Calculating Fields in OpenOffice: A Guide to Growth and Shrinkage

OpenOffice is a powerful tool that offers numerous features to make your document creation experience smoother. One such feature is the ability to calculate fields in tables, which can be particularly useful when working with complex reports or documents. In this article, we will explore how to use OpenOffice's calculation feature to grow and shrink fields in your tables.

Understanding ORB

Before diving into the specifics of calculating fields, it's essential to understand what ORB (OpenReportBuilder) is. ORB is a tool within OpenOffice that allows you to create complex reports with multiple tables and calculations. While it may seem overwhelming at first, ORB offers a great deal of flexibility and customization options.

Calculating Fields

To calculate fields in OpenOffice, follow these steps:

1. Select the cell or range of cells where you want to perform the calculation.

2. Right-click on the selected cells and choose 'Insert' > 'Field'.

3. In the 'Field' dialog box, select the type of field you want to create (e.g., 'Text', 'Number', etc.).

4. Click 'OK' to insert the field into your table.

Once you've inserted a field, you can use OpenOffice's built-in formulas and functions to calculate its value. For example, if you want to display the total number of rows in a table, you can use the `COUNT` function:

`=COUNT(A1:A10)`

This formula will count the number of cells in the range A1:A10 and display the result.

Growing and Shrinking Fields

Now that we've covered calculating fields, let's talk about growing and shrinking them. Growing and shrinking fields refer to adjusting the size of a field based on its content or other conditions. For instance, you might want a field to grow automatically when new data is added to the table.

To achieve this, you can use OpenOffice's 'AutoHeight' property. This property allows you to specify whether a field should automatically adjust its height based on the contents of the cell. To enable AutoHeight, follow these steps:

1. Select the field you want to grow or shrink.

2. Right-click on the selected field and choose 'Properties'.

3. In the 'Properties' dialog box, click on the 'Format' tab.

4. Check the 'AutoHeight' box.

With AutoHeight enabled, your field will automatically adjust its height based on the contents of the cell. You can also use other properties, such as 'AutoWidth', to control the width of a field.

In this article, we've explored how to calculate fields in OpenOffice using ORB and macros. We've also covered how to grow and shrink fields using OpenOffice's AutoHeight property. By mastering these techniques, you can create more complex and dynamic reports and documents that meet your specific needs.

Remember to always practice patience and experimentation when working with OpenOffice, as it may take some time to get used to its unique features and syntax. With a little bit of effort, however, you'll be able to unlock the full potential of this powerful tool and create stunning documents that impress even the most discerning audiences.

Openoffice calculate field grow shrink