UNIT 2 OFFICE TOOLS Structure 2.0 Learning Outcomes 2.1 Introduction 2.2 LibreOffice Basics 2.3 LibreOffice Writer 2.3.1 Getting Started with Writer 2.3.2 Working with Documents 2.3.3 Editing a Document 2.3.4 Styles and Formatting Documents 2.3.5 Working with Tables 2.3.6 Working with Mail Merge 2.4 Calc - Electronic Spreadsheets 2.4.1 Getting Started With Calc 2.4.2 Working with a Spreadsheet 2.4.3 Modifying a Spreadsheet 2.4.4 Creating Formulas using Functions 2.4.5 Creating a Chart 2.5 Impress : Basics of Presentations 2.5.1 Getting Started with Impress 2.5.2 Creating a Presentation 2.5.3 Formatting a Presentation 2.5.4 Selecting Slide Layout 2.5.5 Adding Pictures, Tables, Charts, Media and Animation 2.5.6 Creating an Animation 2.5.7 Slide Masters 2.5.8 Putting Together a Slide Show 2.5.9 Modifying the Slide Show 2.5.10 Running Slide Show 2.6 LibreOffice Applications in Libraries 2.7 Summary 2.8 Answers to Self Check Exercises 2.9 Keywords 2.10 References and Further Reading 2.0 LEARNING OUTCOMES After reading this Unit, you will be able to: identify that LibreOffice is a freely available, open source, fully-featured office productivity suite supported on multiple platforms including Windows, Linux and Mac OS X.; describe that productivity suite refers to office suite, office software suite, or application suite as a collection of application software of related functionality, often sharing a more-or-less common user interface; 3 6 highlight how to use LibreOffice applications such as Writer (word processor or Office Tools text editor), Calc (spreadsheet) and Impress (presentation); describe how different applications wizards in the office tools help you in handling tasks for its various applications; and discuss that how everyday office and library-related works are simplified using various applications of LibreOffice software. 2.1 INTRODUCTION While we all recognise that Microsoft Office is indeed an industry standard in office tools such as word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, database management and desktop publishing, however it is important to note that office tools are also available as free and open source software such as Apache OpenOffice, LibreOffice, NeoOffice, GoogleDocs and KOffice. Choosing free software over proprietary software doesn’t mean you will compromise on features and support. Today’s open source office tools are as feature-rich as Microsoft tools. They also provide ample online documentation and large communities of users and developers. These office tools are generally referred to as office suite, productivity suite, applications tools because they come as a collection of applications mainly consisting of word processor, spreadsheet and presentation bundled together and quite often sharing a common user interface. Free and open source office tools have become viable alternatives to Microsoft Office. In this Unit you will be introduced to the LibreOffice applications Writer, Calc and Impress. This Unit is developed as a summary of ‘Getting Started Guide 4.0’ - the official documentation issued by The Document Foundation, the body responsible for developing and launching LibreOffice suite of productivity tools and hence much of the content in this Unit is a copy of ‘Getting Started Guide 4.0’. (The work is under Creative Commons Attribution License). 2.2 LIBREOFFICE BASICS LibreOffice - formerly known as OpenOffice.org – is a freely available suite of office applications that you can download and install for free without any copyright infringement. OpenOffice.org has been taken over by Oracle and is no longer open source software. LibreOffice suite was developed in 2010 by The Document Foundation – a non-profit organisation that promotes open-source document handling software. LibreOffice suite is a fork of OpenOffice, meaning the underlying source code is the same, but the software has gone in a different development direction. LibreOffice is a comprehensive, professional-quality office tool available in more than 114 languages and for all major operating systems, including Microsoft Windows, FreeBSD, Mac OSX and Linux (Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Mandriva, Suse, ...). LibreOffice is user-friendly. It offers a simple-to-use yet powerful interface that is easy to personalise. Its native file format is Open Document Format (ODF), an open standard format. Since it stores data in an international open standard format, it is therefore compatible with all major file formats. You can easily import files from Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint and many other formats and can easily open and save documents to Microsoft Office and in many other formats when needed. LibreOffice Components LibreOffice suite components include word process, spreadsheet, presentation graphics and database, drawing and math tools. 3 7 Digital Literacy Writer: It is a word processor and a text editor, similar to Microsoft Word or WordPerfect. Usually a file created by Writer is saved as ODT (Open Document File Text Document) with an .ODT file format. Writer can also read and edit files from other word processors with .DOC, .DOCX, .RTF, etc. file formats. Calc: It is a spreadsheet application, similar to Microsoft Excel or Lotus 1-2-3. It is a tool for creating and editing datasheets. Based on data series, it can also generate different charts. Usually a file created by Calc is saved as ODS (Open Document File Spreadsheet Document) with an .ODS file format. Calc can also read and edit files from other spreadsheet applications with .XLS, .XLSX, .XLT, etc. file formats. Impress: It is a presentation application, similar to Microsoft PowerPoint or Apple Keynote. Usually a file created by Impress is saved as ODP (Open Document File Presentation Document) with an .ODP file format. Impress can also read and edit files from other presentation applications with .PPT, .PPTX, .PPS, etc. file formats. Base: It is a database management application, similar to Microsoft Access or FoxPro. Draw: It is a drawing editor, similar to Microsoft Paint or CorelDraw. Math. It is a tool for creating and editing mathematical formulae. Starting LibreOffice You can launch LibreOffice by using the system menu. On Microsft Windows it is called the Start Menu. On Ubuntu Unity, it is called the Application Menu. On Mac OS X, it is the Application Menu. On clicking LibreOffice icon it will open up a screen as given in Figure 2.1. You need to select a program for your application. For example, if you want to create a text document, you click on Text Document on the screen. Similarly, if you want to create a spreadsheet, you click on Spreadsheet on the screen. Fig. 2.1: Start Center in LibreOffice 4.0.1 Source: http://www.libreoffice.org/features/ LibreOffice Advantages – As per The Documentation Foundation LibreOffice suite 3 8 offers several advantages over other office suites. These are as follows: No licensing fees: LibreOffice is free for anyone to use and distribute at no cost. Office Tools Many add-in features that come at extra in other office suites (like PDF export) are free with LibreOffice. There are no hidden charges now or in the future. Open source: You can distribute, copy and modify the software as much as you wish, in accordance with the LibreOffice Open Source licenses. Cross-platform: LibreOffice runs on several hardware architectures and under multiple operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. Extensive language support: The LibreOffice user interface is available in over 40 languages and the LibreOffice project provides spelling, hyphenation and thesaurus dictionaries in over 70 languages and dialects. LibreOffice also provides support for both Complex Text Layout (CTL) and Right to Left (RTL) layout languages (such as Urdu, Hebrew and Arabic). Consistent user interface: All the components have a similar “look and feel,” making them easy to use and master. Integration: All the components of LibreOffice are well integrated with one another. – All the components share a common spelling checker and other tools, used consistently across the suite. For example, the drawing tools available in Writer are also found in Calc, with similar but enhanced versions in Impress and Draw. – You do not need to know which application was used to create a particular file. For example, you can open a Draw file from Writer. Granularity: Usually, if you change an option, it affects all components. However, LibreOffice options can be set at the component level or even at the document level. File compatibility: In addition to its native OpenDocument formats, LibreOffice includes PDF and Flash export capabilities, as well as support for opening and saving files in many common formats including Microsoft Office, HTML, XML, WordPerfect and Lotus 1-2-3 formats. An extension (included) provides the ability to import and edit some PDF files. No vendor lock-in: LibreOffice uses OpenDocument, an XML (eXtensible Markup Language) file format developed as an industry standard by OASIS (Organisation for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards). These files can easily be unzipped and read by any text editor and their framework is open and published. You have a voice: Enhancements, software fixes and release dates are community driven. You can join the community and affect the course. 2.3 LIBREOFFICE WRITER Writer is a LibreOffice word processor similar to Microsoft Word that you can use to create letters, books, reports, newsletters, brochures and other documents. It offers the usual features of any word processor