Using the Sun Report Builder extension (http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/project/reportdesign), you can create rather sophisticated reports. For example, the miniInvoices solution (http://code.google.com/p/writertools/downloads/list)) relies on this extension for printing single invoices and generating all sorts of reports. The problem with using a separate extension for adding functionality is that it makes the entire database solution less portable. Move the miniInvoices.odb file to a machine without the Report Builder extension, and you loose the ability to print invoices and create reports. But what if you need to print, for example, a single invoice from the miniInvoices.odb database and you don’t have the Report Builder extension installed on your machine? Fortunately, you can solve this problem using OpenOffice.org’s built-in tools. Better yet, this alternative approach provides a good opportunity to learn a few clever OpenOffice.org tricks and can help you to make your database solutions more flexible. The following description uses the miniInvoices.odb database to create a single invoice, but the techniques it demonstrates can be used with any OpenOffice.org Base database.
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Posted by FA Editors at 5:25 PM PDT
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Although OpenOffice.org has a competent word count feature, it lacks one nifty trick: it can show you how many words and characters you’ve already written, but it won’t tell you how close you are to the target. Fortunately, you can write a simple OpenOffice.org macro that not only shows you how many percent of the work are already completed but also presents this data as a nice progress bar. When you run the macro it prompts you to enter the target word count. It then calculates the percentage based on the current word count and displays this data as a progress bar.
by Dmitri Popov
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Posted by FA Editors at 9:29 AM PDT
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No, this is not a day when you free yourself of all your software addictions. Rather, Software Freedom Day is an annual grass roots effort to educate the public on the virtues of free and open source software. The 2008 event takes place on September 20 and will be celebrated in 65 countries across the globe. So exactly what is this open source movement and why are people celebrating it? Moreover, why should you care?
Open source software is available for free, to everyone and unlike for example, Windows or Mac operating systems, it is non-proprietary - meaning it is available for others to share, build upon, change, and redistribute either in its modified or unmodified form.The source code is transparent and allows rights to users which would otherwise be prohibited by copyright. Since the source code is transparent, bugs or security flaws can quickly be discovered and patched. In a proprietary system, the software is closed and typically you are reliant on the company’s “word” that security glitches will be or have been fixed.
Just as Sunshine Laws are invaluable tools to keep the public informed of elected official’s meetings in the public interest, open source provides such user benefits in software as increased control, enhanced security, free or reduced cost and higher quality due to constant peer review of the code.Some excellent examples of open source software include Mozilla Firefox internet browser, Ubuntu operating system, OpenOffice.org, a software suite similar to Microsoft Office, GIMP image editing software and the list goes on and on from there.
So if you’re new to open source, Software Freedom Day celebrates a philosophical movement which values collaboration, community and transparency. It benefits the public good and ensures basic human freedoms are strengthened by technology, not hampered.
Posted by Russell at 9:23 AM PDT
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Opera, one of the major alternative Web browsers to Windows’ Internet Explorer, has opened the door to a new user market with the publication of its Opera Web Standards Curriculum. This curriculum is a complete course that teaches standards-based Web development, including HTML, CSS, design principles and background theory, and JavaScript basics. It already has support from many organizations (including Yahoo! and the Web Standards Project) and universities. The first 23 articles are currently available, with about 30 more to be published between now and late September. The Web Standards Curriculum is completely free to use, accessible, and assumes no previous knowledge.
Some of the authors you’ll meet include Jonathan Lane (President of Industry Interactive—a Web development/application development company located on Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada), Mark Norman Francis (Currently a Front End Architect for Yahoo!, defining best practices, coding standards and quality in Web development internationally), Christian Heilmann (A trainer and lead developer for Yahoo! in the UK who oversees front end code quality for Europe and Asia) and your own Linda Goin. Yes, moi.
This incredibly complex project was pulled together and edited by Chris Mills, developer relations manager for Opera. Chris edits and publishes articles on dev.opera.com and labs.opera.com, liaises with the community to raise awareness of Opera and collect feedback, and evangelizes about Opera software wherever he can. It was a pure pleasure to work with Chris, who has nothing up his sleeve other than to spread the goodness of the Web wherever possible through usable and accessible Web sites.
So what are you waiting for? Go visit!
Posted by Linda at 9:54 AM PDT
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