Apache Open Office: tips and tricks for texts, tables and presentations

Open Office: We give tips for Calc, Writer, Draw and Impress.


CALC: Show a selection list


If you enter data in a column-by-column data column, the program tries to create a proposal for the new entry based on data already entered. This happens whenever the information to be entered has already been entered in the column. All you have to do now is press the [Enter] key to complete input, the suggestion will be accepted completely. With a selection list, you can easily transfer existing entries from the column. If it's another entry, just type your end to the end.


WRITER: Insert Blindtext


Even more comfortable, the selection works with a selection list. Such a list works only for text entries, numbers are ignored. If you have a column without text, the selection list is not offered to you. Right-click the first free cell under the desired column. In the context menu, select the command Selection List. Now, all the information already contained in the column is displayed, and you click on the desired entry. Double entries are displayed only once, so the selection list remains quite clear.


You should define a text layout without knowing the content of the text. Before you begin typing any text into your document, you should use a trick that pro fi s will be happy to use. You can easily create layouts with a blank text whose content is of no importance. First, place the cursor where you want your text to begin. Then type the letters bt and press the [F3] key. You have already created a blind text with around 1800 characters in the form of a short story. This is much more efficient than typing text or copying it from another text document.