Difference between revisions of "Documentation/OOo3 User Guides/Writer Guide/Developing conditional content"

From Apache OpenOffice Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search
(Hidden sections)
(Hidden paragraphs: Tip re View > Hidden was exactly backward; "hidden" -> "visible" (also wrong in 3.3))
Line 106: Line 106:
 
=== Hidden paragraphs ===
 
=== Hidden paragraphs ===
  
{{Documentation/Tip| To enable hidden paragraphs, remove the check mark from '''View > Hidden Paragraphs'''. When this option is selected, any hidden paragraph you create will always be hidden, whether its condition is true or not.}}
+
{{Documentation/Tip| To enable hidden paragraphs, remove the check mark from '''View > Hidden Paragraphs'''. When this option is selected, any hidden paragraph you create will always be visible, whether its condition is true or not.}}
  
 
A paragraph is hidden if the condition is true. To hide a paragraph:
 
A paragraph is hidden if the condition is true. To hide a paragraph:

Revision as of 17:34, 7 April 2011


Conditional content is text and graphics that are included or excluded depending on a condition you specify.

A simple example is a reminder letter for an overdue account. The first and second reminders might have a subject line of “Reminder Notice”, but the third reminder letter might have the subject “Final Notice” and a different final paragraph.

A more complex example is a software manual for a product that comes in two versions, Pro and Lite. Both product versions have much in common, but the Pro version includes some features that are not in the Lite version. If you use conditional content, you can maintain one file containing information for both versions and print (or create online help) customized for each version. You do not have to maintain two sets of the information that is the same for both versions, so you will not forget to update both versions when something changes.

Choose the types of conditional content to use

This section describes several Writer features that can help you design and maintain conditional content. You can use one or any combination of these features in the same document.

Conditional text

With conditional text, you can have two alternative texts (a word, phrase, or sentence). One text will be displayed and printed if the condition you specify is met, and the other will be displayed and printed if the condition is not met. You cannot include graphics or edit the text except in the field dialog (not in the body of the document). You also cannot format part of the text (for example, bolding one word but not the others), but you can format the field to affect all of the field contents (for example, bolding all of the words). You cannot include a cross-reference or other field in the text.

Hidden text

With hidden text (a word, phrase, or sentence), you have only two choices: show or hide. If the condition you specify is met, the text is hidden; if the condition is not met, the text is displayed. The disadvantages are the same as for conditional text: you cannot include graphics, edit the text in the body of the document, format part of the text, or include a field.

Hidden paragraphs

Hidden paragraphs are like any other paragraphs, but you can specify a condition under which the paragraph is not displayed or printed. A blank paragraph can also be hidden — for example, if a database field has no content for the current record. This is very useful when merging an address into a letter: if you allow two lines for the street address and the database record uses only one line, you can prevent the blank line from appearing in your document. You can include graphics, edit the text in the body of the document, format any part of the text, and include fields.

Hidden sections

Hidden sections are like hidden paragraphs, but they can include more than one paragraph—for example, a heading plus one or more paragraphs. However, a section cannot contain less than a paragraph, so you cannot use this method for single words or phrases. The contents of a hidden section behave just like the contents of any other part of the document, but you can specify a condition under which the section is not displayed or printed. In addition, you can password protect a section.

Plan your conditional content

Conditions are what programmers call logical expressions. You must formulate a logical expression for each condition because a condition is always either true (met) or false (not met). You can use the same condition in many places in your document, for different types of conditional content.

To make conditional content work, you need to:

  1. Choose or define a variable.
  2. Define a logical expression (condition) involving the selected variable.

Choose or define a variable

You can use the following variables in your condition:

  • User-defined variables
  • Predefined OpenOffice.org variables, which use statistical values from the document properties
  • User data
  • Database field contents—for example from your address book

You cannot use internal variables (for example, page number or chapter name) to formulate conditions.

The examples in this chapter use user-defined variables.

Define a logical expression (condition) involving the selected variable

The condition compares a specified fixed value with the contents of a variable or database field.

To formulate a condition, use the same elements as you would to create a formula: operators, mathematical and statistical functions, number formats, variables, and constants. The possible operators are given in the online help; look in the index under “operators: in formulas”. You can define quite complex expressions, but in most cases a simple condition will do the job.

Create the variable

To create your variable, click Insert > Fields > Other. You can use choices found on the DocInformation, Variables, and Database pages.

DocInformation fields

Using document properties to hold information that changes described how to set up a user-defined document property. You can use that document property as the variable in your condition statement, or you can create another document property field specifically for conditions.

User-defined variable field

To set up a variable or user field:

  1. Place the cursor where you want the field to be inserted.
  2. On the Fields dialog box, select the Variables tab.
  3. Select Set variable in the Type list and Text in the Format list. Type a name for the variable in the Name box, and a value in the Value box. I have chosen “ProLite” for the name (to remind me that this variable is related to the two product versions), and I set the value as “Lite” because I can remember “If it is the Lite version, then this text should be hidden.”
  4. Select Invisible so the field does not show in the document. Click Insert, then click Close.
  5. Defining a variable to use with conditional content.
  6. A small gray mark should be visible where you inserted the field. Hover the mouse pointer over this mark and you will see the field formula ProLite = Lite. We will come back to this field later.

Template:Documentation/Tip

Apply the condition to the content

Now that you have defined the variable, you can use it in a condition statement. This topic describes some of the possibilities.

Conditional text

First, let us set up some conditional text that will insert the words “Great Product Lite” into the Lite version and “Great Product Pro” into the Pro version of the manual. You would use this field whenever you want to mention the name of the product.

  1. Place the cursor where you want one of these phrases to appear. (You can move or delete it later, if you wish.)
  2. Open the Fields dialog box by clicking Insert > Fields > Other, select the Functions tab, and select Conditional text in the Type list.
  3. As shown below, type ProLite EQ "Lite" in the Condition box, Great Product Lite in the Then box, and Great Product Pro in the Else box.
  4. Template:Documentation/Note

  5. Click Insert to insert the field, then click Close. You should see Great Product Lite in your text.
Inserting conditional text.

Template:Documentation/Tip

Hidden text

You might use hidden text for words or short phrases that describe features of Great Product Pro that are not found in the Lite version. You can reuse the same field in several places in your document—for example, by copying and pasting it.

To create a hidden text field:

  1. Click Insert > Fields > Other and select the Functions page.
  2. Select Hidden text in the Type list, as shown below.
  3. Type ProLite EQ "Lite" in the Condition box and type the required text in the Hidden text box. Remember, this is the text that is hidden if the condition is true.
  4. Click Insert to create and insert the field.
Creating a condition for hidden text.

Hidden paragraphs

Template:Documentation/Tip

A paragraph is hidden if the condition is true. To hide a paragraph:

  1. Click in the paragraph to be hidden.
  2. Click Insert > Fields > Other and select the Functions page.
  3. Select Hidden paragraph in the Type list.
  4. For this example, type ProLite EQ "Lite" in the Condition box.
  5. Click Insert to create and insert the field. If an extra paragraph mark appears, delete it.

To show hidden paragraphs so you can edit them, do one of the following:

  • Select View > Hidden Paragraphs from the menu bar, so it is checked (shows all hidden paragraphs).
  • On the Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org Writer > Formatting Aids page, select the Fields: Hidden paragraphs option (shows all hidden paragraphs).
  • Double-click in front of the variable that you used to define the condition for hiding the text, and enter a different value for the variable (shows all hidden paragraphs).
  • Double-click in front of the hidden text field or the hidden paragraph field, and change the condition statement (changes only the selected hidden paragraph).

Hidden sections

A conditional section is hidden if the condition is true. To create a conditional section:

  1. Select the text that you want to be included in the conditional section. (You can edit this text later, just as you can edit any other text.)
  2. Click Insert > Section. On the Insert Section dialog box, select the Hide checkbox and enter the condition in the with Condition box. You can also give the section a name, if you wish (strongly recommended, so you can find it again easily if you have several sections in your document).
  3. Click Insert to insert the section into your document.

To show a hidden section so you can edit it:

  1. Click Format > Sections.
  2. On the Edit Sections dialog box, select the section from the list.
  3. Deselect Hide, and then click OK. You can now edit the contents of the section. Afterwards, you can click Format > Sections again and select Hide to hide the section again.

To show all the hidden sections so you can edit them, change the value of the variable to something that the conditions will not recognize. In our example, you could change the value to 1.

Creating a section to be hidden when a specified condition is met.

To make the hidden section a normal part of the document (that is, to remove the section markers, but not the contents of the section):

  1. Show the hidden section, as described above.
  2. On the Edit Sections dialog box, select the section from the list.
  3. Click Remove. The contents of the section are now a normal part of the document.

Change the value of the variable

  1. Find the variable field you created in Create the variable.
  2. Click once just in front of this field, then right-click and click Fields on the pop-up menu.
  3. On the Edit Fields: Variables dialog box, change the value of the variable to Pro.
  4. If you have set fields to update automatically, all of the conditional and hidden text that uses this variable as a condition will change.

Template:Documentation/Tip

Changing the value of the variable.

Template:Documentation/Tip


Content on this page is licensed under the Creative Common Attribution 3.0 license (CC-BY).
Personal tools