Linking to registered data sources

OpenOffice.org 3 Calc Guide

Chapter 10 Linking Calc Data

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• Using multiple sheets
• Referencing other sheets
• Referencing other documents
• Hyperlinks and URLs
• Linking to external data
• Linking to registered data sources
• Embedding spreadsheets

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You can access a variety of databases and other data sources and link them into Calc documents. First you need to register the data source with OpenOffice.org. (To register means to tell OOo what type of data source it is and where the file is located.) The way to do this depends on whether or not the data source is a database in *.odb format.

To register a data source that is in *.odb format:

1. Choose Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org Base > Databases.
2. Click the New button (below the list of registered databases) to open the Create Database Link dialog. (image)
3. Enter the location of the database file, or click Browse to open a file browser and select the database file.
4. Type a name to use as the registered name for the database and click OK. The database is added to the list of registered databases. The OK button is enabled only when both fields are filled in. To register a data source that is not in *.odb format:
   1. Choose File > New > Database to open the Database Wizard.
   2. Select Connect to an existing database. The choices for database type depend on your operating system. For example, Microsoft Access and other Microsoft products are not among the choices if you are using Linux. In our example, we chose dBASE. (image)
   3. Click Next. Type the path to the database file or click Browse and use the Open dialog to navigate to and select the database file before clicking Open.
   4. Click Next. Select Yes, register the database for me, but clear the checkbox marked Open the database for editing.
   5. Click Finish. Name and save the database in the location of your choice. Note: changes made to the *.odb do not affect the original dBASE file.

   Once a data source has been registered, it can be used by any OOo component (for example Calc).

   Viewing data sources

   Open a document in Calc. To view the data sources available, press F4 or select View > Data Sources from the menu bar. The Data Source View pane opens above the spreadsheet. A list of registered databases is in the Data Explorer area on the left. (The built-in Bibliography database is included in the list.) To view each database, click on the + to the left of the name of the database. (This has been done for the Automobile database in Figure 24.) Click on the + next to Tables to view the individual tables.

   (image) Note: incomplete page. To be completed later.