Apache OpenOffice Wiki - User contributions [en]

Engineering and SI Number Format in Calc

2010-12-01T13:22:58Z

Irneb: Fixed heading and added Option 4

{{User Experience Community}}=Explanation of Notations=
The following is a short description of all the number formats to be discussed here.
==Engineering Notation==
This type of notation is an offshoot of Scientific Notation. The difference is that the exponent is only shown in multiples of 3. Thus a number such as 153,100 becomes 153.1E+3 in Engineering notation<ref>see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineering_notation "Engineering Notation" in Wikipedia]</ref> instead of 1.531E+5 in scientific.
==SI Notation==
This is what's known as SI Prefix<ref>see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SI_prefix "SI prefix" in Wikipedia]</ref> notation. Similar to Engineering Notation the exponent also runs in multiples of 3 (usually), but the difference is that instead of showing the E+/- notation a symbol is given for each exponent. E.g. 153,100 in SI notation would be 153.1k.
==Binary Prefix Notation==
This is very similar to SI, but is intended for use when referring to sizes of data storage. Binary Prefix<ref>see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_prefix "Binary prefix" in Wikipedia]</ref> Notation works in much a similar way, but is not calculated using 10 as a multiple (as with Scientific). Rather the closest matching power of 2 is used. Thus instead of 1000 we get 1024. As a convention similar symbols to SI is used, but with an "i" suffix to distinguish then. E.g. 153,100 in Binary Prefix Notation would become 149.51Ki.
=Examples from other software=
Example of how other software handle these formats.
==Engineering Notation in Microsoft Excel 2003==
[[File:Excel2003_custom_notation.png]]
=Format Strings=
Each number format requires a format string to indicate not just what type of format to use, but also details as per how many decimals to display. In all numeric notations the format string could indicate how many digits to display for the fraction portion of the number. E.g. 0.00+E0 would force a 2 decimal fraction if needed or not.
==Engineering Notation==
The Excel format string for engineering notation is similar to the scientific notation, except that it starts with 3 hashes (#). See the sample above. The current scientific notation in both Excel and OOo Calc is the same except for this point. Both use E+ to indicate exponent notation. The digit(s) after this indicate how many digits to use for the exponent. E.g. 0.0+E000 would force 3 digits for the exponent, if not needed it becomes padded with zeros. A further use of the Excel format string is that not only normal engineering notation is possible, but also notation in other multiples. E.g. ####E+0 would format 153,100 as 15.310E+4.

An alternative mentioned would be to substitute F for E instead. In this case ###.000E+00 would be equivalent to 0.000F+0.
==SI Notation==
There is (yet) no sample format string for this. Therefore we need to decide on one. A proposed idea would be to use a S to force SI notation. E.g. 0.00S. There's has one problem as the s is also used to denote seconds when formatting numbers as time units. So a different character should be used. Thus not one of the following already used: A, D, E, H, I, M, P, S, Y. A suggestion would be T stemming from the 1st non-used letter in the word meTric.
==Binary Prefix Notation==
Simple really, use B as for SI. It's not used in any other normal format.
==Language Specific==
Further to the above, it may be necessary to have language specific codes for these. More discussion is necessary.

=Sample Implementations=
[[File:EngSIFormula.ods]] contains custom formula to convert numbers to formatted text in the engineering-, SI- and binary notations. To use enable macros when opening as the formula are written in embedded sBasic.

= File Format =
'''TODO:''' how to persistently store the feature in various file formats.
== ODF ==

The ODF Specification for [http://docs.oasis-open.org/office/v1.2/cd05/OpenDocument-v1.2-cd05-part1.html#a_16_27_5__number_scientific-number_ Scientific Numbers] does not contain any way of saving a format string directly. There are only 4 parameters for a scientific format: 

*[http://docs.oasis-open.org/office/v1.2/cd05/OpenDocument-v1.2-cd05-part1.html#attribute-number_decimal-places_element-number_scientific-number number:decimal-places]: Contains an integer value stating how many digits after the decimal to display, padded by zeros. 
*[http://docs.oasis-open.org/office/v1.2/cd05/OpenDocument-v1.2-cd05-part1.html#attribute-number_grouping number:groupping]: A true / false toggle to set thousands separation or not. 
*[http://docs.oasis-open.org/office/v1.2/cd05/OpenDocument-v1.2-cd05-part1.html#attribute-number_min-exponent-digits number:min-exponent-digits]: An integer value stating the minimum digits to display as exponent, padded by zeros. 
*[http://docs.oasis-open.org/office/v1.2/cd05/OpenDocument-v1.2-cd05-part1.html#attribute-number_min-integer-digits number:min-integer-digits]: Defines the minimum number of digits to display before the decimal, padded by zeros. 

The number format dialog still displays the format string, but this has to be generated from the above properties. At present the following scenario applies: 

Say the format string is typed as: '''###.00E+00''' 

This gets translated into the various properties. Thus a format style such as: 

<source lang="xml"><number:number-style style:name="N108">
<number:scientific-number
number:decimal-places="2"
number:min-integer-digits="3"
number:min-exponent-digits="2"
/>
</number:number-style></source> 

When the file is later opened, the format string is recalculated from these properties. Thus the resulting string would become: '''000.00E+00''' 

It is clear that the current ODF format specification cannot work as is with Engineering Format, let alone SI. Thus some modifications to the spec should be designed. The following are some options. 

 

=== Option 1 ===

Make use of the grouping property as a switch for using exponent increments by the value of the min-integer-digits. This would not need the ODF spec to be changed at present, only the way OOo Calc interprets the grouping property. If used, it would disallow thousands grouping on all scientific formats. It also doesn't cater for SI formatting. Older programs would not have any dificulty opening this file, but (obviously) they would not format correctly.

=== Option 2 ===

Introduce an extra property into the scientific format, named something like number:exponent-increment. Again, this only applies to engineering format. And also would not interfere with older programs, thus the ODF file can still be opened by an earlier version - just not formatted as intended.

=== Option 3 ===

Add a format string property to the scientific format type, to be included as aditional to the existing properties. This would allow for numerous extra formatting without needing further ODF alterations. It would be possible to use this for engineering- as well as SI formatting. And again, older programs would not have troubles opening the file - just not format as intended.

=== Option 4 ===

Create 2 new style classes called ''number:engineering-number'' and ''number:si-number''. Used as is, this would invalidate the ODF file when opened in an older version program. A possible solution would be to have a secondary (alternative) format specification to be included into the [http://docs.oasis-open.org/office/v1.2/cd05/OpenDocument-v1.2-cd05-part1.html#element-number_number-style number:number-style], which would be the current scientific number format. Thus older versions would read the scientific format and still be able to open the ODF file.

== OOXML ==
Seeing as Excel has no SI equivalent, only the engineering format can be saved with any consistency. Thus the same format string should be used as used in Excel: ###.00E+00 as Excel saves it. The current implementation of OOXML saves into an XLSX file's sub-file \xl\styles as ''<numFmt numFmtId="164" formatCode="###.00E+00"/>''.

For SI notation it may have to be converted into engineering notation when saving to OOXML. Otherwise there may be an error when opening in Excel.

== .xls and .doc binary formats ==
Same as with [[#OOXML|OOXML]] above, except it saves to a binary field inside the file (exactly where all other format strings are saved). But still, the SI format is not implemented ans should thus also be handled as per OOXML.

=References=
<references />

=See Also=
*[http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Documentation/DevGuide/OfficeDev/Number_Formats Number Formats Class Documentation]
*[http://api.openoffice.org/docs/common/ref/com/sun/star/util/NumberFormats.html Number Formats API]

[[Category:Calc]]
[[Category:To-Do]]
[[Category:Feature]]
[[Category:Draft]]

Engineering and SI Number Format in Calc

Sample spreadsheet containing conversion formulas to display numbers in engineering-, SI- and Binary notation.

User:Irneb

2010-07-06T11:03:49Z

Irneb: /* Word processing */

{{User Experience Community}}__NOTOC__
== Personal ==
Hi, my name's Irné Barnard. I'm an interested user of OOo and other Open Source programs. I have a Computer Science degree, but work in the Architectural (Building Construction - ''not to be confused with Software Architecture'') industry. My experience is mainly in Graphic Design applications (in particular CAD). I consider myself highly advanced in most programs & like playing around with all to find new and useful functionality.

I'm mainly based on a Windows XP / Vista system, but am trying to move towards Linux. Unfortunately due to unavailability of CAD (in particular) on Linux, I'm still stuck with MS operating systems.

== Programs used ==
My main area of interest is graphics design in the construction industry, mainly using CAD (Computer Aided Design). However, I use nearly the whole set of OOo applications as well: Technical specifications are mainly written using Writer; Schedules and quantity take-offs are created using Calc / Base; Presentations are combined using Impress; Draw is not used that much since the function list is too simplistic for much of my workload. A lot of the time I also use Draw to generate images for inclusion in the above documents, especially when company logos need to be incorporated in the document. For including graphics directly from the CAD packages I've found the easiest way is to convert to WMF / EMF and then import that into OOo.

A lot of the time I find myself going back to M$ products since many in my company (and nearly everyone in the industry) is still fixed for the M$ programs, and the interoperability to OOo is less than required (especially with the new 2007 M$ files).

The following is a list of programs I've used in the past or am using at present.
==== Graphics Programs ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; width:100%"
|-
!width="200px"|Program !! width="400px" class="unsortable" |Level of expertise !! class="unsortable" |Comments

|-
|[http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=2704278 AutoCAD]
|20 years 2D & 3D drafting, including customizing using AutoLISP & VBA
|This is the program I spend almost all my time in, I know it nearly back-to-front.

|-
|[http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?id=3761844&siteID=123112 Revit]
|5 years 3D Drafting, Rendering & BIM. Intermediate to advanced '''usage''' only. No VBA / Lisp available ... new version comes with VSTA & .NET extensions.
|I'm trying to use this for technical documentation instead of AutoCAD, but thus far have not found the time to generate the needed building blocks.

|-
|[http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/index?id=13567410&siteID=123112 3ds Max]
|2 years 3D Rendering, intermediate usage only.
|I only use this for final presentation rendering, I don't use this to generate the 3d model.

|-
|PhotoShop
|Touching up rendered images & coloring of 2d presentations.
|

|-
|Corel Draw
|Similar as per use with PhotoShop, but only used if vector based presentation is required.
|This is a lot more difficult to use than PhotoShop, but when I need to have vector based graphics this is the best I've found. I do try and use OOo Draw instead, but find it still lacking in functionality.

|-
|OOo Draw
|Have used it to generate graphics for inclusion in documents as well as creating Data Flow / ER diagrams.
|It's a reasonable general graphics program, not something you'd use when doing serious DTP or Presentations.

|-
|Inkscape
|Creating logos & web page images
|Inkscape uses a much more comprehensive SVG subset than most viewers can display, so the user needs to convert certain elements to more simplistic forms. This happens a lot with formatted text. Unfortunately interoperability between Inkscape and OOo Draw is a lot less than perfect, even more so than between Inkscape and FireFox.

|-
|Scribus
|Used mainly when creating brochures, although Corel Draw is also sometimes used for this purpose.
|

|-
|Gimp
|More and more I find myself liking Gimp instead of PhotoShop, although I don't see myself as even an intermediate user of Gimp
|Some functionality in Gimp seems easier than in PhotoShop and visa-versa.

|}

==== Word processing ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; width:100%"
|-
!width="200px"|Program !! width="400px" class="unsortable" |Level of expertise !! class="unsortable" |Comments

|-
|M$ Word
|
|

|-
|Word Perfect
|
|

|-
|OOo Writer
|
|

|-
|[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ability_Plus Ability]
|
|The 1st Office Suite I've worked on. DOS based in the mid 80's to early 90's.

|-
|[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_Write PFS Write]
|
|

|}

==== Spreadsheets ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; width:100%"
|-
!width="200px"|Program !! width="400px" class="unsortable" |Level of expertise !! class="unsortable" |Comments

|-
|M$ Excel
|
|

|-
|Quattro Pro
|
|

|-
|OOo Calc
|
|

|-
|Lotus 123
|
|

|-
|Ability
|
|

|}

==== Database Front-ends ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; width:100%"
|-
!width="200px"|Program !! width="400px" class="unsortable" |Level of expertise !! class="unsortable" |Comments

|-
|M$ Access
|
|

|-
|Paradox
|
|

|-
|OOo Base
|
|

|}

==== Database Back-ends ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; width:100%"
|-
!width="200px"|Program !! width="400px" class="unsortable" |Level of expertise !! class="unsortable" |Comments

|-
|M$ SQL Server
|
|

|-
|Interbase
|
|

|-
|MySQL
|
|

|}

==== Programming IDE's and Languages ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; width:100%"
|-
!width="200px"|Program !! width="400px" class="unsortable" |Level of expertise !! class="unsortable" |Comments

|-
|[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CodeGear_Delphi Delphi]
|On-and-Off over 10 years
|I've used it while it was still under the Borland name. I prefer this to VB or MS's Visual Studio.

|-
|Lazarus
|
|Basically an Open Source clone of Delphi / Kylix

|-
|M$ Visual Studio C++
|
|

|-
|VBA
|Used mainly for extending M$ programs such as Access, Excel and Outlook. Although I have used previously for extending AutoCAD when linking data to Excel / Access.
|These days VBA seems to have disappeared (at least in AutoCAD), seems to be replaced with the new VSTA.

|-
|[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_Lisp AutoLisp]
|Advanced
|The original (and still used) extension language for AutoCAD

|-
|ObjectPAL
|
|The extension language built into Paradox

|-
|Java
|
|

|-
|JavaScript
|
|

|-
|Pascal
|
|

|-
|HTML
|Usually using NVU with CSS & JavaScript
|

|-
|PHP
|
|
|}
== My Wiki Pages ==
* [[Engineering_and_SI_Number_Format_in_Calc|Engineering and SI Number Format]] - Discussion about the best way to implement engineering notation and SI suffix notation into the number formats for Calc.

Engineering and SI Number Format in Calc

2010-07-06T10:40:46Z

Irneb:

Engineering and SI Number Format in Calc

2010-07-06T10:05:56Z

Irneb:

File:Excel2003 custom notation.png

2010-07-06T10:05:08Z

2010-07-06T09:36:48Z

Irneb: Created page with '= {{User Experience Community}}Engineering / SI Notation ='

= {{User Experience Community}}Engineering / SI Notation =

User:Irneb

2010-07-06T09:34:59Z

Irneb:

{{User Experience Community}}__NOTOC__
== Personal ==
Hi, my name's Irné Barnard. I'm an interested user of OOo and other Open Source programs. I have a Computer Science degree, but work in the Architectural (Building Construction - ''not to be confused with Software Architecture'') industry. My experience is mainly in Graphic Design applications (in particular CAD). I consider myself highly advanced in most programs & like playing around with all to find new and useful functionality.

I'm mainly based on a Windows XP / Vista system, but am trying to move towards Linux. Unfortunately due to unavailability of CAD (in particular) on Linux, I'm still stuck with MS operating systems.

== Programs used ==
My main area of interest is graphics design in the construction industry, mainly using CAD (Computer Aided Design). However, I use nearly the whole set of OOo applications as well: Technical specifications are mainly written using Writer; Schedules and quantity take-offs are created using Calc / Base; Presentations are combined using Impress; Draw is not used that much since the function list is too simplistic for much of my workload. A lot of the time I also use Draw to generate images for inclusion in the above documents, especially when company logos need to be incorporated in the document. For including graphics directly from the CAD packages I've found the easiest way is to convert to WMF / EMF and then import that into OOo.

A lot of the time I find myself going back to M$ products since many in my company (and nearly everyone in the industry) is still fixed for the M$ programs, and the interoperability to OOo is less than required (especially with the new 2007 M$ files).

The following is a list of programs I've used in the past or am using at present.
==== Graphics Programs ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; width:100%"
|-
!width="200px"|Program !! width="400px" class="unsortable" |Level of expertise !! class="unsortable" |Comments

|-
|[http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=2704278 AutoCAD]
|20 years 2D & 3D drafting, including customizing using AutoLISP & VBA
|This is the program I spend almost all my time in, I know it nearly back-to-front.

|-
|[http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?id=3761844&siteID=123112 Revit]
|5 years 3D Drafting, Rendering & BIM. Intermediate to advanced '''usage''' only. No VBA / Lisp available ... new version comes with VSTA & .NET extensions.
|I'm trying to use this for technical documentation instead of AutoCAD, but thus far have not found the time to generate the needed building blocks.

|-
|[http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/index?id=13567410&siteID=123112 3ds Max]
|2 years 3D Rendering, intermediate usage only.
|I only use this for final presentation rendering, I don't use this to generate the 3d model.

|-
|PhotoShop
|Touching up rendered images & coloring of 2d presentations.
|

|-
|Corel Draw
|Similar as per use with PhotoShop, but only used if vector based presentation is required.
|This is a lot more difficult to use than PhotoShop, but when I need to have vector based graphics this is the best I've found. I do try and use OOo Draw instead, but find it still lacking in functionality.

|-
|OOo Draw
|Have used it to generate graphics for inclusion in documents as well as creating Data Flow / ER diagrams.
|It's a reasonable general graphics program, not something you'd use when doing serious DTP or Presentations.

|-
|Inkscape
|Creating logos & web page images
|Inkscape uses a much more comprehensive SVG subset than most viewers can display, so the user needs to convert certain elements to more simplistic forms. This happens a lot with formatted text. Unfortunately interoperability between Inkscape and OOo Draw is a lot less than perfect, even more so than between Inkscape and FireFox.

|-
|Scribus
|Used mainly when creating brochures, although Corel Draw is also sometimes used for this purpose.
|

|-
|Gimp
|More and more I find myself liking Gimp instead of PhotoShop, although I don't see myself as even an intermediate user of Gimp
|Some functionality in Gimp seems easier than in PhotoShop and visa-versa.

|}

==== Word processing ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; width:100%"
|-
!width="200px"|Program !! width="400px" class="unsortable" |Level of expertise !! class="unsortable" |Comments

|-
|M$ Word
|
|

|-
|Word Perfect
|
|

|-
|OOo Writer
|
|

|-
|[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ability_Plus Ability]
|
|The 1st Office Suite I've worked on. DOS based in the mid 80's to early 90's.

|}

==== Spreadsheets ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; width:100%"
|-
!width="200px"|Program !! width="400px" class="unsortable" |Level of expertise !! class="unsortable" |Comments

|-
|M$ Excel
|
|

|-
|Quattro Pro
|
|

|-
|OOo Calc
|
|

|-
|Lotus 123
|
|

|-
|Ability
|
|

|}

==== Database Front-ends ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; width:100%"
|-
!width="200px"|Program !! width="400px" class="unsortable" |Level of expertise !! class="unsortable" |Comments

|-
|M$ Access
|
|

|-
|Paradox
|
|

|-
|OOo Base
|
|

|}

==== Database Back-ends ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; width:100%"
|-
!width="200px"|Program !! width="400px" class="unsortable" |Level of expertise !! class="unsortable" |Comments

|-
|M$ SQL Server
|
|

|-
|Interbase
|
|

|-
|MySQL
|
|

|}

==== Programming IDE's and Languages ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; width:100%"
|-
!width="200px"|Program !! width="400px" class="unsortable" |Level of expertise !! class="unsortable" |Comments

|-
|[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CodeGear_Delphi Delphi]
|On-and-Off over 10 years
|I've used it while it was still under the Borland name. I prefer this to VB or MS's Visual Studio.

|-
|Lazarus
|
|Basically an Open Source clone of Delphi / Kylix

|-
|M$ Visual Studio C++
|
|

|-
|VBA
|Used mainly for extending M$ programs such as Access, Excel and Outlook. Although I have used previously for extending AutoCAD when linking data to Excel / Access.
|These days VBA seems to have disappeared (at least in AutoCAD), seems to be replaced with the new VSTA.

|-
|[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_Lisp AutoLisp]
|Advanced
|The original (and still used) extension language for AutoCAD

|-
|ObjectPAL
|
|The extension language built into Paradox

|-
|Java
|
|

|-
|JavaScript
|
|

|-
|Pascal
|
|

|-
|HTML
|Usually using NVU with CSS & JavaScript
|

|-
|PHP
|
|
|}
== My Wiki Pages ==
* [[Engineering_and_SI_Number_Format_in_Calc|Engineering and SI Number Format]] - Discussion about the best way to implement engineering notation and SI suffix notation into the number formats for Calc.

Renaissance:Impress:Ideation

2010-04-14T06:10:56Z

Irneb:

{{User Experience Community}}

= Things to think with =

This is the place to collect inspirational material for ongoing and future UX issues in the Renaissance Project. Please feel free to add screenshots of any application or device that fit one of the topics below and are delightful to use. However, this is not the place where decisions should be made but fruitful discussions of envisioning software and product designs should happen.

 Please ensure that your images appear at a resolution of 1024x768px.

== Object Handles ==

Object handles are those tiny grippies that you usually use to manipulate all kinds of objects within your documents. The handles are frequently located at the corners and the edges of the bounding box around some document entity such as shapes, images, tables, charts, text boxes etc.

 

=== OpenOffice.org Impress ===

The image illustrates the visual design of 1. Crop Image, 2.Rotate Shape, and 3. Resize or Move Shape in Impress.

[[Image:Object handles.png|none|640x480px|Object_hanldes.png]]

 

=== Inkscape ===

[[Image:Object handles inkscape.png|none|640x480px|Object_hanldes.png]]

 

=== Adobe Photoshop CS4 Demo Version ===

[[Image:Object handles PS5 demo.png|none|640x480px|Object_hanldes.png]]

 

=== AutoCAD 2008 ===

Default handle (called a grip) is stretching the object. Pressing Enter to cycle through Stretch, Move, Rotate.

[[Image:Object Handles - AutoCAD.gif]]

 

=== MS Word 2007 ===

[[Image:Object Handles - MS Word 2007.gif]]

 

=== Corel DRAW 12 ===

Notice, that the handles do '''not hide''' the object corners. So exact position with mouse is possible. In OOo the handles and the mouse pointer hide the object, especially when drawing an arc and adjusting the angles. In addition the snap area, where the mouse changes its mode, it larger than is OOo.

[[Image:CorelDrawHandleSelectionMode.png]]

[[Image:CorelDrawHandleRotationShearMode.png]]

[[Image:CorelDrawHandleDuringRotation.png]]

=== Add your favorite object handles screenshot here ===

Some Image Some Image Some Image

 

== Selection Methods ==

How does a user get informed what is selected to be edited. Also how does a user make such selection. Here are a few examples of existing programs.

=== ===

=== AutoCAD 2008 ===

This works slightly different to most other graphics packages in that it has a persistent selection method. Clicking numerous times would select numerous objects, no need to hold down the Ctrl or Shift keys as per other programs. The user needs to clear the selection by pressing the Esc key, or holding down the Shift to deselect one object at a time. The selection by area is also slightly modified as it works differently depending on which way the selection rectangle is dragged: 

*Dragging from left to right would select (as per most other programs) only those objects falling entirely within the selection rectangle.
*Dragging right-to-left would select all objects inside and crossing the edges of the selection rectangle.

There's also something called "Selection Preview" which highlights the object as the cursor hovers over it. This helps when overlapping objects are present, the user cycles through overlapping objects by pressing Shift-Space while hovering.

[[Image:Selections-AutoCAD.gif]] 

 

=== Add your favorite object handles selection methods here ===

Some Image Some Image Some Image

File:Selections-AutoCAD.gif

2010-04-14T05:52:35Z

Irneb: uploaded a new version of "File:Selections-AutoCAD.gif"

Renaissance:Impress:Ideation

2010-04-14T05:49:08Z

Reveal Codes - Alternative for OOo Writer

2010-02-19T05:20:38Z

Irneb: An alternative proposal to implement a Reveal Codes - like feature in OOo Writer. The Word Perfect RC cannot be implemented exactly on OOo, as the file structure does not allow for the same functionality.

= Reveal Codes alternative for OOoWriter =
Take the following as the text for a document:

= This is a heading =
This is a paragraph with some '''hard formatted bold text'''.

In WordPerfect's Reveal Codes feature it would look like this:

[[Image:]]

The problem with implementing this feature in OOo Writer is the difference in the method of saving formatting codes. WP uses a single file with nested code tags (open & close) similar to HTML. OOo uses a zipped combination of several XML files. One of these contain the styles (both explicit & temporary), another contains the text content with open & close tags referring to styles (explicit and / or temporary). Each hard coded format change is converted into a new temporary style, and the content's tags are updated as such. Also there is no possibility of having any nested or overlapping tags – a new temporary style is generated for each difference.

To show an analogue of the differences here would be the pseudo code for the example above:

''Ooo's StylesXML inside the ODT file''

Explicit Style settings

Temporary Style settings''Ooo's Content XML inside the ODT file''

<nowiki><Style=Heading1>This is a heading</Style><Style=Text body>This is a paragraph with some </Style><Style=Temp0001>hard formatted bold text</Style><Style=Text body>.</Style></nowiki>''Word Perfect's File''

Default style formatting settings (e.g. Font, Size, etc.)

Explicit Style settings

<nowiki>Start of contents: <Style=Heading1>This is a heading</Style><Style=Text body>This is a paragraph with some <Bold>hard formatted bold text</Bold>.</Style></nowiki>As you can see OOo only uses styles, no formatting is actually allowed. If the user changes a portion of text to have a hard formatted style (e.g. '''Bold''') a separate temporary style is created. This style is copied from the previously “current” style and the change is made in the style's settings. Then the portion of text is applied the new style.

This in turn means there are no formatting codes as per WP's files. And seeing as there are only style tags in Ooo's files, there's also no possibility of any piece of text being applied more than one style (or any less).

The basic idea behind Reveal Codes is to enable the user to see exactly where what changes, and to allow the user to modify this so the document is formatted correctly. Especially if the user's combining data from various documents, inconsistencies may appear. And having to reformat all of a large document could become a time-wasting exercise.

Thus, a reveal-codes-like feature could help to fix the inconsistencies instead of requiring the user to reformat all – just to fix the portions which cause problems. Therefore a similar idea to Reveal Codes could be implemented. Proposed is to do exactly the same as WP does by indicating graphically how the data is stored in the file, but since OOo stores it slightly differently the indication would become a bit altered. The code display should inform the user where each style / hard-coding style is applied. A mode-less dock-able, and size-able frame would be ideal – default position as WP at bottom. It should look something like this (note text only mock-up):

Heading1► This ▪ is ▪ a ▪ ▄ heading ◄ Text body► This ▪ is ▪ a ▪ paragraph ▪ with ▪ some ▪ ◄ T1► hard ▪ formatted ▪ bold ▪ text ◄ Text▪body► . ◄The shaded portions represent the tags, and should be implemented as buttons. The spaces to be shown by some other character in order for the user to see them clearly. Also any line returns should be indicated – much like the existing “View → Nonprinting Characters” feature, although some extra differentiation should be applied for various codes (e.g. Tab, Page Break, Line-Return, etc.). The red block indicates the current cursor position: in the above a press of Backspace would remove the space prior to the word heading, while a press of Del would remove the h from heading (as would be expected). Any automatically generated styles should be indicated differently so the user can see what has been hard formatted – suggested using a differently coloured button as per example above.

[[Image:]]Another thing WP does is to indicate some further data when the cursor is moved to just before a tag. As seen to the right , the button expands to indicate some basic settings for the paragraph style called Heading 1.

The standard cursor behaviour would still apply. If the Code Display is open (maybe also if it's current – i.e. the active control on the Writer form) and the cursor is just before (or after) a style tag the Del & Backspace keys should remove that style assignment and revert to the previous. E.g. say the user wanted to remove the bold hard-formatting, the cursor should be moved to just before the T1 button (notice it expands to indicate some formatting info).

Heading1► This ▪ is ▪ a ▪ heading ◄ Text body► This ▪ is ▪ a ▪ paragraph ▪ with ▪ some ▪ ▄ T1;Bold► hard ▪ formatted ▪ bold ▪ text ◄ Text▪body► . ◄If the user now presses the Del key, the T1 style applied would be removed and the previous Text body style should be applied. In this instance the next style is also Text body, so these 2 assignments should be merged. The Code Display should now look like this:

Heading1► This ▪ is ▪ a ▪ heading ◄ Text body► This ▪ is ▪ a ▪ paragraph ▪ with ▪ some ▪ ▄ hard ▪ formatted ▪ bold ▪ text . ◄Further the user should be able to drag any style open tag to a new position. The close tag of the previous style should move with it, and if the tag is dragged over any other those should be removed.

== Suggested indicators for non-printing characters: ==
¶ <nowiki>= Line-Return</nowiki>▪ = Space◊ = Tab / Indent§ = Page Break

== Further functionality of the Display Codes feature: ==
Apart from the above, a double click on any explicit style tag should open the Style Editing dialog. However, how would a double-click have to be implemented on a temporary style? Should it be compared to the existing explicit styles, searching for differences and then opening the relevant dialog (e.g. if a font setting open the font dialog, if a paragraph setting → the paragraph dialog).

Because of the way OOo saves its styles, it would probably not be necessary to implement inside the styles editor as WP does. In WP this is usually used to adjust the order of settings – Ooo's settings seem to have no order at all and work the same way whatever order the settings are placed.

To go beyond RC, a comparison between the adjacent styles should be indicated. This could be implemented as a right-click on or in between the style tag's open and close buttons. Preferably also a mode-less, size-able and dock-able frame, or a fly-out frame anchored to the Display Code. When open this should update as and when the cursor moves to a new position. To keep consistency we could split this into the style groups using a tabbed interface. Sample as below:

{| style="border-spacing:0;"
| colspan="3" style="border:0.002cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| Paragraph / Character / Frame / Page / List

|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.002cm solid #000000;border-left:0.002cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| Previous Style's Name
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.002cm solid #000000;border-left:0.002cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| Current Style's Name
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.002cm solid #000000;border-left:0.002cm solid #000000;border-right:0.002cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| Next Style's Name

|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.002cm solid #000000;border-left:0.002cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| Font: Times New Roman
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.002cm solid #000000;border-left:0.002cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| Font: Arial
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.002cm solid #000000;border-left:0.002cm solid #000000;border-right:0.002cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| Font: Helvetica

|-
| colspan="3" style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.002cm solid #000000;border-left:0.002cm solid #000000;border-right:0.002cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| Merge to PreviousExpandMerge to Next

|}
As can be seen, only the differences should be indicated by default. An Expand button to show all the settings, or possibly another collapsible tabbed interface based on the style editor (seeing as there's too many settings to display in one list).

Further a merge button to “join” the current style with the previous or next. Clicking the Merge Prev. should have the same effect as deleting the style tag in Display Codes.

User Experience/DocumentCheck

2009-12-15T18:42:59Z

Irneb:

{{User_Experience}} {{Documentation/Note | This page is intended to outline a new idea. Please '''rate''' it or add your own '''thoughts''' in [[#Rating_and_Comments|rating and comments]].}}

== Idea Summary ==

The idea is about a "Document Check" functionality which checks the document for typical issues with regard to security, compatibility, content, understandability, graphical design and accessibility. The document check result provides central information on issues which have been found, where they have been found and - if possible - proposals to correct the issues. Usually, the functionality may be called manually by the user, but it may be also executed automatically. 

== Rationale ==

Today's documents are created for various purposes and published in different channels. Even with the numerous functions available in OpenOffice.org or being available in extensions, it still requires some experience to make sure that each document can be shared without problems. The following - rather simple - workflow shows the steps required to create or to edit any kind of document. Here, we want to focus on the step "''Check''". 

[[Image:UX Idea DocumentCheck SimpleWorkflow.png|center]]In this step, prior the document is shared (e.g. printed, uploaded, converted to PDF), experienced users check the document for various issues. For example, a user may search for missing references indicated by the field text "''Error: Reference source not found''", look up non-embedded graphic files in the menu "''Edit - Links...''", and check whether there are hidden comments with "View - Comments". In any case, these steps require both experience and effort to look up the different places. What seems missing is a central place to check the documents for common issues prior the document is shared.

Goal: The user is able to simply check the document for common issues. Most of these issues can be resolved with the help of functionality available in OpenOffice.org.

Please note: 

*The Document Check will never be perfect, but it should avoid the most common problems for people sharing documents. That both applies to beginners (who don't have the experience yet) and experienced users (who require a more efficient approach). 
*Please note that many of the issues described below may be solved in advance with an adequate interaction design and some training. But even then, some issues may remain and both individual and business users may benefit from the Document Check
*In professional [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desktop_publishing DTP] software some of the proposed functionality is called "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-flight_%28printing%29 pre-flight]" to ensure high quality output. 

== Use Cases ==

=== Use Case 1: Sending Document via Mail ===

Sara creates a small presentation document because of the birth of her first child. She wants to say thank you to all the congratulators - and so she adds some pictures and a short video file recorded with her cell phone. Before sending the document via mail, she is asked to execute the Document Check which summarizes some of potential issues. She is told that some of the pictures are only linked and not embedded, so the receiver might not be able to see the graphics. A simple click on the proposed solution automatically embeds all the linked images. Finally, the Document Check also tells her, that the video file format is proprietary - this might cause problems for others, too. 

=== Use Case 2: Keep Corporate Identity ===

John works in a large company which really cares about the visual style of internal and external documents. Thus, the company provides in-depth information how templates, colors and fonts have to be used to ensure high quality corporate identity. But, John finds it difficult to keep all the information in mind, when working on documents. Especially, since his technical documentation or specification documents are based on various sources and content types. Thus, after finishing each document, he executes the Document Check which informs him about potential Corporate Identity issues and also provides some hints to resolve these issues. Usually, everything is just fine. 

=== Use Case 3: Printing the Bachelor Thesis ===

Michael invested a lot of work to write his bachelor thesis in biology - it is nearly finished. For the final review, he wants to give it to some friends. Since the file is rather large, he decides to share the file via an USB memory. Although he used the computer for years, mostly for surfing or mailing, he isn't sure if that will really work. The Document Check tells him that the document might look different, since he used a font which might not be available on other computers. Additionally, he notices that some graphics he used will only look good on computer screens, but may be blurry when printed out. He corrects these issues and copies the file.

=== Use Case 4: Documents for Everyone ===

Jane is a very active member in a non-profit organization. Recently, she agreed to take over the work on the internal magazin for the members and other interested people. After finishing the draft, she executes the Document Check which provides useful information on the style of the document. She is told that the document might look better when using less different font types and sizes. Additionally, the readability analysis proposes to use less complex sentence structures. Finally, the Document Check informs her about some color combinations which might make reading very difficult for people with limited eyesight (color blindness) - approx. 7% of men are affected. She didn't know about that, so she jumps to the page with a click and changes the document accordingly. 

== Detailed Description ==

=== Draft Mockups (Only to Communicate the Idea) ===

The following mockups are only meant to communicate the basic idea. It is '''not''' intended to show the final functionality. However, if you have any problems how to improve the interaction design, then please add [[#Comments|comments]] or add own mockups. Thanks! 

{| width="100%" border="0"
|-
| width="380" | [[Image:UX Idea DocumentCheck Example1.png]] 
|
Mockup showing a document without any problems identified.

|-
| [[Image:UX Idea DocumentCheck Example2.png]]
|
Mockup showing critical issues. At least from the company's point-of-view...

|-
| [[Image:UX Idea DocumentCheck Example3.png]]
| Mockup showing one severe issue and other proposals to improve the document.
|}

=== Proposed Items to be Checked ===

The following lists contains idea what items to be checked. The list may be incomplete and does not provide any prioritization or feasibility.

{| border="1" class="prettytable sortable"
|-
! scope="col" | Topic 
! scope="col" | Check 
! scope="col" | Rationale and Description 
! scope="col" | Example 
|-
| Accessibility 
| Color selection 
|
If people with full eyesight create documents, they might be unaware of the problems of people with limited eyesight. Thus, the document might be checked for such problems in advance. There might even be some information how many people might be affected by that problem. 

More information at: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_blindness Color Blindness (Wikipedia)]

| Red text on green background 
|-
| Accessibility 
| DAISY compatibility 
| DAISY is a Digital Accessible Information System. Existing documents can be converted to the DAISY format by the odf2daisy extension. But, odf2daisy relies on the given document structure which might be sub-optimal. So, an accessibility checker might help to improve the structure of the documents and finally the output for DAISY.
More information on DAISY at: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DAISY_Digital_Talking_Book DAISY Digital Talking Book (Wikipedia)] Idea presented on: [http://ux.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=discuss&msgNo=4462 Email on ux-discuss, Malte Timmerman] odf2daisy: [http://odt2daisy.sourceforge.net odf2daisy website]

|
|-
| Accessibility 
| Font selection 
| People who do rarely create presentations might be unaware of the fact that font size is an important factor when havin a large audience. Usually people do know about that after the presentation :-) 
| Impress: Very small text in the main area of slides 
|-
| Compatibility
| Document file format
|
OpenOffice.org is highly compatible to different office applications (document file formats). Nevertheless, there might be functionality which is not supported when using non-OpenOffice.org file formats. The user should be aware about that, and he should exactly know what might cause problems. 

| Existing warning prior saving to foreign document types 
|-
| Compatibility 
| Fonts 
| The user might make use of fonts which are not available on other computer systems. Especially since OpenOffice.org is available on different platforms, it would be safe to rely on the supplied fonts. 
| 
|-
| Compatibility 
| Media file linking 
|
Currently, there is no way to automatically decide whether a media file has to be linked or embedded in the document. The former may lead to information loss when the document is digitally shared, the latter one may slow down basic document operations (editing, saving, opening). That results in offering both options to the user, who may not know about the problems. Thus, the Document Check may provide information about "linked only" files and may propose to resolve the links automatically. 

| 
|-
| Compatibility 
| Media file types 
| The user might embed video files with CODECs which are not generally available, e.g. propriatery CODECs on certain computer platforms. He might want to know that prior sharing the documents. 
| 
|-
| Content 
| Duplicates 
| In the graphic applications objects are sometimes copied and are not moved. This increases the file size and may make further editing a bit difficult. The objects may be detected and removed. 
| Draw: Two absolutely identical objects are stacked
|-
| Content 
| File size 
|
Sometimes people add media files which are quite huge and - although there are ongoing performance improvements in OpenOffice.org - it makes working with OpenOffice.org quite slow. People might want to know how to reduce the file size without affecting the quality of the document. 

|
*Impress: Call presentation minimizer
*Automatically re-link embedded media files

|-
| Content 
| Media file quality 
| People sometimes add media files which aren't sufficient for the intended output of the document. This may cause very low quality when sharing or printing of the document. 
| Very low dpi in scaled background image 
|-
| Content 
| Missing document information 
| Companies may require document information when documents are stored in CMS (content management systems). The user may be informed that some information required by the company is still missing. 
| Missing author and keywords in document to be saved 
|-
| Content 
| Missing References 
|
If existing documents containing references are edited, some of the references might get lost. Unfortunately, the current approach is to just state that within the text. In a large document this might become a real problem if the user doesn't check it thoroughly. More information in the current specification: [http://specs.openoffice.org/writer/numbering/Direct_Cross_References_to_Headings_and_Numberings.odt Direct cross references for headings and numbered paragraphs]

| A document gets modified and printed by another author 
|-
| Content 
| Readability 
| The competition provides features like readability analysis, which might be added in the future. More information at: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Readability Readability (Wikipedia)] 
| 
|-
| Content
| Spellchecking
| Although spellchecking is used during document editing people might deactivate it during editing. It might be helpful if there is a fast check how many words are unknown in the document. A manual spellchecking might be proposed.
| 
|-
| Content 
| Wording 
| Similar to visual design, companies really care about wording of documents. Although wording may be checked with the spell checker, there might be use cases where some wording mustn't be used. 
| A recently edited document still contains the deprecated company name 
|-
| Security 
| Digital signatures 
|
People may be informed about invalid signatures in the document, or changes to a document which has originally been signed. 

| 
|-
| Security 
| External programs 
| Some users embed links to external programs which call applications or play special media files. When sharing, this might become a problem for others. 
| Impress: Calling an external video player 
|-
| Security 
| Hidden content 
|
Some documents which are shared still contain information which is hidden. Very often, users don't notice that and share the critical or very personal content. This applies to : (personal) information, change tracking, in-file version control, comments, hidden text, unused master slides, hidden parts of cropped images, ... 

|
*Writer: HIdden text, comments
*Calc: Hidden tables 
*Draw: Cropped images, objects besides the drawing area 

|-
| Security 
| Macros 
|
Sometimes people embed macros to documents which will later be shared. It would be helpful to sign the macros or to tell them, that some companies enforce to ignore macros which will lead to reduced functionality for the receiver of the document.

| 
|-
| Other 
| Print Grayscale 
| In many companies, color is used in documents although the printout is done on (cheaper) grayscale printers. The functionality checks whether the brightness contrast is suitable for the printout on those printers.
| 
|-
| Other 
| Printable area 
| Due to the technical design, some printers do have restrictions concerning the printable range. Some of the objects in the document may be simply cut off. 
|
*Writer: Logo in the header 
*Draw: Large graphics 

|-
| Other 
| Printing costs 
| If large areas have to be printed, this may cause very high printing costs - some companies might want to inform the users about that. 
| 
|-
| Visual design
| Font selection 
| Beginners tend to use many different fonts (font family, font size, font emphasis) in their documents. Many users judge these documents to look unprofessional, so the user might be interested to be informed about that.
Even experienced users may accidentally select a font which looks similar, but is different. He might want to be informed about that to keep a consistent visual design.

| Writer: A different font has been used in only one text frame 
|-
| Visual design
| Color selection
|
Beginners tend to use many different colors in a document. This might look unprofessional, so the user might be interested to be informed about that.

People in companies might use colors which are unacceptable with regard to the corporate identity styleguide.

| 
|-
| add yours
| add yours
| add yours
| add yours
|}

=== Functionality ===

The Document Check functionality ... 

*... should either be called manually or prior to other functionality (e.g. sending document via email) 
*... should, if possible, help to resolve the issues automatically 
*... should be able to directly refer to the problematic areas in the document 
*... should provide information which is easy to understand for the desired target group (e.g. explaining relationships in the most appropriate way, e.g. when explaining color blindness) 
*... should contain pre-defined sets for certain output media (e.g. checking before document gets printed) 
*... should provide the ability to define user-defined sets of what to be checked 
*... should be able to access external data sources that provide information on what to be checked (e.g. a corporate compliance server contains most current information) 
*... ''add your idea'' 

=== Further Thoughts ===

*The functionality is somehow related to the already available AutoCorrect 
*The current naming "Document Check" is preliminary and may change

== Rating and Comments ==

=== Rating ===

Please '''rate the idea''' itself and '''not the mockup''' visualization. {{#jskitrating:title=UX Idea: Document Check|notop|path=/UX_Idea/DocumentCheck|view=combo|noscript=false|starColor=blue}}

=== Comments ===

Please add your comments below or on the [[Talk:User Experience/DocumentCheck|talk page]].

== Examples in other software ==

Following are some programs with similar functionality. Although not directly identical, these should give some ideas of how this (or at least portions of the above) could be implemented. Please add any more if you have knowledge of them.

*'''AutoCAD Standards Checker''' - [http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/index?id=13779270&siteID=123112 AutoCAD] is a CADD/CAM product mainly used for vector based precision drafting in 2D/3D. [http://www.caddigest.com/subjects/AutoCAD/tutorials/select/parsai_cad_standards.htm This tutorial] shows the Standards Checker function available in AutoCAD.

[[Category:User_Experience]] [[Category:UX_Idea]]

User:Irneb

2009-09-16T15:02:29Z

Irneb: /* Programming IDE's and Languages */

{{User Experience Community}}__NOTOC__
== Personal ==
Hi, my name's Irné Barnard. I'm an interested user of OOo and other Open Source programs. I have a Computer Science degree, but work in the Architectural (Building Construction - ''not to be confused with Software Architecture'') industry. My experience is mainly in Graphic Design applications (in particular CAD). I consider myself highly advanced in most programs & like playing around with all to find new and useful functionality.

I'm mainly based on a Windows XP / Vista system, but am trying to move towards Linux. Unfortunately due to unavailability of CAD (in particular) on Linux, I'm still stuck with MS operating systems.

== Programs used ==
My main area of interest is graphics design in the construction industry, mainly using CAD (Computer Aided Design). However, I use nearly the whole set of OOo applications as well: Technical specifications are mainly written using Writer; Schedules and quantity take-offs are created using Calc / Base; Presentations are combined using Impress; Draw is not used that much since the function list is too simplistic for much of my workload. A lot of the time I also use Draw to generate images for inclusion in the above documents, especially when company logos need to be incorporated in the document. For including graphics directly from the CAD packages I've found the easiest way is to convert to WMF / EMF and then import that into OOo.

A lot of the time I find myself going back to M$ products since many in my company (and nearly everyone in the industry) is still fixed for the M$ programs, and the interoperability to OOo is less than required (especially with the new 2007 M$ files).

The following is a list of programs I've used in the past or am using at present.
==== Graphics Programs ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; width:100%"
|-
!width="200px"|Program !! width="400px" class="unsortable" |Level of expertise !! class="unsortable" |Comments

|-
|[http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=2704278 AutoCAD]
|20 years 2D & 3D drafting, including customizing using AutoLISP & VBA
|This is the program I spend almost all my time in, I know it nearly back-to-front.

|-
|[http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?id=3761844&siteID=123112 Revit]
|5 years 3D Drafting, Rendering & BIM. Intermediate to advanced '''usage''' only. No VBA / Lisp available ... new version comes with VSTA & .NET extensions.
|I'm trying to use this for technical documentation instead of AutoCAD, but thus far have not found the time to generate the needed building blocks.

|-
|[http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/index?id=13567410&siteID=123112 3ds Max]
|2 years 3D Rendering, intermediate usage only.
|I only use this for final presentation rendering, I don't use this to generate the 3d model.

|-
|PhotoShop
|Touching up rendered images & coloring of 2d presentations.
|

|-
|Corel Draw
|Similar as per use with PhotoShop, but only used if vector based presentation is required.
|This is a lot more difficult to use than PhotoShop, but when I need to have vector based graphics this is the best I've found. I do try and use OOo Draw instead, but find it still lacking in functionality.

|-
|OOo Draw
|Have used it to generate graphics for inclusion in documents as well as creating Data Flow / ER diagrams.
|It's a reasonable general graphics program, not something you'd use when doing serious DTP or Presentations.

|-
|Inkscape
|Creating logos & web page images
|Inkscape uses a much more comprehensive SVG subset than most viewers can display, so the user needs to convert certain elements to more simplistic forms. This happens a lot with formatted text. Unfortunately interoperability between Inkscape and OOo Draw is a lot less than perfect, even more so than between Inkscape and FireFox.

|-
|Scribus
|Used mainly when creating brochures, although Corel Draw is also sometimes used for this purpose.
|

|-
|Gimp
|More and more I find myself liking Gimp instead of PhotoShop, although I don't see myself as even an intermediate user of Gimp
|Some functionality in Gimp seems easier than in PhotoShop and visa-versa.

|}

==== Word processing ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; width:100%"
|-
!width="200px"|Program !! width="400px" class="unsortable" |Level of expertise !! class="unsortable" |Comments

|-
|M$ Word
|
|

|-
|Word Perfect
|
|

|-
|OOo Writer
|
|

|-
|[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ability_Plus Ability]
|
|The 1st Office Suite I've worked on. DOS based in the mid 80's to early 90's.

|}

==== Spreadsheets ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; width:100%"
|-
!width="200px"|Program !! width="400px" class="unsortable" |Level of expertise !! class="unsortable" |Comments

|-
|M$ Excel
|
|

|-
|Quattro Pro
|
|

|-
|OOo Calc
|
|

|-
|Lotus 123
|
|

|-
|Ability
|
|

|}

==== Database Front-ends ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; width:100%"
|-
!width="200px"|Program !! width="400px" class="unsortable" |Level of expertise !! class="unsortable" |Comments

|-
|M$ Access
|
|

|-
|Paradox
|
|

|-
|OOo Base
|
|

|}

==== Database Back-ends ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; width:100%"
|-
!width="200px"|Program !! width="400px" class="unsortable" |Level of expertise !! class="unsortable" |Comments

|-
|M$ SQL Server
|
|

|-
|Interbase
|
|

|-
|MySQL
|
|

|}

==== Programming IDE's and Languages ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; width:100%"
|-
!width="200px"|Program !! width="400px" class="unsortable" |Level of expertise !! class="unsortable" |Comments

|-
|[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CodeGear_Delphi Delphi]
|On-and-Off over 10 years
|I've used it while it was still under the Borland name. I prefer this to VB or MS's Visual Studio.

|-
|Lazarus
|
|Basically an Open Source clone of Delphi / Kylix

|-
|M$ Visual Studio C++
|
|

|-
|VBA
|Used mainly for extending M$ programs such as Access, Excel and Outlook. Although I have used previously for extending AutoCAD when linking data to Excel / Access.
|These days VBA seems to have disappeared (at least in AutoCAD), seems to be replaced with the new VSTA.

|-
|[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_Lisp AutoLisp]
|Advanced
|The original (and still used) extension language for AutoCAD

|-
|ObjectPAL
|
|The extension language built into Paradox

|-
|Java
|
|

|-
|JavaScript
|
|

|-
|Pascal
|
|

|-
|HTML
|Usually using NVU with CSS & JavaScript
|

|-
|PHP
|
|
|}

User:Irneb

2009-09-15T09:36:59Z

Irneb: /* Word processing */

{{User Experience Community}}__NOTOC__
== Personal ==
Hi, my name's Irné Barnard. I'm an interested user of OOo and other Open Source programs. I have a Computer Science degree, but work in the Architectural (Building Construction - ''not to be confused with Software Architecture'') industry. My experience is mainly in Graphic Design applications (in particular CAD). I consider myself highly advanced in most programs & like playing around with all to find new and useful functionality.

I'm mainly based on a Windows XP / Vista system, but am trying to move towards Linux. Unfortunately due to unavailability of CAD (in particular) on Linux, I'm still stuck with MS operating systems.

== Programs used ==
My main area of interest is graphics design in the construction industry, mainly using CAD (Computer Aided Design). However, I use nearly the whole set of OOo applications as well: Technical specifications are mainly written using Writer; Schedules and quantity take-offs are created using Calc / Base; Presentations are combined using Impress; Draw is not used that much since the function list is too simplistic for much of my workload. A lot of the time I also use Draw to generate images for inclusion in the above documents, especially when company logos need to be incorporated in the document. For including graphics directly from the CAD packages I've found the easiest way is to convert to WMF / EMF and then import that into OOo.

A lot of the time I find myself going back to M$ products since many in my company (and nearly everyone in the industry) is still fixed for the M$ programs, and the interoperability to OOo is less than required (especially with the new 2007 M$ files).

The following is a list of programs I've used in the past or am using at present.
==== Graphics Programs ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; width:100%"
|-
!width="200px"|Program !! width="400px" class="unsortable" |Level of expertise !! class="unsortable" |Comments

|-
|[http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=2704278 AutoCAD]
|20 years 2D & 3D drafting, including customizing using AutoLISP & VBA
|This is the program I spend almost all my time in, I know it nearly back-to-front.

|-
|[http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?id=3761844&siteID=123112 Revit]
|5 years 3D Drafting, Rendering & BIM. Intermediate to advanced '''usage''' only. No VBA / Lisp available ... new version comes with VSTA & .NET extensions.
|I'm trying to use this for technical documentation instead of AutoCAD, but thus far have not found the time to generate the needed building blocks.

|-
|[http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/index?id=13567410&siteID=123112 3ds Max]
|2 years 3D Rendering, intermediate usage only.
|I only use this for final presentation rendering, I don't use this to generate the 3d model.

|-
|PhotoShop
|Touching up rendered images & coloring of 2d presentations.
|

|-
|Corel Draw
|Similar as per use with PhotoShop, but only used if vector based presentation is required.
|This is a lot more difficult to use than PhotoShop, but when I need to have vector based graphics this is the best I've found. I do try and use OOo Draw instead, but find it still lacking in functionality.

|-
|OOo Draw
|Have used it to generate graphics for inclusion in documents as well as creating Data Flow / ER diagrams.
|It's a reasonable general graphics program, not something you'd use when doing serious DTP or Presentations.

|-
|Inkscape
|Creating logos & web page images
|Inkscape uses a much more comprehensive SVG subset than most viewers can display, so the user needs to convert certain elements to more simplistic forms. This happens a lot with formatted text. Unfortunately interoperability between Inkscape and OOo Draw is a lot less than perfect, even more so than between Inkscape and FireFox.

|-
|Scribus
|Used mainly when creating brochures, although Corel Draw is also sometimes used for this purpose.
|

|-
|Gimp
|More and more I find myself liking Gimp instead of PhotoShop, although I don't see myself as even an intermediate user of Gimp
|Some functionality in Gimp seems easier than in PhotoShop and visa-versa.

|}

==== Word processing ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; width:100%"
|-
!width="200px"|Program !! width="400px" class="unsortable" |Level of expertise !! class="unsortable" |Comments

|-
|M$ Word
|
|

|-
|Word Perfect
|
|

|-
|OOo Writer
|
|

|-
|[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ability_Plus Ability]
|
|The 1st Office Suite I've worked on. DOS based in the mid 80's to early 90's.

|}

==== Spreadsheets ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; width:100%"
|-
!width="200px"|Program !! width="400px" class="unsortable" |Level of expertise !! class="unsortable" |Comments

|-
|M$ Excel
|
|

|-
|Quattro Pro
|
|

|-
|OOo Calc
|
|

|-
|Lotus 123
|
|

|-
|Ability
|
|

|}

==== Database Front-ends ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; width:100%"
|-
!width="200px"|Program !! width="400px" class="unsortable" |Level of expertise !! class="unsortable" |Comments

|-
|M$ Access
|
|

|-
|Paradox
|
|

|-
|OOo Base
|
|

|}

==== Database Back-ends ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; width:100%"
|-
!width="200px"|Program !! width="400px" class="unsortable" |Level of expertise !! class="unsortable" |Comments

|-
|M$ SQL Server
|
|

|-
|Interbase
|
|

|-
|MySQL
|
|

|}

==== Programming IDE's and Languages ====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; width:100%"
|-
!width="200px"|Program !! width="400px" class="unsortable" |Level of expertise !! class="unsortable" |Comments

|-
|[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CodeGear_Delphi Delphi]
|On-and-Off over 10 years
|I've used it while it was still under the Borland name. I prefer this to VB or MS's Visual Studio.

|-
|Lazarus
|
|Basically an Open Source clone of Delphi / Kylix

|-
|M$ Visual Studio C++
|
|

|-
|VBA
|Used mainly for extending M$ programs such as Access, Excel and Outlook. Although I have used previously for extending AutoCAD when linking data to Excel / Access.
|These days VBA seems to have disappeared (at least in AutoCAD), seems to be replaced with the new VSTA.

|-
|[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_Lisp AutoLisp]
|Advanced
|The original (and still used) extension language for AutoCAD

|-
|ObjectPAL
|
|The extension language built into Paradox

|-
|Java
|
|

|-
|JavaScript
|
|

|-
|Pascal
|
|

|}