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markem
Newbie
Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Posts: 1
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 Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2005 9:58 am Post subject: Problem: Tables |
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There are several problems I have come across with tables in Open Office. Here are my system's stats:
| Code: | IBM PC Celeron running at 2.8GHz
512MB memory
200GB hard drive
80GB hard drive
60GB hard drive
OS => Windows XP
OS => Linux (latest -forget what the numbers are) on second disk drive
Other OSs on other partitions and what not - not important
Scanner
21" monitor
HP Pro Printer
Other assorted widgets I use now and then
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| Code: | Known Problems:
1. When a table is created, faint grey lines outline where the table is so you can know where to place everything. However, these disappear if you repeatedly open and close the document and have set the borders to not appear.
1a. In other words (for those who may misinterpret what I am saying) - I am talking about the faint grey lines that ONLY show up on the screen and NOT the lines which might be printed. They are two different things. The faint grey lines are meant as guidelines so you don't have to guess where each cell is located. Any lines which might print out are there because you set the program to print them. Even if you are not going to print any lines though - these guidelines should always show up on the screen..
2. Tabs do not work properly in the table. A tab in the table moves you to the next cell in the list. But if this is so then:
2a. How do you do word completion in a table? After all, the tab key is used to do word completion yet in a table it lops off the end of the word you are attempting to complete and jumps to the next cell.
2b. How do you make a proper menu? In the FORMAT->PARAGRAPH section there is a place for you to adjust how tabs function. The reason those functions are there are because when you are creating a menu you need to be able to put things like "....." after the menu entry. To ensure everything lined up properly I put it all in a table. Unfortunately, you can not fill the rest of the table with dots automatically. So they have to be done by hand.
3. Graphics. My main complaint with the graphics are:
3a. There is no way to tell the program what the default action should be when incorporating a graphics. It always comes in anchored although I just wanted it to be a character.
3b. Graphics tend to disappear - or maybe I should say they go white/clear. Unknown why but any time I adjust a graphic it just becomes a white rectangle. In order to get the graphics back I have to switch to another program and switch back or iconize the program and then uniconize it to make the program do an update. My guess (being a programmer myself) is that there is somewhere in the code where it is not updating the graphics panel properly. But that is just a guess.
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Well that is all for now. This is truly a great program. I have been using MS Word for years and decided to give OOo a try. Some things it does better than MS Word and some it does not do as well. But overall - it meets the needs of myself as well as others I have introduced to it. Keep up the great work! 
_________________
Black holes are God's lollipops he dropped and now everything is sticking to them. |
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bryancole
OOo Advocate
Joined: 13 Jun 2003
Posts: 305
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| Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2005 10:58 am Post subject: |
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1. Select from the menus Table->Table Boundaries to view/hide the table boundary guides (your thin grey lines).
2a. <Carriage Return> is the default key to accept autocompletion on words, not <tab>. You can configure other keys under Tools->AutoCorrect->AutoCompletion->Accept With...
Use Ctrl-Tab to insert a tab-stop in a table.
Using a table you can format your menu as desired. A table is probably the best method, but you could also use tab-stops.
To automate the insertion of "......." in your menu, checkout Writer's 'AutoText' feature: add one line of dots and select these dots. Then hit <ctrl>F3. This will open the autotext dialog box. Entre a name for this autotext (e.g. "dots") and an abbreviation (e.g. "dd") then click on AutoText->New (on the right hand side). Now, place the cursor where-ever you want your dots in your menu, type "dd" and hit F3. Your "dd" is automatically replaced by a line of dots.
3a. The default anchoring mode is "to paragraph". I don't think it's possible to change this. You can assign a different anchoring mode to a custom frame-style. If you apply this style to new graphics the desired settings will be applied. The advantage of this method is that you can assign a keyboard shortcut to the style to make it quick and easy to apply to new graphics.
3b. Are your disappearing graphics 3D objects? If so, go to Tools->Options->OpenOffice.org->View->3D View and turn "use OpenGL" OFF.
I have found bugs in the bitmap rendering code in OOo-1.9.X beta series. OOo-1.1.x series are fine however. Hopefully, this will be fixed in teh OOo-2 final version.
HTH |
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ooorocks
Newbie
Joined: 03 Sep 2005
Posts: 2
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| Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2005 5:10 pm Post subject: who cares about system stats, what OOo version |
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-rant- Just to comment on the first post... how does having a "60gb drive, scanner, and other OS widgets" have any influence on your problems with OOo? I just don't think anyone in this forum has a desire to know your system stats -> perhaps best suited in the tech hardware forums. What would have been appropriate, is to include the OOo version you were using that you have complaints with.
Q: Show Table Limits/Boundaries/Outline?
The 2nd commenter bryancole said:
| Quote: | | 1. Select from the menus Table->Table Boundaries to view/hide the table boundary guides (your thin grey lines). |
I'm running OOo 1.1.3... I have no "Table" menu. On the "Table..." window, there are no Table Boundaries settings. Where might I find this?
ANSWER FOUND - Simply Right-Click on the table, and check "Table Limits" 
** thought I'd get this in before anyone else replied, Table-within-Table still unanswered**
Q: Table within Table?
Also, is there a way to insert a Table within a Table? When I try to do that, instead of inserting a table (Insert -> Table...) it just gives me the Table Properties box for the current table.
Q: Table Cell Properties/Border?
Also, I would like to show the border (bottom edge) on just certain cells (not the entire row) - does anyone know how to do this? I can only edit the borders for the entire table.
Final note, I found out by doing a combination of cell **merge** and **split** I can customize my cell edges exactly where I need them... otherwise it's limited to cell edges of other rows in the table. =) |
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bryancole
OOo Advocate
Joined: 13 Jun 2003
Posts: 305
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| Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2005 11:11 am Post subject: |
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Sorry, I should have mentioned I'm using OOo-2beta2.
Nested tables (tables within tables) are only available in the upcoming OOo-2. This was a frequently requested feature of the OOo-1.X series.
The Table-Format dialog applies is formating only to those cells you have selected. If you want only the bottom cells in your table to have a bottom border, select the bottom row, open the table-format dialog (borders tab) or table-borders palette and click the border format you want (i.e. in the table-format dialog, click the edges of the Line-Arrangement (User Defined) widget to toggle the border visability, set the line style and click OK when you're done. (this procedure is the same in OOo-1.1 and -2beta2) |
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ooorocks
Newbie
Joined: 03 Sep 2005
Posts: 2
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| Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2005 7:25 pm Post subject: table-in-table ok, cannot modify single table cell |
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I just tried the table-within-table in OOo 2.0beta and that works great now, good to see.
I cannot select a "single cell" though to change it's border properties. When I am within a single cell, right-click->Table... I begin modifying the entire table's setting. Can you provide further instruction? =) |
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