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Chapter 10. Office tools

There are two primary office suite recommendations for Fedora users: the OpenOffice.org suite which is not desktop- or even Linux-specific, and the KOffice suite for the KDE desktop. Each suite of office tools includes presentation, spreadsheet, and word processing applications. Additional office applications are also available depending on the office suite selected.
While the GNOME desktop does not have a specific office suite, there are a number of office application optimized for GNOME. These applications include Abiword , a word processing application that has plug-ins to make presentations and graphs, Gnumeric , a spreadsheet application, and gLabels , a program for creating labels and business cards.
Remember that any office application or suite will run on any Fedora desktop environment. The recommendation is only the office suite best optimized for a specific desktop environment, such as GNOME or KDE. Once installed, all office tools are available from the Applications > Office menu in GNOME, the Kickoff Application Launcher > Applications > Office menu in KDE, or as icons located in the menu bar or on the desktop.
To install the OpenOffice.org suite, refer to Chapter 17, Managing software . You can install them by either using the PackageKit application or on the command line by using Yum .

10.1. OpenOffice.org applications

OpenOffice.org creates documents in open standards formats, such as OpenDocument (.ODF), Rich Text Format (.RTF), and HyperText Markup Language (HTML). It can also read, edit, and write documents in Microsoft Office formats, such as Word (.DOC), Excel (.XLS), and PowerPoint (.PPT), with a high degree of compatibility. Files can be exported in PDF format without the need of additional software. The most used Openoffice.org programs are: Impress , Calc , and Writer .
For the most up-to-date information on all of OpenOffice.org's office program offerings, visit the official site at https://www.openoffice.org
For more information on using OpenOffice.org , refer to the following documentation and support pages:
See also:

10.1.1. OpenOffice.org Impress

OpenOffice.org Impress Creates and performs presentations.
Start the application with Applications > Office > OpenOffice.org Impress in GNOME, or Kickoff Application Launcher > Applications > Office > Presentation in KDE.
The first window asks you to choose Empty presentation , From template or Open existing presentation .
  • Click Empty presentation to build slides from scratch.
  • Click From template to create a slide from a template:
    • Presentations allow you to choose:
      • Default
      • Introducing a New Product
      • Recommendation of a Strategy
    • Presentation Backgrounds loads the window with several background choices.
  • Open existing presentation opens a presentation file.
If you chose to create a presentation from scratch or from a template, OpenOffice.org Impress helps you to set up your new presentation.
Click the Next button to Select a slide design and Select an output medium . Another click on Next opens the Presentation Wizard to set up your presentation. You can select the Effect and Speed of slide transition, and either Default or Automatic for the Type of Presentation you want. When building a presentation from a template there may be additional pages of questions such as the subject of the presentation or company name or the number of starting slides.
The Create button opens your presentation.
The application opens with the work area, top menu and a drawing menu on the bottom. When you roll your mouse over the icons a description of its function pops up. Click Help or press the F1 key, to open the OpenOffice.org Impress help manual.
A tutorial on using OpenOffice.org Impress is available at https://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Documentation/Tutorials.

10.1.2. OpenOffice.org Calc

OpenOffice.org Calc is a full-featured spreadsheet program.
Start the application with Applications > Office > OpenOffice.org Calc in GNOME, or Kickoff Application Launcher > Applications > Office > Spreadsheet in KDE.
The top bar contains the following menus:
File
lets you create New documents, Open Close , Export and Print a file. This menu also contains the Wizards option that lets you create different templates.
Edit
allows you to Cut , Copy , and Paste data, or to Delete Cells
View
lets you select Toolbars , see Page Breaks , and Zoom in and out.
Insert
lets you insert Cells , Rows , Sheets , Files , Pictures , Sounds , Functions , Special Characters , and Links .
Format
lets you format Cells , Rows , Columns , and the Sheet . These controls also let you set up the Page and Print Ranges , and Change Case and Styles . They also let you Anchor , Align , Arrange , Flip , Group , and manipulate Graphics .
Tools
let you check Spelling , access the Thesaurus , use the Detective , Goal Seek , Solver , and Scenarios filters, configure AutoCorrect , Share , Merge , and Protect the document. You can run Macros , Extension Manager , Customize the application, and set-up various Options .
Data
lets you manipulate the data such as Define or Select Range , Sort , Filter , and Group and Outline .
Window
lets you open a New Window , Close Window , and Split or Freeze the current window. It also lists any open files on the bottom of the drop-down menu.
Help
opens the OpenOffice.org Calc , which you can also access with the F1 key.
The row of icons under the top menu bar contains the most frequently used functions plus a few icons for data manipulation.
The third menu panel allows you to configure the appearance of your data, such as font selection, text alignment, bullets, indentations, bolding, and italics.
The fourth panel shows the address of the cell you are pointing to and the data window shows what the cell contains.
The panel at the bottom of the spreadsheet shows which spreadsheet is currently selected and how many worksheets are in the file.
You can add new worksheets by clicking Insert > Sheet in the top menu panel. A dialog box opens which lets you choose the name of the new sheet and where it will be placed in relation to your existing worksheets. You can also add a new worksheet by right-clicking on a spreadsheet tab. This action opens a menu that allows you to Insert , Delete , Rename , Move/Copy , Select All , Cut , or Copy the spreadsheet.
A tutorial on using OpenOffice.org Calc is available at https://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Documentation/Tutorials.

10.1.3. OpenOffice.org Writer

OpenOffice.org Writer is a word processing program.
Start the application with Applications > Office > OpenOffice.org Writer in GNOME, or Kickoff Application Launcher > Applications > Office > Word Processor in KDE.
The top bar contains the following menus:
File
lets you create New documents, Open Close , Export and Print a file. This menu also contains the Wizards option that lets you create different templates.
Edit
allows you to Cut , Copy , Paste , Compare , or Select Text , and to turn on and configure Auto-Text , Find and Replace , and recording, protecting, comparing and merging Changes .
View
lets you select the type of Layout , Status Bar , Ruler , Toolbars , Text Boundaries , Field Names , Non-printing Characters , Hidden Paragraphs , Full Screen and Zoom in and out.
Insert
lets you insert Manual Breaks , Fields , Special Characters , Formatting Marks , Hyperlinks , Headers , Footers , Footnotes , Bookmarks , Note , Scripts , Cross-reference , Indexes , Tables , Envelopes , Horizontal Ruler , Pictures , Movies and Sound , Objects , Floating Frames , and Files .
Format
lets you format Characters , Paragraphs , Bullets and Numbering , Page , Title Page , Change Case , configure Columns , Styles and Formatting . You can also Anchor , Wrap , Align , Flip , and Group text, and format Objects , Frames , and Pictures .
Tables
allows you to Insert , Delete , Select , and manipulate the Table's Cells . You can also format a Table's cells, rows and columns, add Formulas and access a Table's Properties .
Tools
gives you access to Spelling and Grammar , Language (which includes Thesaurus ), Word Count , Auto correction , Outline Numbering and Line Numbering , Footnotes , Gallery , Media Player , Bibliography Database , and Mail Merge Wizard You can also Sort , Calculate , change and format Macros and Filters , Customize Menus , Keyboard , Toolbars and Events . Options lets you configure your User Data .
Window
lets you open a New Window , Close Window , and lists any open files on the bottom of the drop-down menu.
Help
opens the OpenOffice.org Writer , which you can also access with the F1 key.
The row of icons under the top menu bar contains the most frequently used functions plus a few icons for data manipulation.
The third menu panel allows you to configure the appearance of your document, such as font selection, text alignment, bullets, indentations, bolding, and italics.
The fourth panel shows the address of the cell you are pointing to and the data window shows what the cell contains.
The panel at the bottom of the document contains inset windows, some of which have menu access by double clicking on the window. This panel showns the number of pages the document contains, the page style being used, the language, an indicator of type over or insert, page layout view, and a zoom in and out bar.
A tutorial on using OpenOffice.org Writer is available at https://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Documentation/Tutorials.

 
 
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