Documentation/BASIC Guide/Charts in Spreadsheets

BASIC Guide

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• The Language of Apache OpenOffice Basic

• Overview of a Basic Program
• Working With Variables
• Strings
• Numbers
• Boolean Values
• Date and Time
• Arrays
• Scope and Life Span of Variables
• Constants
• Operators
• Branching
• Loops
• Procedures and Functions
• Error Handling
• Other Instructions

• Runtime Library

• Conversion Functions
• Strings
• Date and Time
• Files and Directories
• Message and Input Boxes
• Other Functions

• Introduction to the API

• Universal Network Objects (UNO)
• Properties and Methods
• Modules, Services and Interfaces
• Tools for Working with UNO
• Overview of Central Interfaces

• Working with Documents

• The StarDesktop
• Styles and Templates

• Text Documents

• The Structure of Text Documents
• Editing Text Documents
• More than Just Text

• Spreadsheet Documents

• The Structure of Spreadsheets
  • Rows and Columns
  • Cells and Ranges
  • Formatting Spreadsheet Documents
• Editing Spreadsheet Documents

• Drawings and Presentations

• The Structure of Drawings
• Editing Drawing Objects
• Presentations

• Charts (Diagrams)

• Using Charts in Spreadsheets
• The Structure of Charts
• Chart Types

• Databases

• SQL: a Query Language
• Types of Database Access
• Data Sources
• Database Access

• Dialogs

• Working With Dialogs
• Properties
• Events
• Dialog Control Elements

• Forms

• Working With Forms
• Control Element Forms
• Database Forms

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Using Charts in Spreadsheets

Charts are not treated as independent documents in Apache OpenOffice, but as objects that are embedded in an existing document.

While charts in text and drawing documents remain isolated from the content of the document, when used in spreadsheet documents, a mechanism is provided which allows a link to be established between the document data and embedded charts. The following example explains the interaction between spreadsheet document and chart:

Dim Doc As Object
Dim Charts As Object
Dim Chart as Object
Dim Rect As New com.sun.star.awt.Rectangle
Dim RangeAddress(0) As New com.sun.star.table.CellRangeAddress

Doc = StarDesktop.CurrentComponent
Charts = Doc.Sheets(0).Charts

Rect.X = 8000
Rect.Y = 1000
Rect.Width = 10000
Rect.Height = 7000
RangeAddress(0).Sheet = 0
RangeAddress(0).StartColumn = 0 
RangeAddress(0).StartRow = 0
RangeAddress(0).EndColumn = 2
RangeAddress(0).EndRow = 12

Charts.addNewByName("MyChart", Rect, RangeAddress(), True, True)

Although the code used in the example may appear to be complex, the central processes are limited to three lines: the first central line creates the Doc document variable, which references the current spreadsheet document (Doc line = StarDesktop.CurrentComponent). The code used in the example then creates a list containing all charts of the first spreadsheet (Charts line = Doc.Sheets(0).Charts). Finally, a new chart is added to the last line of this list using the addNewByName method. This new chart is then visible to the user.

The last line initializes the Rect and RangeAddress auxiliary structures, which the addNewByName method also provides as a parameter. Rect determines the position of the chart within the spreadsheet. RangeAddress determines the range whose data is to be linked to the chart.

The previous example creates a bar chart. If a different type of graphic is needed, then the bar chart must be explicitly replaced:

Chart = Charts.getByName("MyChart").embeddedObject
Chart.Diagram = Chart.createInstance("com.sun.star.chart.LineDiagram")

The first lines defines the corresponding chart object. The second line replaces the current chart with a new one — in this example, a line chart.

Content on this page is licensed under the Public Documentation License (PDL).