Openoffice office suite. What is Open Office? How to save a file created in the program

OpenOffice.org Writer is free analogue most popular editor Microsoft Word.

You can download the latest version of the package at , it includes Writer (analogous to MS Word), Calc (analogous to MS Excel) and a number of other products.

The main functions of the Writer editor are similar to Word; editing plain text is almost completely identical.

But sometimes more complex steps are required than just typing text, aligning it in width, making a bold title and printing.

For example, often when creating a text document, for the most convenient and visual display of any information, you need to insert a table.

Tabular data facilitates general understanding.

Open Office Writer offers the essential tools for creating and working with tables.

To insert a table into a specific area of ​​the document, you must insert the cursor in the desired location.

Insertion is done using the "Tables" icon located on the standard toolbar.

After clicking on the icon itself, the “Insert Table” window opens, where you are asked to enter the name of the table, assign the number of columns and rows, turn on or off the framing and display of the table header, and also select the proposed auto-format option.

When you click on the arrow located to the right of the "Tables" icon, the number of columns and rows is determined by moving the mouse.

After left-clicking, a table appears in the document.

If for some reason the selected number of rows and columns does not match the required number, do not worry because rows and columns can always be added as you work with the table.

After the table appears in a text document, the moving “Table” panel of the same name appears in the upper left part of the working field under the standard toolbar, which includes formatting tools.

It can be freely moved from one area of ​​the Open Office Writer window to another.

It is worth noting that the panel appears only when the cursor is inside the table.

When the cursor moves into the text area, the Table panel disappears.

Use the tools in the Table panel to create and format tables.

You can format both the entire table and its individual elements, for example, columns, rows or cells.

To select the area you want to format, insert the cursor and move the mouse while holding the left button.

To format an entire table, you must select the entire table.

You can adjust the width and height of table cells in Open Office Writer by moving their outline.

Hover your mouse over the border of a row or column, wait until a cross with two arrows appears and move the border in the desired direction.

The "Line Style" icon allows you to select how the lines of table cells are displayed.

It could be a double line, a thick line, or no line at all, and so on.

The "Border" tool - adjusts the outline for table cells.

It can be used to remove some unwanted cell borders.

Using the Split Cells, Merge Cells, and AutoFit tools, you can split and rejoin cells and adjust column widths and row heights.

The Insert Rows, Insert Columns, Delete Rows, and Delete Columns tools allow you to delete or add additional cells.

To delete a column or row, you need to stand on it.

Adding a line is carried out under the line with the cursor.

A new column is added by right side from the column where the cursor is located.

The AutoFormat tool offers several table template options in different colors.

Here you can insert and use your own auto-format by loading it from your computer.

In the window that opens, click "Add" and upload the template from your computer.

The Table Properties icon opens up more options for formatting your table.

In the "Table" tab of the window that opens, you can give the table a name, align its position relative to the page, and select dimensions.

In the "On Page" window tab you can configure appearance tables when moving, align text relative to cell boundaries, and so on.

In the "Columns" tab you can configure column parameters.

In the “Framing” and “Background” tabs, you can adjust the table outline, fill the background of table cells, and position the shadow to create a three-dimensional image of the table.

You can use table formatting tools through the "Table" tab in top panel tools.

Using them, you can also delete and add rows and columns, select a table or sections of it, split, merge, or protect cells from formatting, select an auto-format for the table and auto-size columns and rows, insert formulas into cells, select table properties, and so on.

If a table spans more than one page in an Open Office Writer text document, to repeat its column headings on each page, you must check the Repeat Column Headings checkbox in the Table tab of the top toolbar.

Quick access to tools for formatting tables and table text is in the menu that drops down when you right-click.
To make working with tables easier, Open Office Writer has a feature called “Number Recognition.”

With its help, numeric table data is recognized in a given format. In the application, number recognition is set by default.

You can enable or disable the number recognition function through the "Tools" tab, "Options" item, "Open Office Writer" sub-item and "Tables".

On the right in the settings, you need to check or uncheck the boxes next to the “Number recognition” and “Number format recognition” items.

The format is set manually through the "Table" tab of the top toolbar. Go to the tab and select "Number Format".

Or in the right-click menu, where there is also the “Number Format” item.

In the window that opens, select a category, number recognition format option, and some parameters if necessary, then click “OK.”

Inserting tables into a text document is quite easy simple task, if you use to create it text editor Open Office Writer!

Free office suite OpenOffice

Many have heard about Open Office , but still don’t know what it is. It just so happens that this software package is little known among a wide range of users. In my opinion it is undeserved.

We all know what it is Microsoft Office and in most cases we use it. But, as you know, MS Office is a paid office suite. Unlike Microsoft Office, Open Office is free and allows you to perform a huge number of ordinary tasks related to the creation of text documents, tables, presentations and databases.

First, I’ll tell you where to download and how to install Open Office to your computer.

Office suite Open Office can be downloaded from the official website OpenOffice.org, here is a direct link to the download page.

When we go to the download page we will see the following. We are asked to indicate our operating system, language and version. Usually there is no need to change anything, since the site automatically detects the operating system and language. The version of the office suite is the latest one this moment. I downloaded version 4.1.3.

Next, click “ Download full installation ”after which we are redirected to the site SourceForge.net, where the download will start automatically. Before downloading, a message will appear on the page indicating that the download will begin soon.

Once the download is complete, the site page will refresh and display a message about the number of downloads for this package and a button to download again, if necessary.

After we have downloaded the installation file Open Office you need to start the installation. The file itself is usually located in the “ Downloads ”, where your browser usually downloads everything from the Internet. This is what the file itself looks like. Weighs about 132 MB.

Double click and installation will begin. In this case, a Windows security window will most likely pop up and ask if you really want to run this file. Feel free to press the “ Yes" The installation wizard will launch.

A window for selecting the installation folder will appear. But in fact, here we are asked to select not the program installation folder, but the directory into which the files will be extracted. setup files. Default is worker Windows table. The installation wizard will create a folder and unpack it into necessary files. Then the installation itself will begin. After you install Open Office You can safely delete the folder with unpacked files on your desktop on your computer.

So let's continue.

After we press the button “ Install ” the following window will appear. This is the start window for the installation itself. Click “ Further”.

The next step will ask you to enter user information. This information was supplied automatically for me.

Also in this window you can select who will have access to this program. If several people (users) use the computer, then you can limit access to the program. In my case, only I use the computer and therefore left the default settings “ for all computer users (all users) " Have you decided? Then click next.

The next stage of installation is more interesting. As you know, the same Microsoft Office includes several programs, such as MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint and others. It's the same here. In the window " type of instalation ”We will be offered regular and custom installation. I always choose “ Selective ” because I'm wondering what applications and program components the wizard installs. So, choose “ Selective ” and click on the button “ Further”.

A window will appear in front of us with a list of all installed programs and components.

To be honest, for most users 3-4 basic programs are enough. I'll tell you about them later. I chose everything, because I am interested in this office package and I want to have all the programs at hand. So that if something happens you don’t have to install something separately.

So, the office suite consists of 6 programs:

• OpenOffice Writer (I call him “Scribbler” because Writer translated as writer). This is nothing more than an analogue Microsoft Word. Text editor with lots of bells and whistles;
• OpenOffice Calc . Same as spreadsheets Microsoft Excel.
• OpenOffice Draw . Graphics editor for working with vector graphics. An analogue is Microsoft Visio.
• OpenOffice Impress . Designed for creating presentations. Similar Microsoft PowerPoint.
• OpenOffice Base . A program for creating and editing databases. Microsoft has it MS Access.
• and finally OpenOffice Math - a program for working with formulas. Similar Microsoft Equation.

As the main ones for myself, I identified three programs that are similar MS Word, MS Excel And MS PowerPoint, and are most in demand in organizations, schools, and educational institutions. This is a text editor OpenOffice Writer, spreadsheets OpenOffice Calc and presentation software OpenOffice Impress.

What should you choose? You can install the entire package. It takes up a little space on your hard drive, but I'll tell you how to disable installation of what you don't need.

In the selection window opposite each of the components there is an icon with a drop-down menu. When you click on it, a menu appears with the item “ This component will not be available " Let's choose it. After this, the icon next to the component name will change to a red cross. This means that this component will not be installed. Here's an example of what it would look like.

This is how you can exclude the installation of, for example, programs such as OpenOffice Base And OpenOffice Math.

Using the “ Change... ” you can specify the program installation folder if you are not satisfied with the default installation folder ( C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenOffice 4\ ). This is the window that will appear if you click the button.

And using the “ Space ” you can see which partition the program is installed on and how much free space is available on this partition/disk.

If you do not need to change the installation location of the program and there is certainly enough space to install the program, then after selecting the program components, click the “ button Further”.

On the “ File types ” we will be asked if we want to open files in Open Office, if they were created using an office suite Microsoft Office. If we want to Open Office opened documents created in Microsoft Office, then we must indicate exactly what documents these will be: documents MS Word, tables MS Excel and/or presentations MS PowerPoint.

In my opinion, this is very respectful of the user. Usually, when installing a program, they designate themselves as the default application, which leads to the fact that any files that the newly installed program can work with will be opened in it. Sometimes this is not convenient and you have to reassign the program in the file properties.

Here, the installer himself warns that you can decide for yourself whether you need it or not.

Since files created in Microsoft Office do not always open correctly in Open Office, I recommend leaving all the boxes unchecked. Simple documents open without problems, but documents with complex markup, formatting and additional elements will clearly open with errors.

The fact is that Microsoft does not provide complete information about the structure of the formats MS Office. Therefore, developers OpenOffice It is not possible to make the formats fully compatible. After all, this is an element of competition, otherwise OpenOffice would have supplanted the king of office suites long ago - Microsoft Office.

In the next step, the installer will ask us whether it is necessary to create a shortcut on the desktop. Select and then click “ Install ”.

The installation process looks like this.

At the last step the installer will notify us about the successful installation OpenOffice to your computer.

After installation, a folder will appear in the list of programs Open Office. Click to open the entire list installed programs. You can launch programs from here or make shortcuts to the Windows Desktop for greater convenience.

If during installation you selected “ Create a shortcut on the desktop ”, then you will find this label on it.

Double click to open the start window Open Office, where you can select which document you want to create.

Office suite start window OpenOffice.

Introduction

Undoubtedly, many users modern computers They know that Microsoft Office, like Windows, are paid products for which you need to pay a lot of money. However, domestic users still quite rarely think about the fact that software that comes with their PC is worth more than the PC itself. However, this does not apply to enterprises, because if it is discovered that they are using unlicensed software, they can be sued. So you either have to pay quite a lot of money for legal software, or use a free alternative.

Until relatively recently, if you chose the latter option, you had to look for an application whose capabilities would be sufficient to perform certain tasks. However, it is not always convenient to use one from one developer and a spreadsheet from another. Sometimes it is necessary to integrate part of the latter’s functions into a text document (which, for example, in Microsoft Word is done by inserting an Excel table into the document). Moreover, in comparison with the same Microsoft Office, such alternatives often do not satisfy many requirements.

However, everything changed with the release of OpenOffice. This set of applications has its origins in a development known as StarOffice. StarOffice is an alternative Microsoft Office suite created by Sun Microsystems. From the very beginning it was free, then a paid version was released with some additional functions. After this, it was decided to separate free version into an independent project, which was called OpenOffice.

The first version of OpenOffice was a very good alternative to Microsoft Office. However, it had a fairly large number of flaws, as well as rather limited functionality compared to the solution from Microsoft. In this regard, it did not receive distribution corresponding to its possibilities. However, development continued further, and around the time of the release of version 1.1, an alpha version of OpenOffice Second Edition, or 2.0, became available.

OpenOffice 2.0 appealed to a much larger number of users. It offered much broader functionality and high stability, as well as compatibility with other formats (in particular, Microsoft Office documents are supported very well). This is exactly what this article will be about. Next we will look at the installation process and initial setup OpenOffice 2.0 package, and in the next article we will look in more detail at the most popular applications for working with text documents and spreadsheets.

Composition of OpenOffice

As you can understand from the above text, OpenOffice, by analogy with Microsoft Office, consists of several programs that make up the package. However, while Microsoft's product comes in many flavors (Standard, Professional, Enterprise, etc.), OpenOffice is only available in one version. The first is a paid solution, and not all users need all the features it offers. For this reason, such a division was made so that the user could choose for himself which functions he agrees to pay for.

The most famous Microsoft applications Office are the following:

• Word (text editor);
• Excel (spreadsheets);
• Access (database);
• PowerPoint ( electronic presentations);
• Outlook ( mail client, organizer).

They are exactly what is duplicated in OpenOffice. Naturally, their names have been changed:

• Writer(text);
• Calc (spreadsheets);
• Base (database);
• Impress (electronic presentations).

As you can see, only Outlook has no analogue in OpenOffice. Along with the software package in question, applications called Draw and Math are supplied. From their names it is not difficult to guess that the purpose of the first is to create images (extremely simple, by the way), and the second is to create various formulas. By and large, Draw contains all those functions that are evenly distributed in other OpenOffice components. For example, here you can draw some simple objects using vector graphics tools, as well as make diagrams.

As for Math, a similar tool from Microsoft Office is called Microsoft Equation. We will briefly look at its functionality later in the second article along with a review of Writer (Math will be most useful as an application to a text editor). Now let's move on to describing the OpenOffice installation process.

Installation

The main advantage of OpenOffice over Microsoft Office is its cross-platform nature. This package works on all popular platforms, in particular Windows, Linux and MacOS. Some may argue that Microsoft's product is also available for MacOS, to which we will answer that Office is being developed separately for PC and Mac. This proves at least that the latest version of Microsoft Office for Apple's OS bears the index 2004, while the modification for Windows is “one” less: 2003.

This flexibility of OpenOffice was achieved through the use of the cross-platform Qt library. However, this leads to one rather serious drawback of this solution: some “slowness” of its interface, as well as its rather solid “weight” in random access memory computer while working.

Before you start installing OpenOffice, you need to download it from the official project website: www.openoffice.org. There you can find not only the original English version, but also a large number of localized ones. In addition, it also contains special modules for checking in other languages ​​(the number of which, by the way, is several dozen) - we will return to them a little later. As for this article, the most recent modification of the Russian version was chosen for the description, which by the time the material was prepared had reached index 2.0.2.

It is worth noting that to use absolutely all OpenOffice functions you will need to install Java system Runtime Environment. Recently, the software package in question comes with an integrated Java environment. There is also a version without it, which takes up about 15 MB of space less.

The installation process itself is incredibly simple and even simpler than that of Microsoft Office.

When you click the button, a window will appear asking you to read and accept the LGPL license agreement.

The next step will be to enter user data, as well as select access rights: for all users of the computer or only for the one who is currently performing the installation.

In the fourth step, you will need to specify the installation type: full or custom. We'll focus on the second one to take a closer look at all the components that come with OpenOffice.

If you compare the variety of packages supplied with OpenOffice and Microsoft Office, the comparison will be in favor of the latter. This, however, is quite predictable. However, looking ahead, we note that in most cases there will be no shortage of OpenOffice functionality.

In the penultimate step you will be asked to select those formats Microsoft files Office that you would like to open in OpenOffice. By default, none are selected. If you just want to “see” what a free “office” is, then we recommend leaving everything here without any changes. After that, click “Next” and go directly to the installation itself.

Before moving on to the settings, we need to mention the need to re-accept license agreement. You will be asked to do this the first time you launch any application included with OpenOffice.

All settings are grouped in the now fashionable “tree” structure, which is located on the left. Let's dwell only on the most important settings from our point of view.

Memory usage settings can be adjusted in the item of the same name on the left. You can leave the cache settings unchanged, but sometimes it makes sense to disable the “Start OpenOffice.org during system boot” checkbox. As we mentioned above, the OpenOffice interface is written using the Qt library, which is quite slow due to its versatility. Therefore, changing this parameter can reduce system RAM consumption by several megabytes or, conversely, speed up the initial launch of OpenOffice programs several times.

On the “View” tab, perhaps the most interesting group of checkboxes is “3D Image”. Yes, OpenOffice uses OpenGL to render some objects. This graphics library can be used when drawing or when constructing diagrams.

A very interesting feature of OpenOffice is the automatic replacement of fonts that are missing in the system. This may be most relevant to users of Linux operating systems, where there can usually be some issues with fonts in terms of availability.

All documents created in OpenOffice can be password protected. Naturally, a similar function is found in Microsoft Office. However, it is worth noting that there are a large number of programs designed to hack documents in MS Office format. As for the software package in question, saving it in one native format can serve as good protection, since OpenOffice is not installed everywhere.

In the “Load/Save” group, the sections “VBA and Microsoft Office Properties” are of greatest interest. They are responsible for compatibility with Microsoft Office documents. The first item is used to configure the conversion parameters of macros written in Visual Basic (in total, OpenOffice supports four languages ​​for creating macros: OpenOffice Basic, Python, BeanShell and JavaScript), and the second is intended to set automatic conversion parameters, which is one of the workflow automation functions. In particular, for example, you can set to save all MS Word documents in the Writer format, or vice versa - convert from Writer to the Word format.

The “Linguistics” item from the “Language Settings” group is responsible for checking spelling. Here you can specify which languages ​​to check, as well as which ones to use. In addition, given the specifics of documents typed by Russian-speaking users, it would be a good idea to check the “Check in all languages” checkbox. In this case, if the text contains, for example, Russian (main text) and English (some inserts) words, then they will all be checked separately in accordance with the language in which they are printed, and not recognized as monolingual text.

It is worth noting that along with the Russian version of OpenOffice, a corresponding module for checking Russian spelling is supplied. However, if you need support for another language, or if you suddenly decide to install the English version, you will have to add the verification language manually. This is not as easy to do as in Microsoft Office.

First, you need to download the language module from the appropriate page on the Internet.

Then you need to find the location of the dictionary.lst file. By default it is located in /share/dict/ooo. It must be opened in any text editor like standard notepad. Next, you need to enter two lines with the following content at the end of the file:

HYPH ru RU hyph_ru_RU
DICT ru RU ru_RU_ie

The first is used to indicate a dictionary of synonyms, and the second is used to check spelling. It is worth noting that hyph_ru_RU and ru_RU_ie are real file names, listed here without an extension and located in the folder along with the dictionary.lst file. So unpack the downloaded language module into /share/dict/ooo.

Before finishing the story about the basic settings of OpenOffice, it is worth mentioning the section responsible for connecting to the Internet. It can be useful if you need to access any program from the package on the World Wide Web. If you access it through a proxy server, you can set its parameters for OpenOffice in the “Internet” group.

We briefly described the main components of the OpenOffice package, and also went over the most important global settings. We can only note that among the latter there are several interesting parameters that are not available in Microsoft Office, but because of them there is no need to change it to a free alternative.

OO Writer and MS Word

Now let's get down to business, and we'll start with what lies on the surface - the interface of the Writer main window.

If you download the OO Writer and MS Word programs, several differences immediately catch your eye. Firstly, this lack additional panel(called the “Task Pane” in the Russian version of Word), where you can quickly access various functions.

Secondly, in Writer, conventional lines show the page layout (can be removed via the “View->Text Borders” menu). Well, thirdly, the toolbar and status bar are different. It is noteworthy that the number of menu items is absolutely the same and even their order is almost identical.

The functionality of the document opening windows in Writer and Word is almost completely identical, with the only exception that for latest program it is slightly expanded. In particular, there is extra menu“Service”, which allows you to connect a network drive, view the properties of the selected folder or file, and so on.

Much more significant differences can be found by expanding the drop-down list with supported file types. If with MS Word everything is more or less clear (it is possible to open documents created in Word, WordPerfect, as well as HTML pages), then the OpenOffice developers took a different path.

You can immediately notice that the number of supported formats is very large. This, however, is not surprising - to the already familiar “docs” (.doc), its own formats are added, as well as support for StarOffice files, from which, let us recall, OpenOffice grew. In addition, there is support for documents from more exotic programs, which in our area are not very often found on a regular office or home computer.

If you scroll down this huge list, then text formats spreadsheets, presentations, and so on will follow. This is one of the fundamental differences between MS Office and OpenOffice: the ability to create and open any documents from any application in the package.

Indeed, if you open the “File->New” menu in OpenOffice, the selection will not be limited to documents, for example, of only one Writer. If you select a spreadsheet, Calc will load, if you select a presentation, Impress will load, and so on.

When working with text, styles are of great importance. The corresponding item is located in the “Format” menu (as, indeed, in MS Word). The window for editing styles looks extremely simple: at the top there is a small toolbar (you can select styles for a paragraph, for characters, for a page, frames and lists various types), then follows a list of available styles, and at the very bottom there is a drop-down list that groups styles by any criterion.

In the case of MS Word, everything is generally identical, with the only exception that there is no such obvious division of styles for paragraphs, pages, and so on. In addition, the panel immediately shows what text formatting will happen when you select a style, whereas in OpenOffice you have to apply it first.

Creating and editing styles in OpenOffice and MS Office occurs in several stages various principles. If in the first case all settings are proposed to be performed in the window with a large number tabs, then in the second all parameters are accessed from one window.

By the way, it is worth noting that if you change the settings of the main styles in OO Writer, they will still not be written to the default template. So that when creating a new document, the necessary design is immediately available to you, you need to do the following: first, set the parameters that you want to apply when creating a new file, that is, you just need to specify the font, its size, indentation from the edges, background color, text and so on. But at the same time, you should not print anything in the document, since the typed text will be loaded along with the rest of the settings.

The next step is to set the created template as the default for all documents. In the window from the menu “File->Templates->Manage” in the list on the left, expand the “My templates” folder, select yours and right-click to call context menu, where the item you need is located, which will allow you to select the created default template.

Now it remains to consider the implementation of basic functions, such as creating tables, inserting various objects, a print window, spell checking and others.

It must be said that working with tables in OpenOffice is generally more convenient than in MS Word. There are four ways to insert a table into a page: through the Insert menu, through the Table menu, using a keyboard shortcut, and through the toolbar. The last point is worth noting separately.

As you can see from the screenshots, for Word, when creating a table through the toolbar, there is a limit on the number of rows and columns. In Writer, this number is limited by the resolution of your screen - as you move your mouse cursor to the right and down, the area will increase.

Inserting a table through the menu opens a corresponding window where you can set the number of rows and columns, as well as the display of the header (the “Header” checkbox). The last parameter means that a special style will be applied to the first row of the table, making it stand out from the rest. In addition, you can set the title to repeat on each page if the table does not fit on one. You can also set a name for the table so that you can later make a link to it.

There are also standard table design templates:

The possibilities for editing tables in OO Writer are also wider than in MS Word. In particular, in the first program you can very simply insert a row or column, practically without disturbing the formatting of everything else, just as there is a more flexible system for splitting cells into parts. Although, on the other hand, inserting a table from Calc (spreadsheets) into Writer, as is possible in Word (inserting an Excel table), occurs somewhat differently.

First you need to select the desired range of cells in Calc, then copy it to the clipboard and paste it into Writer.

After that, by double-clicking it, editing it will become possible as if you were in Calc.

Inserting a mathematical formula into an OO Writer document also requires less manipulation. You just need to go to the “Insert->Object” menu and select “Formula”, whereas in Word you have to insert an object Microsoft programs Equation per page, which can be a bit confusing for a newbie.

As for the editor itself, it is more convenient in the Microsoft product, as it is more visual. In OpenOffice, a separate field appears at the bottom, where one or another mathematical operation is conventionally designated.

Drawing in Writer also follows a slightly different principle. If a special area is created in Word where any drawings are placed, then in open editor The “canvas” is the entire document. The drawn object can be tied to either a paragraph or a character, or even made “free”.

It's worth saying a few words about checking grammar. If you configured it correctly, the program will only be able to check spelling. You will have to monitor the punctuation personally. In addition, if any word is underlined as incorrect, then if you need to add it to the dictionary, you will be asked to choose one of three. Why this was done is not entirely clear. You can add to any - the word will no longer be underlined.

Preview is also not much different from the “Word” version.

But the possibilities for setting up printing in MS Word are wider than in Writer. Thus, the latter does not have the function of scaling several pages on one, and you cannot set two-sided printing.

On the other hand, searching and replacing a string in a document is not implemented as conveniently as in Word. Although the capabilities are the same in both, in Writer they are all grouped in one window, and in the Microsoft editor they are organized into tabs. In addition, in Word it is more convenient to set special search parameters, such as “search only bold text.”

By and large, we have reviewed the main functions of the Writer program from the OpenOffice package. We can only mention some unique features, such as support for exporting a document to PDF format(which can be very useful in some cases), as well as comparisons of two documents:

In addition, I would like to note that there is no review function in Writer. And although if you open a MS Word document with a review, the changes will be visible, but it is not displayed as conveniently as in the original editor:

Overall, however, Writer's compatibility with MS Word documents is excellent. Of course, very complex formatting will be too much for him, but the vast majority of files will be displayed correctly. In addition, it is very pleasant to note that this statement is also true for the opposite: Writer perfectly saves to MS Word format. Documents look almost the same in both editors.

And we move on to consider the program for working with spreadsheets OpenOffice Calc.

OO Calc and MS Excel

As in the case of Writer, we will begin the description of Calc with the interface of the main window.

We believe that we will surprise few people with the statement that the interfaces of Calc and Excel are very similar in many ways. At the top of the window there is a menu, below it there are toolbars, in the center there are the tables themselves, and at the bottom there is a similar status bar with sheet tabs. Excel just added a “Task Pane”, like any other MS Office application.

However, if you go deeper, the differences become more noticeable. Let's take the same styles for example. Editing and creating them in Calc is done in much the same way as in Writer, while in Excel these operations are performed completely differently.

One of the most important tasks of spreadsheets is calculating values ​​using some formulas and functions. Inserting a function in Calc is almost the same as in Excel. However, it is worth noting one very important point: the functions in the first program are named English language in any localized version, whereas in a product from Microsoft - in Russian in the Russian-language version and in English in the English-language version.

We tend to believe that the Calc developers' choice is preferable. Think for yourself, if suddenly for some reason you have to change Russian Excel version into English, then there will be a need to re-learn some functions, or rather, search for their analogues in another language. Agree, this is very inconvenient.

The implementation of the autofilter function in Calc is practically no different from that in Excel, however, the latter has the ability to select all empty and filled cells. In addition, there are some differences in creating a filter condition:

As you can see, in spreadsheets from OpenOffice you can set three conditions for the filter, as well as specify parameters such as case sensitivity, input regular expression, search without repetitions (grouping).

Working with diagrams is implemented in a very interesting way. First, despite excellent compatibility with many MS Office documents, Calc does not display charts and graphs created in Excel correctly. Here's a good example:

As for the native charting functions, they have both unique properties and do not offer some often needed capabilities. The process of creating a diagram begins by selecting the appropriate item from the Insert menu or button on the toolbar. You immediately have to set the size of the chart yourself, while Excel by default sets the standard width and height.

The order in which the chart itself is constructed differs quite significantly between Calc and Excel. In the first case, you are first asked to specify the exact range, as well as some other parameters, and in the second, you are asked to select the chart type.

In the second step, it’s the other way around – Calc offers to select the type of chart (and then immediately one of its available subtypes or options), and Excel – the range of cells from which the data will be taken.

As a result, the result is approximately the same, even the default colors are the same. However, some editing options are not available. This particularly applies to filling. For the chart stripes themselves, you can set the filling with a solid color, a gradient, shading, or some kind of pattern. But what’s surprising is that the gradient can only be selected from those provided by the developers, and for some reason it’s not possible to set the colors yourself:

It must be said that this is a rather serious flaw that can quite significantly limit the use of Calc. And, the strangest thing is, the OpenOffice developers are not even planning improvements in this regard. In any case, editing diagrams has remained unchanged since the first alpha versions of OpenOffice 2.0. But, on the other hand, you can turn on transparency and shadows for graphs. In addition, you can create three-dimensional charts, where you can set any angle of inclination and even calculate the lighting for each strip of the graph:

If Excel saves to CSV files as best it can, Calc offers to set the encoding in which the file, field separator, and text separator will be written.

What's especially noteworthy is the ability to set special parameters for opening CSV files, which is done in case Calc does not recognize the data correctly. Again, you can select the field and text separator, as well as the encoding. A preview of the table will be shown below. Excel just opens without asking anything.

Perhaps this is where we will finish the story about OpenOffice Calc. Some of its functions were announced in the section about Writer (for example, preview, print window, spell check), but some do not deserve such close attention. Therefore, we now move directly to the conclusions regarding the considered package.

conclusions

Although we've only looked at two of the main OpenOffice programs, they are the most popular of them all. So, Writer. This application, in our opinion, is a very good alternative to Microsoft Word. They are offered almost no less functionality(basic ones, anyway), and Writer, like all of OpenOffice, is absolutely free. And although some things are not implemented as conveniently (and some, on the contrary, are more convenient), in general, this program is more than enough to perform the vast majority of tasks.

As for OpenOffice Calc, it is, in fact, a rather unique product on the market. While there are many alternative text editors, there are far fewer spreadsheets. And Calc showed itself to be very worthy in this regard. In general, if you compare it with Excel, the latter is more convenient and faster to work with, but if you remember that Calc is free, then most of the complaints should disappear. Although the described shortcomings in the design of diagrams, we believe, would need to be corrected.

By the way, it would not be out of place to note some “slowness” of OpenOffice programs when saving large documents. Our attempts to understand this led to the following conclusion: the culprit is the file format of this package. All of them are saved as XML, packed in a ZIP archive (!). It’s the transformation and packaging that take quite a long time. Try to open it yourself somehow file manager or archive any file from any OpenOffice application and verify the accuracy of these statements.

As a result, we can draw the following conclusion: it makes sense to try OpenOffice if you have the time (even a little) and desire (even a little). You may like it, and you won’t have to go back to Microsoft Office (or any other package).

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What is the software package often referred to simply as Open Office? This office is a freely available software package created on the basis of the Star Office package, in turn developed by one of the divisions of the Sun Microsystems organization. This software package includes a set of all the necessary “office” components, such as: a text information editor Writer, an application for creating and managing databases - Base, an application for preparing and editing presentations - Impress, a mathematical formula editor - Math, a graphic information editor - Draw, as well as spreadsheets - Calc.

The base of file formats of the OpenOffice software package is the free Open Document format (ODF), which in turn is an international ISO/IEC standard. Besides, this standard for operations with information has been adopted in many countries at the state level.

The main differences between OpenOffice and Microsoft Office

The first and most obvious difference that can be noticed at the stage of purchasing a software package is the distribution method. Programs from OpenOffice are freely implemented, which means that the software package with all the elements included in it can be purchased absolutely free, including all necessary updates. As for Microsoft products, the software package is subject to licensing for each single installed copy, and in the case of use on a terminal server, an individual license for each employee using the software package.

The second difference that catches your eye is the speed of loading and the complete readiness of the document for work. Today, the applications included in OpenOffice are slightly inferior to their competitor from Microsoft. Although if we consider the special case of opening an Open Document format file with a free package and an OpenXML file with Microsoft help Office 2007, then it will take almost the same amount of time. However, there is a way to reduce the need to wait for opening documents to almost a minimum by allocating RAM for this - OpenOffice has a function quick launch, which is located in the tray and can quickly open the required document type. In general, the speed with which files are opened is an additional “plus” for organizations switching to using Open Document format files. The OpenOffice software package is characterized by fast opening of “native” files, which is especially noticeable in cases of large documents.

The applications included in the free package for creating and editing text information and spreadsheets, also known as Writer and Calc, are, on the whole, similar to competitors Word and Excel. However, we must not forget about the differences in the interface, especially in comparison with the latest Microsoft versions Office. For example, the text editor Ms Word 2007 has a standard function for numbering document pages, without taking into account the numbering on the first page. In the case of the Writer editor, this function integrated into general global document layout systems, which does not always satisfy consumers. In addition, the spreadsheet application Calc has a structure based on the syntax of standardized mathematical expressions, which differs from Excel, which has a structure built on the basis of self-developed templates.

Applications for working with presentations, drawings and databases, also known as Impress, Draw and Base, are currently not superior in their characteristics to similar programs from Microsoft, namely PowerPoint, Visio and Access. As for the Math element of the software package, in this case we can talk about parity with its competitor Equation Editor, not to mention the large number of positive reviews in favor of the first, thanks to its TeX syntax support function.

It should be taken into account that an objective comparison is significantly different from a practical comparison, since each of the constituent elements of software packages has both strengths and weaknesses. It can often happen that, under certain conditions, the Draw and Base applications turn out to be much more useful and convenient than their expensive counterparts.

It is worth saying that the OpenOffice software package does not have an application similar Outlook program, therefore a similar user information manager and at the same time an email client will have to be selected additionally. In fact, this is not a problem, since there is plenty to choose from. For those organizations that give priority to MS Exchange, the most optimal way would be to use the Evolution package. In the same case, when there is no need to conduct activities using the native Exchange protocol, you should take a closer look at Mozilla Thunderbird with the Lightning add-on, which latest versions integrated and does not require additional installation. It turns out that the absence of the Outlook application in the free OpenOffice software package is not a big problem.

In what cases is OpenOffice the optimal solution?

File handling ability open format Open Document creates a great advantage for the OpenOffice package, since if you need to organize quick access to any of the necessary documents at any time, especially over a long period, for example, several years, this is the best option. Today, there are several software packages that correctly import and work with Open Document format documents. There is a clear trend towards their increase in the future, as well as an increase in the number of document management systems that accept this format documents. This creates the possibility that an organization's documents can be used and printed without problems decades after they were created, and even when the organization that produced the software no longer exists.

In addition, the OpenOffice software package is the best option if an organization is transferring its IT structure to “alternative operating systems,” such as Linux, or predicts such a decision in the future.

When making a serious decision to switch to using the OpenOffice software package, any organization faces the need for a thorough analysis of its own activities and the structure of the company’s organizational processes. A number of questions arise that need to be answered before switching to a new software package. These questions allow you to systematize information about the use office programs in the organization, and what requirements are imposed on it:

1. How outdated is the technical base of the enterprise?
2. Do you use the Microsft Access application?
3. How complex are the files generated, and do they have macros in their structure? Is Microsoft PowerPoint functionality used?
4. Is the software generally used to create documents in Microsoft Office format?
5. Do you exchange MS Office documents with third parties? Is it necessary to send files of this exact format to other companies?

In the case of a detailed consideration of each question, the approving answer, of course, does not favor the organization's use of the OpenOffice software package. But even if affirmative answers were received to all questions, this does not mean that the organization’s use of OpenOffice programs is excluded. Let's look at this situation in more detail.

The outdated technical base has its own specifics when using software. In order for the OpenOffice software package to work properly, you must have at least 256 megabytes of RAM and a sufficiently powerful processor. If you have older equipment, it is best to use OpenOffice in terminal mode, launched from a more powerful server in terms of performance, or consider purchasing a more advanced computer.

In cases where a company's business process is directly related to an information system built on Microsoft Access, an easy transition to using the OpenOffice package will not be possible. However, the following options exist: firstly, it is necessary to assume a change in the existing information system to a similar analogue that reproduces the same functions, but is capable of compatible work with OpenOffice. If this option is not possible, you can order a similar analogue, or allocate resources for its independent development. Such an information system can be created, for example, based on OpenOffice.org Base, or using 1C, if this program not yet applied in the organization's activities. In addition, it is possible to create an information system as an isolated independent application capable of exchanging information with the OpenOffice package.

In the case when an organization uses a Microsoft Office product for creating and editing presentations, namely Power Point, the situation can be easily resolved thanks to simple testing of the OpenOffice software package on standard files and tasks of the organization. It is quite enough to create and check the quality of the exchange, for example, a set of ten documents, which will include both the simplest and most complex files in structure. For example, documents that contain tables, text with a non-standard direction of arrangement, various formulas, a large amount of information on many pages, as well as standard presentations created in Power Point, if any are used in the activity at all. At first glance, it will be easy to determine whether OpenOffice is ready to work with documents created in the enterprise. As for macros, quite often they, like formulas from MS Excel, can be used in Calc; in such cases, the OpenOffice.org assembly must support macros from Excel.

If we talk about software that needs Microsoft installation Office for creating documentation, then similar methods can be used, as is the case with MS Access. In addition, there are attempts to create a custom interconnection bridge between MS Office and OpenOffice. One example of such a solution is Uni Office @ Etersoft, under whose auspices a translator of calls to Microsoft Office elements is being created into the same calls for OpenOffice.

File sharing with other companies is the most difficult to control. Some definitely the right decision does not exist in this case. Of course, the best option is to use and send Open Document format files to third parties. This option is the most optimal, since it makes it possible to exchange information without being tied to software. It is necessary to strive for this option, since at the moment there is a situation where an organization switches to using, for example, Microsoft Office 2007, and is forced to exchange data with third-party organizations that have to suffer because they use MS Office XP or 2003. If a document in the Open Document format had been used, such problems could have been avoided.

In terms of compatibility, OpenOffice does a good job of importing and exporting Microsoft product format files such as Word with the extension doc files, docx and Excel - xls, xlsx. For more complex cases, you can use free software applications Microsoft, which make it possible to edit and print MsOffice files. Similar programs can be found for applications such as Word and Excel, as well as for the Power Point presentation editor.

As a result of the analysis, we can conclude that it is possible for an organization to switch to using the OpenOffice software package. In this case, the transition can be complete, which will be used by all employees, with the exception of one backup copy MS Office, which exists in case it becomes possible to convert any received documents or documents for distribution. The second option is the transition to the new software only by some departments where there is no need to use the Microsoft Office package.

When switching to new software, both company employees and management may have different attitudes towards it. The attitude can vary from welcoming innovation to complete sabotage of work activities. A big role, of course, is assigned to the reaction to change by management personnel. It is these employees who should first fully begin to use OpenOffice when the organization fully transitions to it. Because, otherwise, an erroneous opinion may be formed based on the perception of free products - management uses “good software” and saves on the team. If management starts using this software package, it will serve as an excellent example for others, which will lead to a smooth development of the new software. Of course, it is important to let employees understand that the introduction of the free OpenOffice software package into the work process is not just a way to save money by abandoning Microsoft products, but a rational decision, justified by the foresight of management personnel. When deciding on a complete transition to a new office, you must be strict about the implementation this process, since otherwise difficulties may arise with document flow from using MS Office, which does not accept the Open Document format.

Of course, the process of an organization transitioning to using a new software package is a real implementation. In this regard, it is necessary to properly organize the process, familiarize staff with the proposed functionality, and also provide the necessary consultations if various difficulties arise during the work process. If the process of implementing a new software package is handled by a third-party company, the managers of the organization making the transition to new programs are recommended to carefully consider the retraining of their own employees.

Differences in OpenOffice packages

When organizational matters resolved, it is necessary to address issues directly related to the OpenOffice software package itself. Assemblies of this program can be different, ranging from those intended for installation on the Linux operating system, or a set of programs from Ru.OpenOffice.org, Novell, or an assembly from Go-OO. In addition, you can use both the Infra-Resource software package - OpenOffice.org Pro, and your own.

As for the packaging of programs for Linux, the software package is usually developed specifically for the operating system, but such an assembly can be more productive than third-party external ones.

The Ru.OpenOffice.org software package is an officially localized package of the OpenOffice.org software package. There is nothing special to report about them, except that such kits exist.

As for the OpenOffice Novell build, it can please users with specific innovations for this package, such as the execution of Excel macros, the OpenXML format filter system, as well as licensed excellent fonts for working in text editors. In addition, such a kit, when installed in combination with Linux Enterprise Desktop makes it possible to get an analogue of Outlook - a user information manager and at the same time an Evolution mail client.

The Go-OO project was carried out by creators who disagreed with Sun Microsystems Corporation's official strategy regarding the code composition of OpenOffice.org. The result was some interesting changes that had not been included in the standard OpenOffice.org coding for a long time. For example, a software package may contain specific features of the Novell package aimed at speeding up the launch of files, and at the same time many other changes. As a rule, practice shows that such changes often entail a violation of the stability of the program's actions.

Lastly, let's look at the OpenOffice.org Pro software suite. We can say that in this case there are cardinal differences. Firstly, this software package is most adapted for documents in Russian of various versions from MS Office. This advantage is fully noticeable when working with MS Excel files created using 1C: Enterprise 7.x. In addition, such a kit has a large number of adaptive capabilities for “national document flow”, since it contains both GOST standards for design and many unified document templates of the Russian Federation standard.

In case none of the existing OpenOffice software packages appeal to you, then it is possible to create your own assembly.

For those situations when work computers have an operating system Linux system, the optimal solution would be to use a set of programs specifically for Linux, which will entail good speed and productivity of applications.

Bottom line

Ultimately, we can say that today most business organizations carry out their activities using office software packages. As for the use of OpenOffice, practice shows that this is quite possible and often absolutely justified. An example would be any organization whose accounting is outsourced - in this case, the process of switching to new software is seamless and not complicated in any way. The main thing that should not be forgotten is that it is necessary to take a responsible approach to the implementation of a new software package, training and supporting the organization’s staff.

IN Lately Almost all self-respecting print and electronic publications have started talking about the OpenOffice.org project. We also considered it necessary to contribute.

The package includes the following programs:

• OpenOffice.org Writer - a program for working with text documents and HTML, an analogue of Microsoft Word;
• OpenOffice.org Calc - a program for working with spreadsheets, an analogue of Microsoft Excel;
• OpenOffice.org Base - a program for creating databases;
• OpenOffice.org Draw - a program for creating and editing images;
• OpenOffice.org Impress - a program for creating presentations, similar to Microsoft PowerPoint;
• OpenOffice.org Math is a program for working with mathematical formulas.

These components can not be installed all at once, but separately - however, this is only possible in Windows. The Linux and Mac OS X versions of OpenOffice.org do not have the ability to selectively install components.

Each program is compatible with all common document, spreadsheet, presentation, and image formats. Documents are displayed in high quality, with virtually no loss in structure. But the database program, unfortunately, is not compatible with Microsoft Access. In general, you can easily download Microsoft Office documents (Word, Excel, Powerpoint), edit them and save them both in the original format and in the OpenOffice.org format. The main limitation is that OpenOffice.org does not execute macros in these documents. Note that although OpenOffice.org does not support Visual Basic, it instead has the OpenOffice.org Basic language for macros.

OpenOffice.org is closely associated with a relatively new, but promising data storage format - OASIS OpenDocument Format (ODF). ODF is based on the old OpenOffice.org format, it is an open format, as the name suggests, based on XML, and in order to support it in their application, developers do not need to worry about licenses, patents and royalties for using the format. Despite doubts among some analysts regarding its rapid and widespread implementation, various organizations are already showing interest in it. In particular, the European Commission recommended using this particular format for document flow in the EU. By the way, another important innovation is associated with OASIS OpenDocument - such documents allow digital signature, which is very important for organizing secure document flow.

Rumor has it that support for this document format will appear even in Microsoft Office 2007. So far, Microsoft Office does not have built-in tools for working with OpenDocument. There is an external plugin that allows Microsoft Office to work with files OpenDocument format. However, this plugin requires a network connection since the engine that provides support runs on a server.

OpenOffice.org also has some advantages over Microsoft's package. These include, for example, the ability to save a document as a PDF file. The button for saving to PDF is placed directly on the main toolbar. Note that OpenOffice.org 2.0 has improved support for exporting to PDF - images are now saved correctly (and you can choose the degree of compression) and hyperlinks, and filters for Corel WordPerfect are also implemented.

Once you install OpenOffice.org and launch a word processor or spreadsheet program, you'll see a familiar interface with the same menu options and toolbars. You can hardly get confused in the “Tools”, “Format”, “Edit” items - if you are used to working with the Microsoft Word menu, you will almost certainly find the corresponding commands in the corresponding Writer menu. Thanks to this, there are no problems with mastering the package.

Noteworthy is the stylish interface design that meets modern requirements. Dynamic panels in the style of Microsoft Office 2003, a taskbar that groups the most necessary tools, modern and convenient menus and icons make the program clearer and friendlier to users. The most significant changes affected the OpenOffice.org Impress presentation program, whose interface has undergone a thorough redesign - the multi-panel mode provides convenient access to the slide, templates and tools, and the preview function. GNU/Linux users will appreciate improvements in visual compatibility with the KDE and GNOME desktop managers in version 2.0.

The main programs of the package are the text editor Writer, the spreadsheet program Calc and Impress, a program for creating presentations. Of these three applications, only Impress can be said to be significantly inferior to its Microsoft counterpart. As for the first two programs, their differences from Word and Excel are insignificant.

The functionality of OpenOffice.org Base - a program for working with databases - is similar to that provided by other applications of this class: creating forms for data entry, reports, using GUI to establish relationships between tables. However, we cannot yet say that this is a full-fledged replacement for Microsoft Access.

The kit includes a vector Draw editor, most reminiscent of Corel Draw, but with a very small set of functions. However, with its task - creating simple vector drawings for use as illustrations in text documents - Draw copes quite successfully. In addition, OpenOffice.org also contains a mathematical formula editor called Math; unfortunately, it is still inferior in convenience and functionality to its counterpart in Microsoft package Office.

One of the interesting features of the package is the ability to use it without installation, which allows you to run required applications, for example, from a flash drive. In addition, there is something to please system administrators, managing networks based on Active Directory: OpenOffice.org supports msi package installation technology, which makes it easier to deploy OpenOffice in Windows 2000 domains using group policies.

The latest version of OpenOffice.org to date is version 2.0.3 RC2. You can download it without any problems using the product. If it is not possible to download, the product can be ordered at the price of the media through the Softkey.ru catalog. The package is able to run under MS Windows, GNU/Linux, Sun Solaris, Mac OS X (X11) and a number of other platforms.

Naturally, OpenOffice.org 2.0 is not without its drawbacks. The product's gluttony for system resources has become the talk of the town. However, even this can be overlooked if you remember that you don’t have to pay to use the product. Budget savings amounting to hundreds of dollars can be a good argument for choosing OpenOffice.org.

In short, the project continues to develop, and the number of its supporters is constantly growing. At the moment, OpenOffice.org has reached the point of development where it can take away thousands of users from Microsoft, and with them a good part of the income. On that free package Organizations are increasingly paying attention, and the sale of licenses to corporate users is the main source of income from Microsoft Office.