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(Customizing the Enter key)
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=== Using Home, End, Page Up and Page Down ===
 
=== Using Home, End, Page Up and Page Down ===
''Home'' moves the focus to the start of a row.
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* ''Home'' moves the focus to the start of a row.
''End'' moves the focus to the column furthest to the right that contains data.
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* ''End'' moves the focus to the column furthest to the right that contains data.
''Page Down'' moves the display down one complete screen and ''Page Up'' moves the display up one complete screen.
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* ''Page Down'' moves the display down one complete screen and ''Page Up'' moves the display up one complete screen.
Combinations of ''Control'' and ''Alt'' with ''Home'', ''End'', ''Page Down'', ''Page Up'', and the cursor keys move the focus of the current cell in other ways.  
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* Combinations of ''Control'' and ''Alt'' with ''Home'', ''End'', ''Page Down'', ''Page Up'', and the cursor keys move the focus of the current cell in other ways.  
  
{{Documentation/Tip| Holding down ''Alt+Cursor key ''resizes a cell.}}
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{{Documentation/Tip| Holding down ''Alt+Cursor key'' resizes a cell.}}
  
 
== Moving from sheet to sheet ==
 
== Moving from sheet to sheet ==

Revision as of 07:39, 10 October 2008


This is Chapter 5 of Getting Started with OpenOffice.org 3.x, produced by the OOoAuthors group.

Contents

What is Calc?

Calc is the spreadsheet component of OpenOffice.org (OOo). You can enter data, usually numerical data, in a spreadsheet and then manipulate this data to produce certain results.

Alternatively you can enter data and then use Calc in a ‘What If...’ manner by changing some of the data and observing the results without having to retype the entire spreadsheet or sheet.

Spreadsheets, sheets and cells

Calc works with elements called spreadsheets. Spreadsheets consist of a number of individual sheets, each containing a block of cells arranged in rows and columns.

These cells hold the individual elements—text, numbers, formulas etc.—which make up the data to be displayed and manipulated.

Each spreadsheet can have many sheets and each sheet can have many individual cells. In version 3.0 of OOo, each sheet can have a maximum of 65,536 rows and a maximum of 1024 columns.

Parts of the main Calc window

When Calc is started, the main window looks similar to the figure below.

Parts of the Calc window

Title bar and Menu bar

The Title bar, at the top, shows the name of the current spreadsheet. If the spreadsheet is new, then its name is Untitled X, with X being a number. When you save a new spreadsheet for the first time, you will be prompted to enter a name.

Under the Title bar is the Menu bar. When you choose one of the menus, a submenu appears with other options. The Menu bar can be modified, as discussed in Chapter 14 (Customizing OpenOffice.org).

Toolbars

Under the Menu bar by default are three toolbars: the Standard toolbar, the Formatting toolbar, and the Formula bar.

The icons on these toolbars provide a wide range of common commands and functions. The toolbars can be modified, as discussed in Chapter 14 (Customizing OpenOffice.org).

Placing the mouse pointer over any of the icons displays a small box, called a tooltip. It gives a brief explanation of the icon’s function. For a more detailed explanation, select Help > What's This? and hover the mouse pointer over the icon. Tips and extended tips can now be turned on or off from Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org > General.

In the Formatting toolbar, the two rectangular areas on the left are the Font Name and Font Size menus. If there is something in these boxes, they show the current setting for the selected area.

Font name and font size

Click the little button with an inverted triangle to the right of the box to open a menu. From the Font Name and Font Size menus, you can change the font and its size in selected cells.

Formula bar

On the left of the Formula bar is a small text box, called the Name box, with a letter and number combination in it, such as D7. This is the column letter and row number, called the cell reference, of the current cell.

Formula Bar

To the right of the Name box are the the Function Wizard, Sum, and Function buttons.

Clicking the Function Wizard button opens a dialog from which you can search through a list of available functions. This can be very useful, because it also shows how the functions are formatted.

The Sum button inserts a formula into the current cell that totals the numbers in the cells above, or to the left if there are no numbers above, the current cell.

The Function button inserts an equals sign into the selected cell and the Input Line, thereby setting the cell ready to accept a formula.

When you enter new data into a cell, the Sum and Equals buttons change to Cancel and Accept buttons CalcAccRej.png.

The contents of the current cell (data, formula, or function) are displayed in the Input Line, the remainder of the Formula bar. You can edit the cell contents of the current cell here, or you can do that in the current cell. To edit inside the Input Line area, click the appropriate part of the Input Line area, then type your changes. To edit within the current cell, just double-click the cell.

Individual cells

The main section of the screen displays the individual cells in the form of a grid, with each cell being at the intersection of a particular column and row.

At the top of the columns and at the left-hand end of the rows are a series of gray boxes containing letters and numbers. These are the column and row headers. The columns start at A and go on to the right and the rows start at 1 and go on down.

These column and row headers form the cell references that appear in the Sheet Area box on the Formula Bar. These headers can also be turned off by selecting View > Column & Row Headers.

Sheet tabs

At the bottom of the grid of cells are the sheet tabs. These tabs enable access to each individual sheet, with the visible, or active, sheet having a white tab.

Clicking on another sheet tab displays that sheet and its tab turns white. You can also select multiple sheet tabs at once by holding down the Control key while you click the names.

Sheet tabs

Status bar

At the very bottom of the Calc window you will find the status bar where you can quickly obtain some information on the current spreadsheet.

Status bar information

From left to right the status bar displays:

  • The current sheet and the total number of sheets in the spreadsheet.
  • The page style in use for the current sheet. Double-click to open the dialog and modify the page style.
  • The zoom level. Double-click to modify the zoom level.
  • Selection mode. Click to toggle between default mode (STD), extended mode (EXT) and incremental mode (ADD).
  • Modified flag. When the document has been modified, a star is displayed in this area of the status bar.
  • Digital signature flag. If you have added a digital signature to the spreadsheet, a small padlock icon is displayed in this area. Double-click to digitally sign the spreadsheet.
  • Selected cells functions. By default, this area shows the sum of the values contained in the selected cells. You can, however, change the function used by right-clicking on the area. The available functions are:
    • Average (averages the values of the selection)
    • CountA (counts the cells in the selection which are not empty)
    • Count (counts the cells in the selection with a numeric value)
    • Maximum (displays the maximum value in the selection)
    • Minimum (displays the minimum value in the selection)
    • Sum (the sum of the values in the selection)
    • None

Starting new spreadsheets

A new spreadsheet can be opened from any component of OOo, for example from Writer or Draw.

From the menu bar

Click File and then select New > Spreadsheet.

From the toolbar

Use the New Document New-calc-icon.jpg button on the Standard toolbar. (This button is always a page of text from the current component with a black arrow to the right.) Click the drop-down arrow for a choice of what type of document to open (text document, spreadsheet, and so on). Click the button itself to create a new document of the type that is currently open (if a spreadsheet is open, a new spreadsheet document will be created).

From the keyboard

If you already have a spreadsheet open, you can press Control+N to open a new spreadsheet.

From a template

Calc documents can also be created from templates, if you have any spreadsheet templates available. Follow the above procedures, but instead of selecting Spreadsheet from the File menu, select Templates and Documents. On the Templates and Documents window, navigate to the appropriate folder and double-click on the required template. A new spreadsheet, based on the selected template, opens.

Opening existing spreadsheets

An existing spreadsheet can also be opened from any component of OOo.

From the menu bar

Click File and then select Open.

From the toolbar

Click the Open button Open-icon.jpg on the Standard toolbar.

From the keyboard

Use the key combination Control+O.

Each of these options displays the Open dialog, where you can locate the spreadsheet that you want to open.

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Saving spreadsheets

Spreadsheets can be saved in three ways.

From the menu bar

Click File and then select Save.

From the toolbar

Click on the Save button Save-icon.jpg on the Function bar. If the file has been saved and no subsequent changes have been made, this button is grayed-out and unselectable.

From the keyboard

Use the key combination Control+S.

If the spreadsheet has not been saved previously, then each of these actions will open the Save As dialog. Here you can specify the spreadsheet name and the location in which to save it.

Template:Documentation/Note

Navigating within spreadsheets

Going to a particular cell

Using the mouse

Place the mouse pointer over the cell and click.

Using a cell reference

Click on the little inverted black triangle just to the right of the Name box. The existing cell reference will be highlighted. Type the cell reference of the cell you want to go to and press Enter. Or just click into the Name box, backspace over the existing cell reference and type in the cell reference you want.

Using the Navigator

Click on the Navigator button Nav-icon.jpg in the Standard toolbar (or press F5) to display the Navigator. Type the cell reference into the top two fields, labeled Column and Row, and press Enter. In the figure below, the Navigator would select cell G28.

Calc Navigator

Moving from cell to cell

In the spreadsheet, one cell, or a group of cells, normally has a darker black border. This black border indicates where the focus is.

(Left) One selected cell and (right) a group of selected cells

Using the mouse

To move the focus using the mouse, simply move the mouse pointer to the cell where the focus should be and click the left mouse button. This changes the focus to the new cell. This method is most useful when the two cells are a large distance apart.

Using the Tab and Enter keys

  • Pressing Enter or Shift+Enter moves the focus down or up, respectively.
  • Pressing Tab or Shift+Tab moves the focus right or left, respectively.

Customizing the Enter key

You can customize the direction in which the Enter key moves the focus, by selecting Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org Calc > General.

Customizing the effect of the Enter key

The four choices for the direction of the Enter key are shown on the right side of Figure 7. Depending on the file being used or on the type of data being entered, different directions can be useful.

The Enter key can also be used to switch into and out of editing mode. Use the options under Input settings to change the Enter key settings.

Using the arrow keys

Pressing the arrow keys on the keyboard moves the focus in the direction of the arrows.

Using Home, End, Page Up and Page Down

  • Home moves the focus to the start of a row.
  • End moves the focus to the column furthest to the right that contains data.
  • Page Down moves the display down one complete screen and Page Up moves the display up one complete screen.
  • Combinations of Control and Alt with Home, End, Page Down, Page Up, and the cursor keys move the focus of the current cell in other ways.

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Moving from sheet to sheet

Each sheet in a spreadsheet is independent of the others though they can be linked with references from one sheet to another. There are three ways to navigate between different sheets in a spreadsheet.

Using the keyboard

Pressing Control+PgDn moves one sheet to the right and pressing Control+PgUp moves one sheet to the left.

Using the mouse

Clicking one of the Sheet Tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheet selects that sheet.

If you have a lot of sheets, then some of the sheet tabs may be hidden behind the horizontal scroll bar at the bottom of the screen. If this is the case, then the four buttons at the left of the sheet tabs can move the tabs into view. The figure below shows how to do this.

Sheet tab arrows

Notice that the sheets here are not numbered in order. Sheet numbering is arbitrary—you can name a sheet as you wish.

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Selecting items in a sheet or spreadsheet

Selecting cells

Cells can be selected in a variety of combinations and quantities.

Single cell

Left-click in the cell. The result will look like the left side of Figure 6. You can verify your selection by looking in the Name box.

Range of contiguous cells

A range of cells can be selected using the keyboard or the mouse.

To select a range of cells by dragging the mouse:

  1. Click in a cell.
  2. Press and hold down the left mouse button.
  3. Move the mouse around the screen.
  4. Once the desired block of cells is highlighted, release the left mouse button.

To select a range of cells without dragging the mouse:

  1. Click in the cell which is to be one corner of the range of cells.
  2. Move the mouse to the opposite corner of the range of cells.
  3. Hold down the Shift key and click.

To select a range of cells without using the mouse:

  1. Select the cell that will be one of the corners in the range of cells.
  2. While holding down the Shift key, use the cursor arrows to select the rest of the range.

The result of any of these methods looks like the right side of Figure 6.

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Range of non-contiguous cells

  1. Select the cell or range of cells using one of the methods above.
  2. Move the mouse pointer to the start of the next range or single cell.
  3. Hold down the Control key and click or click-and-drag to select a range.
  4. Repeat as necessary.

Selecting columns and rows

Entire columns and rows can be selected very quickly in OOo.

Single column or row

To select a single column, click on the column identifier letter (see Figure 1).

To select a single row, click on the row identifier number.

Multiple columns or rows

To select multiple columns or rows that are contiguous:

  1. Click on the first column or row in the group.
  2. Hold down the Shift key.
  3. Click the last column or row in the group.

To select multiple columns or rows that are not contiguous:

  1. Click on the first column or row in the group.
  2. Hold down the Control key.
  3. Click on all of the subsequent columns or rows while holding down the Control key.

Entire sheet

To select the entire sheet, click on the small box between the A column header and the 1 row header.

Select All box

You can also use the keyboard to select the entire sheet by pressing Control+A.

Selecting sheets

You can select either one or multiple sheets. It can be advantageous to select multiple sheets at times when you want to make changes to many sheets at once.

Single sheet

Click on the sheet tab for the sheet you want to select. The active sheet becomes white (see Figure 4).

Multiple contiguous sheets

To select multiple contiguous sheets:

  1. Click on the sheet tab for the first sheet.
  2. Move the mouse pointer over the last sheet tab.
  3. Hold down the Shift key and click on the sheet tab.

All the tabs between these two sheets will turn white. Any actions that you perform will now affect all highlighted sheets.

Multiple non contiguous sheets

To select multiple non contiguous sheets:

  1. Click on the sheet tab for the first sheet.
  2. Move the mouse pointer over the second sheet tab.
  3. Hold down the Control key and click on the sheet tab.
  4. Repeat as necessary.

The selected tabs will turn white. Any actions that you perform will now affect all highlighted sheets.

All sheets

Right-click over any one of the sheet tabs and select Select All Sheets from the popup menu.

Working with columns and rows

Inserting columns and rows

Columns and rows can be inserted in several different way and quantities.

Single column or row

A single column or row can be added using the Insert menu:

  1. Select the column or rows where you want the new column or row inserted.
  2. Select either Insert > Columns or Insert > Rows.

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A single column or row can also be added using the mouse:

  1. Select the column or rows where you want the new column or row inserted.
  2. Right-click the header.
  3. Select Insert Rows or Insert Columns.

Multiple columns or rows

Multiple columns or rows can be inserted at once rather than inserting them one at a time.

  1. Highlight the required number of columns or rows by holding down the left mouse button on the first one and then dragging across the required number of identifiers.
  2. Proceed as for inserting a single column or row above.

Deleting columns and rows

Columns and rows can be deleted individually or in groups.

Single column or row

A single column or row can only be deleted by using the mouse:

  1. Select the column or row to be deleted.
  2. Right-click on the column or row header.
  3. Select Delete Columns or Delete Rows from the pop-up menu.

Multiple columns or rows

Multiple columns or rows can be deleted at once rather than deleting them one at a time.

  1. Highlight the required number of columns or rows by holding down the left mouse button on the first one and then dragging across the required number of identifiers.
  2. Proceed as for deleting a single column or row above.

Working with sheets

Like any other Calc element, sheets can be inserted, deleted and renamed.

Inserting new sheets

There are many ways to insert a new sheet. The first step for all of the methods is to select the sheets that the new sheet will be inserted next to. Then any of the following options can be used.

  • Click on the Insert menu and select Sheet, or
  • Right-click on its tab and select Insert Sheet, or
  • Click into an empty space at the end of the line of sheet tabs.
Creating a new sheet

Each method will open the Insert Sheet dialog. Here you can select whether the new sheet is to go before or after the selected sheet and how many sheets you want to insert. If you are inserting only one sheet, there is the opportunity to give the sheet a name.

Insert Sheet dialog

Deleting sheets

Sheets can be deleted individually or in groups.

Single sheet

Right-click on the tab of the sheet you want to delete and select Delete Sheet from the pop‑up menu, or click Edit > Sheet > Delete.

Multiple sheets

To delete multiple sheets, select them as described earlier, then either right-click over one of the tabs and select Delete Sheet from the popup menu, or click Edit > Sheet > Delete from the menu bar.

Renaming sheets

The default name for the a new sheet is “SheetX”, where X is a number. While this works for a small spreadsheet with only a few sheets, it becomes awkward when there are many sheets.

To give a sheet a more meaningful name, you can:

  • Enter the name in the name box when you create the sheet, or
  • Right-click on a sheet tab and select Rename Sheet from the popup menu and replace the existing name with a better one.

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Viewing Calc

Using zoom

Use the zoom function to change the view to show more or fewer cells in the window. For more about zoom, see Chapter 1 (Introducing OOo).

Freezing rows and columns

Freezing locks a number of rows at the top of a spreadsheet or a number of columns on the left of a spreadsheet or both. Then when scrolling around within the sheet, any frozen columns and rows remain in view.

Figure 12 shows some frozen rows and columns. The heavier horizontal line between rows 3 and 14 and the heavier vertical line between columns C and H denote the frozen areas.. Rows 4 through 13 and columns D through G have been scrolled off the page. Because the first three rows and columns are frozen into place, they remained.

File:.png
Figure 12. Frozen rows and columns

You can set the freeze point at one row, one column, or both a row and a column as in Figure 12.

Freezing single rows or columns

  1. Click on the header for the row below where you want the freeze or for the column to the right of where you want the freeze.
  2. Select Window > Freeze.

A dark line appears, indicating where the freeze is put.

Freezing a row and a column

  1. Click into the cell that is immediately below the row you want frozen and immediately to the right of the column you want frozen.
  2. Select Window > Freeze.

Two lines appear on the screen, a horizontal line above this cell and a vertical line to the left of this cell. Now as you scroll around the screen, everything above and to the left of these lines will remain in view.

Unfreezing

To unfreeze rows or columns, select Window > Freeze. The check mark by Freeze will vanish.

Splitting the window

Another way to change the view is by splitting the window—also known as splitting the screen. The screen can be split either horizontally or vertically or both. This allows you to have up to four portions of the spreadsheet in view at any one time.

Why would you want to do this? Imagine you have a large spreadsheet and one of the cells has a number in it which is used by three formulas in other cells. Using the split screen technique, you can position the cell containing the number in one section and each of the cells with formulas in the other sections. Then you can change the number in the cell and watch how it affects each of the formulas.

Split screen example

Splitting the screen horizontally

To split the screen horizontally:

  1. Move the mouse pointer into the vertical scroll bar, on the right-hand side of the screen, and place it over the small button at the top with the black triangle.
  2. Split screen bar on vertical scroll bar
  3. Immediately above this button you will see a thick black line (see above). Move the mouse pointer over this line and it turns into a line with two arrows (see below).
  4. File:.png
    Split screen bar on vertical scroll bar with cursor
  5. Hold down the left mouse button and a gray line appears, running across the page. Drag the mouse downwards and this line follows.
  6. Release the mouse button and the screen splits into two views, each with its own vertical scroll bar.

Notice that the ‘Beta’ and the ‘A0’ values are in the upper part of the window and other calculations are in the lower part. You may scroll the upper and lower parts independently. Thus you can make changes to the Beta and A0 values and watch their affects on the calculations in the lower half of the window.

You can also split the window vertically as described below—with the same results, being able to scroll both parts of the window independently. With both horizontal and vertical splits, you have four independent windows to scroll.

Splitting the screen vertically

To split the screen vertically:

  1. Move the mouse pointer into the horizontal scroll bar at the bottom of the screen and place it over the small button on the right with the black triangle.
  2. Split bar on horizontal scroll bar
  3. Immediately to the right of this button is a thick black line. Move the mouse pointer over this line and it turns into a line with two arrows.
  4. Hold down the left mouse button and a gray line appears, running up the page. Drag the mouse to the left and this line follows.
  5. Release the mouse button and the screen is split into two views, each with its own horizontal scroll bar.

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Removing split views

To remove a split view:

  • Double-click on each split line, or
  • Click on and drag the split lines back to their places at the ends of the scroll bars, or
  • Select Window > Split. This will remove all split lines at the same time.

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Entering data using the keyboard

Most data entry in Calc can be accomplished using the keyboard.

Entering numbers

Click in the cell and type in the number using the number keys on either the main keyboard or the numeric keypad.

To enter a negative number, either type a minus (–) sign in front of it or enclose it in parentheses (brackets), like this: (1234).

By default, numbers are right-aligned and negative numbers have a leading minus symbol.

Entering text

Click in the cell and type the text. Text is left-aligned by default.

Entering numbers as text

If a number is entered in the format 01481, Calc will drop the leading 0. (Exception: see Tip below.) To preserve the leading zero, for example for telephone area codes, type an apostrophe before the number, like this: '01481.

The data is now regarded as text by Calc. Formulas and functions will treat the entry like any other text entry, which typically results in it being a zero in a formula, and being ignored in a function.

Template:Documentation/Tip

Template:Documentation/Note

Entering dates and times

Select the cell and type the date or time. You can separate the date elements with a slant (/) or a hyphen (–) or use text such as 10 Oct 03. Calc recognizes a variety of date formats. You can separate time elements with colons such as 10:43:45.

Speeding up data entry

Entering data into a spreadsheet can be very labor-intensive, but Calc provides several tools for removing some of the drudgery from input.

The most basic ability is to drop and drag the contents of one cell to another with a mouse. However, Calc also includes several other tools for automating input, especially of repetitive material. They include the Fill tool, selection lists, and the ability to input information into multiple sheets of the same document.

Using the Fill tool on cells

At its simplest, the Fill tool is a way to duplicate existing content. Start by selecting the cell to copy, then drag the mouse in any direction (or hold down the Shift key and click in the last cell you want to fill), and then choose Edit > Fill and the direction in which you want to copy: Up, Down, Left or Right.

Documentation caution.png Choices that are not available are grayed out, but you can still choose the opposite direction from what you intend, which could cause you to overwrite cells accidentally unless you are careful.

Template:Documentation/Tip

File:.png
Using the Fill tool

Using a fill series

A more complex use of the Fill tool is to use a fill series. The default lists are for the full and abbreviated days of the week and the months of the year, but you can create your own lists as well.

To add a fill series to a spreadsheet, select the cells to fill, choose Edit > Fill > Series. In the Fill Series dialog, select AutoFill as the Series type, and enter as the Start value an item from any defined series. The selected cells then fill in the other items on the list sequentially, repeating from the top of the list when they reach the end of the list.

File:.png
Specifying the start of a fill series
File:.png
Result of fill series selection shown above

You can also use Edit > Fill > Series to create a one-time fill series for numbers by entering the start and end values and the increment. For example, if you entered start and end values of 1 and 7 with an increment of 2, you would get the sequence of 1, 3, 5, 7.

In all these cases, the Fill tool creates only a momentary connection between the cells. Once they are filled, the cells have no further connection with one another.

Defining a fill series

To define a fill series, go to Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org Calc > Sort Lists. This dialog shows the previously-defined series in the Lists box on the left, and the contents of the highlighted list in the Entries box.

File:.png
Predefined fill series

Click New. The Entries box is cleared. Type the series for the new list in the Entries box (one entry per line), and then click Add.

File:.png
Defining a new fill series

Using selection lists

[[Image:]]Selection lists are available only for text, and are limited to using only text that has already been entered in the same column.

To use a selection list, select a blank cell and press Ctrl+D. A drop-down list appears of any cell in the same column that either has at least one text character or whose format is defined as Text. Click on the entry you require.

Sharing content between sheets

You might want to enter the same information in the same cell on multiple sheets, for example to set up standard listings for a group of individuals or organizations. Instead of entering the list on each sheet individually, you can enter it in all the sheets at once. To do this, select all the sheets, then enter the information in the current one.

Documentation caution.png This technique overwrites any information that is already in the cells on the other sheets—without any warning. For this reason, when you are finished, be sure to deselect all the tabs, so that each sheet can be edited without affecting any others.

Editing data

Editing data is done is in much the same way as it is entered. The first step is selecting the cell containing the data to be edited.

Removing data from a cell

Data can be removed (deleted) from a cell in several ways.

Removing data only

The data alone can be removed from a cell without removing any of the formatting of the cell. Click in the cell to select it, and then press the Backspace key.

Removing data and formatting

The data and the formatting can be removed from a cell at the same time. Press the Delete key (or right-click and choose Delete Contents, or use Edit > Delete Contents) to open the Delete Contents dialog. From this dialog, the different aspects of the cell can be deleted. To delete everything in a cell (contents and format), check Delete all.

Replacing all the data in a cell

To remove data and insert new data, simply type over the old data. The new data will retain the original formatting.

File:.png
Delete Contents dialog

Changing part of the data in a cell

Sometimes it is necessary to change the contents of cell without removing all of the contents, for example if the phrase “See Dick run” is in a cell and it needs to be changed to “See Dick run fast.” It is often useful to do this without deleting the old cell contents first.

The process is the similar to the one described above, but you need to place the cursor inside the cell. You can do this in two ways.

Using the keyboard

After selecting the appropriate cell, press the F2 key and the cursor is placed at the end of the cell. Then use the keyboard arrow keys to move the cursor through the text in the cell.

Using the mouse

Using the mouse, either double-click on the appropriate cell (to select it and place the cursor in it for editing), or single-click to select the cell and then move the mouse pointer up to the input line and click into it to place the cursor for editing.

Formatting data

The data in Calc can be formatting in several ways. It can either be edited as part of a cell style so that it is automatically applied, or it can be applied manually to the cell. Some manual formatting can be applied using toolbar icons. For more control and extra options, select the appropriate cell or cells, right-click on it, and select Format Cells. All of the format options are discussed below.

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Formatting multiple lines of text

Multiple lines of text can be entered into a single cell using automatic wrapping or manual line breaks. Each method is useful for different situations.

Using automatic wrapping

To set text to wrap at the end of the cell, right-click on the cell and select Format Cells' (or choose Format > Cells from the menu bar, or press Ctrl+1). On the Alignment tab, under Properties, select Wrap text automatically.

File:.png
Format Cells > Alignment dialog
File:.png
Automatic text wrap

Using manual line breaks

To insert a manual line break while typing in a cell, press Ctrl+Enter. This method does not work with the cursor in the input line. When editing text, first double-click the cell, then single-click at the position where you want the line break.

When a manual line break is entered, the cell width does not change. Figure 20 shows the results of using two manual line breaks after the first line of text.

File:.png
Figure 25: Cell with manual line breaks

Shrinking text to fit the cell

The font size of the data in a cell can automatically adjust to fit in a cell. To do this, select the Shrink to fit cell option in the Format Cells dialog. Figure 10 shows the results.

File:.png
Shrinking font size to fit cells

Formatting numbers

Several number formats can be applied to cells by using icons on the Formatting toolbar. Select the cell, then click the relevant icon.

File:.png
Number format icons. Left to right: currency, percentage, date, exponential, standard, add decimal place, delete decimal place.

For more control or to select other number formats, use the Numbers tab.

  • Apply any of the data types in the Category list to the data.
  • Control the number of decimal places and leading zeros.
  • Enter a custom format code.

The Language setting controls the local settings for the different formats such as the date order and the currency marker.

File:.png
Format Cells > Numbers

Formatting the font

To quickly choose the font used in a cell, select the cell, then click the arrow next to the Font Name box on the Formatting toolbar and choose a font from the list.

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[[Image:]]To choose the size of the font, click the arrow next to the Font Size box on the Formatting toolbar. For other formatting, you can use the Bold, Italic, or Underline icons.

To choose a font color, click the arrow next to the Font Color icon to display a color palette. Click on the required color.

(To define custom colors, use Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org > Colors. See Chapter 14 for more information.)

To specify the language of the cell (useful because it allows different languages to exist in the same document and be spell checked correctly), use the Font tab of the Format Cells dialog. Use the Font Effects tab to set other font characteristics. See Chapter 10 of the Calc Guide for more information.

Formatting the cell borders

To quickly choose a line style and color for the borders of a cell, click the small arrows next to the Line Style and Line Color icons on the Formatting toolbar. In each case, a palette of choices is displayed.

For more control, including the spacing between the cell borders and the text, use the Borders tab of the Format Cells dialog. There you can also define a shadow. See Chapter 10 of the Calc Guide for details.

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Formatting the cell background

To quickly choose a background color for a cell, click the small arrow next to the Background Color icon on the Formatting toolbar. A palette of color choices, similar to the Font Color palette, is displayed.

(To define custom colors, use Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org > Colors. See Chapter 14 for more information.)

You can also use the Background tab of the Format Cells dialog. See Chapter 10 for details.

Autoformatting cells and sheets

You can use the AutoFormat feature to quickly apply a set of cell formats to a sheet or a selected cell range.

  1. Select the cells, including the column and row headers, that you want to format.
  2. Choose Format > AutoFormat.
  3. File:.png
    Choosing an AutoFormat
  4. To select which properties (number format, font, alignment, borders, pattern, autofit width and height) to include in an AutoFormat, click More. Select or deselect the required options.
  5. Click OK.

If you do not see any change in color of the cell contents, choose View > Value Highlighting from the menu bar.

Defining a new AutoFormat

You can define a new AutoFormat that is available to all spreadsheets.

  1. Format a sheet.
  2. Choose Edit > Select All.
  3. Choose Format > AutoFormat. The Add button is now active.
  4. Click Add.
  5. In the Name box of the Add AutoFormat dialog, type a meaningful name for the new format.
  6. Click OK to save. The new format is now available in the Format list in the AutoFormat dialog.

Formatting spreadsheets using themes

Calc comes with a predefined set of formatting themes that you can apply to your spreadsheets.

It is not possible to add themes to Calc, and they cannot be modified. However, you can modify their styles after you apply them to a spreadsheet.

To apply a theme to a spreadsheet:

  1. Click the Choose Themes icon in the Tools toolbar. If this toolbar is not visible, you can show it using View > Toolbars > Tools.

The Theme Selection dialog appears. This dialog lists the available themes for the whole spreadsheet, and the Styles and Formatting window lists the custom styles for specific cells.

[[Image:]]

  1. In the Theme Selection dialog, select the theme that you want to apply to the spreadsheet.

As soon as you select a theme, some of the properties of the custom styles are applied to the open spreadsheet and are immediately visible.

  1. Click OK.

Hiding and showing data

When elements are hidden, they are neither visible nor printed, but can still be selected for copying if you select the elements around them. For example, if column B is hidden, it is copied when you select columns A and C. When you need a hidden element again, you can reverse the process, and show the element.

To hide or show sheets, rows, and columns, use the options on the Format menu or the right-click (context) menu. For example, to hide a row, first select the row, and then choose Format > Row > Hide (or right-click and choose Hide).

To hide or show selected cells, choose Format > Cells from the menu bar (or right-click and choose Format Cells). On the Format Cells dialog, go to the Cell Protection tab.

File:.png
Hiding or showing cells

Outline group controls

If you are continually hiding and showing the same cells, you can simplify the process by creating outline groups, which add a set of controls for hiding and showing the cells in the group that are quick to use and always available.

If the contents of cells falls into a regular pattern, such as four cells followed by a total, then you can use Data > Group and Outline > AutoOutline to have Calc add outline controls based on the pattern. Otherwise, you can set outline groups manually by selecting the cells for grouping, then choosing Data > Group and Outline > Group. On the Group dialog, you can choose whether to group the selected cells by rows or columns.

When you close the dialog, the outline group controls are visible between either the row or column headers and the edges of the editing window. The controls resemble the tree-structure of a file-manager in appearance, and can be hidden by selecting Data > Outline > Hide Details. They are strictly for on screen use, and do not print.

The basic outline controls have plus or minus signs at the start of the group to show or hide hidden cells. However, if one or more outline group is nested in another, the controls have numbered buttons for hiding different levels of group.

If you no longer need a group, place the mouse cursor in any cell in it and select Data > Group and Outline > Ungroup. To remove all groups on a sheet, select Data > Group and Outline > Remove.

File:.png
Outline group controls

Filtering which cells are visible

A filter is a list of conditions that each entry has to meet in order to be displayed. You can set three types of filters from the Data > Filter sub-menu.

Automatic filters add a drop-down list to the top row of a column that contains commonly used filters. They are quick and convenient, and, because the condition includes every unique entry in the selected cells, are almost as useful with text as with numbers.

In addition to each unique entry, automatic filters include the option to display all entries, the ten highest numerical values, and all cells that are empty or not-empty, as well as a standard filter. Their drawback is that they are somewhat limited. In particular, they do not allow regular expressions, so you cannot display contents that are similar, but not identical, by using automatic filters.

Standard filters are more complex than automatic filters. You can set as many as three conditions as a filter, combining them with the operators AND and OR. Standard filters are mostly useful for numbers, although a few of the conditional operators, such as = and < > can also be useful for text.

Other conditional operators for standard filters include options to display the largest or smallest values, or a percentage of them. Useful in themselves, standard filters take on added value when used to further refine automatic filters.

Advanced filters are structured similarly to standard filters. The differences are that advanced filters are not limited to three conditions, and their criteria are not entered in a dialog. Instead, advanced filters are entered in a blank area of a sheet, then referenced by the advanced filter tool to apply them.

Sorting records

Sorting arranges the visible cells on the sheet. In Calc, you can sort by up to three criteria, with each criterion applied one after the other. Sorts are handy when you are searching for a particular item, and become even more powerful after you have filtered data.

In addition, sorting is often useful when you add new information. When a list is long, it is usually easier to add new information at the bottom of the sheet, rather than adding rows in the proper places. After you have added information, you can then sort it to update the sheet.

You can sort by highlighting the cells to be sorted, then selecting Data > Sort. The selected cells can be sorted by the order of information in up to three columns or rows, in either ascending (A-Z, 1-9) or descending (Z-A, 9-1) order.

On the Options tab of the Sort dialog, you can choose the following options:

Case sensitive

If two entries are otherwise identical, one with an upper case letter is placed before one with a lower case letter in the same position.

Range contains column labels

Does not include the column heading in the sort.

Include formats

A cell's formatting is moved with its contents. If formatting is used to distinguish different types of cells, then use this option.

Copy sort results to

Sets a spreadsheet address to which to copy the sort results. If a range is specified that does not have the necessary number of cells, then cells are added. If a range contains cells that already have content, then the sort fails.

Custom sort order

Select the box, then choose one of the sort orders defined in Tools > Options > Spreadsheet > Sort Lists from the drop-down list.

Direction

Sets whether rows or columns are sorted. The default is to sort by columns unless the selected cells are in a single column.

Printing

Printing from Calc is the same as printing from other OOo components (see Chapter 10), but some details are different, especially regarding preparation for printing.

The Print dialog, reached from File > Print, has some Calc-specific options: which sheets to print.

File:.png
Part of the Print dialog

The Printer Options dialog (reached by clicking the Options button on the bottom left of the Print dialog) has only two choices: Suppress output of empty pages and Print only selected sheets.

File:.png
Top of the Printer Options dialog

Selecting sheets to print

You can select one or more sheets for printing. This can be useful if you have a large spreadsheet with multiple sheets and only want to print certain sheets. For example, an accountant might record costs over time with one sheet for each month. To print the November and December sheets, follow this procedure:

  1. Go to the November sheet. Hold down the Control key and click on the tab of the December sheet.
  2. To print all of the sheets, go to File > Print and select Options.

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  1. Select Print only selected sheets. This choice affects the print preview, export, and printing of your spreadsheet. Click OK.
Documentation caution.png If you keep the selected sheets selected, when you enter data on one sheet, you enter data on all sheets at the same time. This might not be what you want.

Selecting the page order, details, and scale

To select the page order, details, and scale to be printed:

  1. Select Format > Page from the main menu.
  2. Select the Sheet tab (Figure 34).
  3. Make your selections, and then click OK.

Page Order

You can set the order in which pages print. This is especially useful in a large document; for example, controlling the print order can save time if you have to collate the document a certain way.

File:.png
The Sheet tab of the Page Style dialog

Where a sheet prints on more than one page of paper, it can be printed either by column, where the first column of pages prints, and then the second column and so on, or by row as shown in the graphic on the top right of the page order dialog.

Print

You can specify which details to print. Those details include:

  • Row and column headers
  • Sheet grid—prints the borders of the cells as a grid
  • Notes—prints the notes defined in your spreadsheet on a separate page, along with the corresponding cell reference
  • Objects and graphics
  • Charts
  • Drawing objects
  • Formulas—prints the formulas contained in the cells, instead of the results
  • Zero Values—prints cells with a zero value

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Scale

Use the scale features to control the number of pages the data will print on. This can be useful if a large amount of data needs to be printed more compactly or, if the reader has poor eyesight, text can be enlarged when it prints.

  • Reduce/Enlarge printout—scales the data in the printout either larger or smaller. For example if a sheet would normally print out as four pages (two high and two wide), a scaling of 50% would print as one page (both width and height are halved).
  • Fit print range(s) on number of pages—defines exactly how many pages the printout will take up. This option will only reduce a printout, it will not enlarge it. To enlarge a printout, the reduce/enlarge option must be used.
  • Fit print range(s) to width/height—defines how high and wide the printout will be, in pages.

Using print ranges

Print ranges have several uses, including printing only a specific part of the data or printing selected rows or columns on every page. For more about using print ranges, see Chapter 5 (Printing, Exporting, and E-mailing) in the Calc Guide.

Defining a print range

To define a new print range or modify an existing print range:

  1. Highlight the range of cells that comprise the print range.
  2. Choose Format > Print Ranges > Define.

The page break lines display on the screen.

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Removing a print range

It may become necessary to remove a defined print range, for example if the whole sheet needs to be printed later.

Choose Format > Print Ranges > Remove. This removes all defined print ranges on the sheet. After the print range is removed, the default page break lines will appear on the screen.

Printing rows or columns on every page

If a sheet is printed on multiple pages, you can set up certain rows or columns to repeat on each printed page.

For example, if the top two rows of the sheet as well as column A need to be printed on all pages, do the following:

  1. Choose Format > Print Ranges > Edit. On the Edit Print Ranges dialog, type the rows in the text entry box under Rows to repeat. For example, to repeat rows 1 and 2, type $1:$2. In the Rows to repeat list, - none - changes to - user defined -.
File:.png
Specifying repeating rows
  1. Columns can also repeat; type the columns in the text entry box under Columns to repeat. For example, to repeat column A, type $A. In the Columns to repeat list, - none - changes to - user defined -.
  2. Click OK.

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Page breaks

While defining a print range can be a powerful tool, it may sometimes be necessary to manually tweak Calc’s printout. To do this, you can use a manual break. A manual break helps to ensure that your data prints properly. You can insert a horizontal page break above, or a vertical page break to the left of, the active cell.

Inserting a page break

To insert a page break:

  1. Navigate to the cell where the page break will begin.
  2. Select Insert > Manual Break.
  3. Select Row Break or Column Break depending on your need.

The break is now set.

Row break

Selecting Row Break creates a page break above the selected cell. For example, if the active cell is H15, then the break is created between rows 14 and 15.

Column break

Selecting Column Break creates a page break to the left of the selected cell. For example, if the active cell is H15, then the break is created between columns G and H.

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Deleting a page break

To remove a page break:

  1. Navigate to a cell that is next to the break you want to remove.
  2. Select Edit > Delete Manual Break.
  3. Select Row Break or Column Break depending on your need.

The break is now removed.

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Headers and footers

Headers and footers are predefined pieces of text that are printed at the top or bottom of a sheet outside of the sheet area. They are set the same way.

Headers and footers are assigned to a page style. You can define more than one page style for a spreadsheet and assign different page styles to different sheets. For more about page styles, see Chapter 10.

To set a header or footer:

  1. Navigate to the sheet that you want to set the header or footer for. Select Format > Page.
  2. Select the Header (or Footer) tab.
  3. Select the Header on option.

From here you can also set the margins, the spacing, and height for the header or footer. You can check the AutoFit height box to have the height of the header or footer automatically adjust.

Margin

Changing the size of the left or right margin adjusts how far the header or footer is from the side of the page.

Spacing

Spacing affects how far above or below the sheet the header or footer will print. So, if spacing is set to 1.00", then there will be 1 inch between the header or footer and the sheet.

File:.png
Header dialog

Height

Height affects how big the header or footer will be.

Header or footer appearance

To change the appearance of the header or footer, click More.

File:.png
Header/Footer Border/Background

From this dialog you can set the background and border of the header or footer. See Chapter 10 (Using Styles in Calc) for more information.

Contents of the header or footer

The header or footer of a Calc spreadsheet has three columns for text. Each column can have different contents.

To set the contents of the header or footer, click the Edit button in the header or footer dialog to display the dialog shown below.

File:.png
Edit contents of header or footer

Areas

Each area is independent and can have different information in it.

Header

You can select from several preset choices in the Header drop-down list, or specify a custom header using the buttons below. (If you are formatting a footer, the choices are the same.)

Custom header

Click in the area (Left, Center, Right) that you want to customize, then use the buttons to add elements or change text attributes.

[[Image:]] Opens the Text Attributes dialog.

[[Image:]] Inserts the total number of pages.

[[Image:]] Inserts the File Name field.

[[Image:]] Inserts the Date field.

[[Image:]] Inserts the Sheet Name field.

[[Image:]] Inserts the Time field.

[[Image:]] Inserts the current page number.


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