controls, and accessing them is as simple as clicking the icons that represent them, and automatically the cell will be formatted as stated. Not only can Borders be set easily, and cell backgrounds too, but the alignment of text within a cell can also be set. This can be either as a top aligned, center aligned, or bottom aligned.
Now that most of the formatting options are known, it is easy to apply Styles to the spreadsheet - bring up the Stylist by hitting the F11 key, and you'll notice that cell styles (that control all elements, including formatting) and page styles can be set (the latter controlling margins, headers/footers, and borders).
Spreadsheet Basics
There are a few points to note when using a spreadsheet. One of them is that calculations are performed in a left-to-right format, with algebraic ordering rules. This means it deals with brackets ("()") first, then division ("/"), multiplication ("*"), addition ("+") and finally subtraction ("-").
When applying calculations, keep in mind the range of included cells. When using a function like =SUM(), and using the argument =SUM(A1:A4), it means it looks for the sum of the cells A1, A2, A3, and A4. These operations can also be performed on non-consecutive cells, so, =SUM(A1;A4;A7) just executes the sum of cells A1, A4 and A7.
If you have used Excel before, it would be relatively common to use a comma (",") as a separator character between the parameters, however, with OpenOffice.org Calc, the separator character is a semi-colon (";"). So for the function to validate correctly, an expression such as =IF(B3>0;A1-A2;A1+A2) is correct (as opposed to replacing the ";" with ",").
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Tutorial: Using the OpenOffice.org Suite
1. Getting around the package
2. Writer
3. Calc
4. Impress
