Using the macro recorder

OpenOffice.org 3 Calc Guide

Chapter 12 Calc Macros

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• Using the macro recorder
• Write your own functions
• Using a macro as a function
• Passing arguments to a macro
• Accessing cells directly
• Sorting

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Chapter 13 of the Getting Started guide (Getting Started with Macros) provides a basis for understanding the general macro capabilities in OpenOffice.org using the macro recorder. An example is shown here without the explanations in the Getting Started guide. The following steps create a macro that performs paste special with multiply.

1. Open a new spreadsheet.
2. Enter numbers into a sheet.

Enter numbers.
3. Select cell A3, which contains the number 3, and copy the value to the clipboard.
4. Select the range A1:C3.
5. Use Tools > Macros > Record Macro to start the macro recorder. The Record Macro dialog is displayed with a stop recording button.

Stop recording button.
6. Use Edit > Paste Special to open the Paste Special dialog.

Paste Special dialog.
7. Set the operation to Multiply and click OK. The cells are now multiplied by 3.

Cells multiplied by 3.
8. Click Stop Recording to stop the macro recorder. The OpenOffice.org Basic Macros dialog opens.
9. Select the current document. For this example, the current Calc document is Untitled 1. Existing documents show a library named Standard. This library is not created until the document is saved, or the library is needed, so at this point your new document does not contain a library. You can create a new library to contain the macro, but this is not necessary.

Select the Standard library if it exists.
10. Click New Module. If no libraries exist, then the Standard library is automatically created and used. In the New Module dialog, type a name for the new module or leave the name as Module1.

11. Click OK to create a module named Module1. Select the newly created Module1, enter the macro name PasteMultiply and click Save.

Select the module and name the macro.
12. The created macro is saved in Module1 of the Standard library in the Untitled 1 document. Listing 1 shows the contents of the macro..

Listing 1. Paste special with multiply.

sub PasteMultiply

 rem --------------------------------------------------------------
 rem define variables
 dim document   as object
 dim dispatcher as object
 rem --------------------------------------------------------------
 rem get access to the document
 document   = ThisComponent.CurrentController.Frame
 dispatcher = createUnoService("com.sun.star.frame.DispatchHelper")

 rem --------------------------------------------------------------
 dim args1(5) as new com.sun.star.beans.PropertyValue
 args1(0).Name = "Flags"
 args1(0).Value = "A"
 args1(1).Name = "FormulaCommand"
 args1(1).Value = 3
 args1(2).Name = "SkipEmptyCells"
 args1(2).Value = false
 args1(3).Name = "Transpose"
 args1(3).Value = false
 args1(4).Name = "AsLink"
 args1(4).Value = false
 args1(5).Name = "MoveMode"
 args1(5).Value = 4

 dispatcher.executeDispatch(document, ".uno:InsertContents", "", 0, args1())
 end sub

More detail on recording macros is provided in Chapter 13 (Getting Started with Macros) in the Getting Started guide; we recommend you read it if you have not already done so. More detail is also provided in the following sections, but not as related to recording macros.