Note the last line in the example: Once the text is changed, the TextContent object must be assigned to the header again so that the change is effective. The following properties can be specified: The following example shows how the number of pages can be inserted into the footer of a document. In the past, the ResultSet object provided the resident methods in the Application object for navigation within the data, for example, DataNextRecord ). The call is made by entering the procedure name at the relevant point of the program. As a parameter, this takes the name of the property and returns a constant that provides information about the origin of the formatting. The following example inserts text in a rectangle and formats the font com.sun.star.style.CharacterProperties service. More information about working with these buttons is discussed in #Control Elements in Detail. Cells cannot be formatted by column in LibreOffice Basic. Dialogs such as this one are described as modal because they do not permit any other program action until they are closed. The bookmarks of a text are accessed through a list called Bookmarks. There, an error is triggered and program implementation terminated if a corresponding assignment is executed. The interface between the API and various programming languages is provided by something called Universal Network Objects (UNO). A dialog containing a label and a list box. In LibreOffice Writer, standard letters can be created with the assistance of SDBC data sources and these can then be printed out. Download PDF. Until Basic encounters the End With statement, it looks for partly-qualified names: names that begin with a period (unary dot-operator). The When initiating event is also noteworthy for the following reasons: The properties for the Item Status Changed event are: LibreOffice Basic recognizes a range of control elements which can be divided into the following groups: A button performs an action when you click it. One of these is used to query the value of the property and the other is issued to set it (get and set methods). Use UBound() to check if the returned array is empty. The Dialog Editor: Creates personal dialog windows and provides scope for the adding of control elements and event handlers. It only allows iteration to be applied forward, and for values to be interrogated. The declaration can only be made using the supplement As Date. The return value is provided as a bit mask in which the following values are possible: The following example determines the bit mask of the test.txt file and checks whether this is read-only whether it is a directory. The basic object must provide the XEnumerationAccess interface, which contains only a createEnumeration method. The view of the control element can then be determined with the assistance of the model and using the document controller. This guide provides an introduction to programming with LibreOffice Basic. In the first two examples, the code within the loop may not be executed at all ("do 0 times" logic). For this reason, this algorithm is also known as a Bubble sort. Clicking on this symbol opens a text field, in which a comment on the current point in the text can be recorded. The pages of a drawing document are available through the DrawPages container. The LibreOffice API (Application Programming Interface): Permits access to LibreOffice documents and allows these to be created, saved, modified, and printed. The associated constants are defined in the com.sun.star.sheet.GeneralFunction enumeration. The command: specifies the same delay, 2 seconds, as the previous example. The best solution is to use only one approach for error handling within a program - keep error handling separate from the actual program code and do not jump back to the original code after the error occurs. SetModuleB is triggered from one toolbar button and ShowVarB is triggered from another toolbar button, then ShowVarB will display a C value of 0 since module variables are reset after each macro completion. VBA: The ResultSet object from SDBC is comparable with the Recordset object from DAO and ADO, since this also provides iterative access to a database. The following values are included in this structure: The completed CellRangeAddress structure must be passed as the first parameter to the insertCells method. Constants have the same scope as variables (see #Scope_of_Variables Scope and Life Span of Variables), but the syntax is slightly different. The following example uses this method to create an object of cell C3. VBA: Whereas the structure of an object in VBA is defined by the class to which it belongs, in LibreOffice Basic the structure is defined through the services which it supports. In the preceding example, if we replace the ChangeValue function then the superordinate variable A remains unaffected by this change. The main property for single-color fills is: To use the fill mode, you must the FillStyle property to the SOLID fill mode. The right and left-hand edges of the line extend to their points of intersect with each other (LineJoint = MITER) to form a right-angle. If the directory contains sub-directories or files, these are also deleted. In addition to an object for individual cells (com.sun.star.table.Cell service), LibreOffice also provides objects that represent cell ranges. This code determines the object for the MyButton control element and then initializes the Ctl object variable with a reference to the element. They provide the framework for dividing a complex problem into various sub-tasks. It then converts a URL into a local file name and also displays this. You can page through and search in the selected tables and queries, as well as change data records and insert new data records. You can also use the following style to declare an integer type variable: The Dim instruction can record several variable declarations: If you want to assign the variables to a permanent type, you must make separate assignments for each variable: If you do not declare the type for a variable, LibreOffice Basic assigns the variable a variant type. List boxes (com.sun.star.awt.UnoControlListBox service) support the following properties: List boxes provide the following methods: The model object of the list boxes provides the following properties: Note: The following example inserts a paragraph after the 20th character of a text: The False parameter in the call of the insertControlCharacter method ensures that the area currently highlighted by the TextCursor remains after the insert operation. (For Writer documents only, you can use the Template Changer extension to set this feature again.). Below, you will find a list of the most important text fields and their associated properties. Alternatively, if only an empty document without any adaptation is needed, a private:factory URL can be specified: The call creates an empty LibreOffice writer document. The dialog can be reached using Event.Source.Context. The model object of a form button provides the following properties: Through the ButtonType property, you have the opportunity to define an action that is automatically performed when the button is pressed. LibreOffice forms may contain text fields, list boxes, radio buttons, and a range of other control elements, which are inserted directly in a text or spreadsheet. In addition to the properties for characters (com.sun.star.style.CharacterProperties service, refer to #Text Documents) and lines (com.sun.star.drawing.LineStyle service, refer to #Drawings and Presentations), it provides the following properties: For the primary axes grids and sub grids can be displayed, matching to the major and minor intervals. For example, this object provides a start method that can start presentations. This status arises, for example, when querying the bold type property of a paragraph, which includes both words depicted in bold and words depicted in normal font. If the position of the cell is fixed, it is more clear to use the following code: The above code also works with a named cell. The permissible values are defined in com.sun.star.drawing.FillStyle. You must avoid having a marker of public scope with the same name as one of the modules of the library. This code shows that you do not get the type that you specify. creates 4 integer variables which can be described with the expressions MyInteger(1), MyInteger(2), MyInteger(3), and MyInteger(4). The found expressions differ by up to two letters from the search expression: Note: The expressions for searching and replacing are set using the SearchString and ReplaceString properties of the ReplaceDescriptors. For example, in the following variable declaration, MyVar1 becomes a variant and MyVar2 becomes an integer: The following sections list the variable types that are available in LibreOffice Basic and describe how they can be used and declared. These commands stop the procedure or function and return the program to the point at which the procedure or function was called up. This example shows how you may define and use a struct, and how to reference the items within it, both with and without With. To do this in LibreOffice Basic, use the following call: Note: The most important field types and their properties are described in the following sections. Page properties are the formatting options that position document content on a page as well as visual elements that are repeated page after page. Since the points of a polygon are defined as absolute values, you do not need to specify the size or the start position of a polygon. To edit the content of a text frame, the user uses the TextCursor, which has already been mentioned numerous times and is also available for text frames. The Chart object provides the property Diagram which forms the coordinate system with axes and grids, where the data finally is displayed: Different services are supported depending on the chart type (see #Chart Types). The Format function formats numbers as a string. (In the following examples, A > 10 represents any condition): As in the ForNext loop, the DoLoop also provides a terminate command. If the calls to SetModuleB and ShowVarB are independent, e.g. For Each loops do not use an explicit counter like a ForNext loop does. When working with the indexes, note that getCount returns the number of elements. If the corresponding page does not exist, it is created and inserted in the drawing document by the insertNewByIndex method. VBA: In VBA, the formatting properties of an object are usually spread over a range of sub-objects (for example, Range.Font, Range.Borders, Range.Shading, Range.ParagraphFormat). It can access databases created by many database programs, including Microsoft Access, MySQL, Oracle, and PostgreSQL. Then you can use the "perpetual" Do Loop: The WhileWend loop construct works exactly the same as the Do WhileLoop, but with the disadvantage that there is no Exit command available. In a similar way to the search window, the settings needed for a search can be set in the SearchDescriptor object. An ma unit is defined as being one eighth of the average height of a character from the system font defined in the operating system and one quarter of its width. If a new page is inserted in a drawing document of several pages, all subsequent pages which have not been renamed will automatically see their default name change, e.g. 257x267px The computer saves the strings internally as a sequence of numbers where each number represents one specific character. In addition to the listed properties, the com.sun.star.drawing.LineStyle service provides options for drawing dotted and dashed lines. The following example formats the B2 cell so that numbers are displayed with three decimal places and use commas as a thousands separator. The computeFunction expects a constant as the parameter that describes the mathematical function that you want to use. VBA: A ResultSet containing the READ_ONLY and SCROLL_INSENSITIVE properties corresponds to a record set of the Snapshot type in ADO and DAO. Whereas an ODBC data source only covers information about the origin of the data, a data source in LibreOffice also includes a range of information about how the data is displayed within the database windows of LibreOffice. A complete If statement may be written on a single line, with a simpler syntax. Strictly speaking, there are no table columns in LibreOffice. The individual styles can be accessed directly by means of an index: The loop added since the previous example displays the names of all cell styles one after another in a message box. Using Library.Module variable qualification grants explicit access to module-scoped variables: Constants are values which may be used but not changed by the program. This function creates directories and sub-directories. The following example shows how a database context can be created and then used to determine the names of all data sources available. The following get methods are available: In all instances, the number of columns should be listed as a parameter whose values should be queried. A Boolean value is saved internally as a two-byte integer value, where 0 corresponds to the False and any other value to True. There is no type declaration symbol for date variables. The com.sun.star.awt.UnoControlEdit service forms the basis for text fields. The Map AppFont (ma) replaces the Twips unit to achieve better platform independence. The example creates a TextTables list containing all tables of a text that are traversed in a loop. This allows the paragraphs to be edited. Here, you will find an overview of the most common of these interfaces. LibreOffice documents are based on the XML file format. To continue a program without an error message when an error occurs, use the following format: Use the On Error Resume Next command with caution as its effect is global. This is because a paragraph in turn consists of individual sub-objects. A spreadsheet document provides properties and methods for formatting cells and pages. When working with LibreOffice documents, it is useful to deal with some of the basic issues of document administration in LibreOffice. When working with documents, two services are used most frequently: The com.sun.star.frame.Desktop service is created automatically when LibreOffice is started. Through the API, for example, documents can be created, opened, modified and printed. The basic structure of the example is oriented towards the examples for running though the paragraph portions of a text already discussed previously. For Solaris and Linux, an evaluation of the stacksize is performed and the recursion level is calculated. At the end of the program code, the error handling is deactivated by the On Error Goto 0 call and the procedure implementation is ended by the Exit Sub command (not to be confused with End Sub). Purchase or download the latest LibreOffice Calc Guide, written by community experts. There are, however, a few key differences: Users who want to provide their forms with their own methods for event handling, should refer to the #Dialogs chapter. The language of LibreOffice Basic: Defines the elementary linguistic constructs, for example, for variable declarations, loops, and functions. If you want to use an external bitmap file, you can specify its URL in the FillBitmapURL property. . The following example sets the page size of a drawing document which has just been opened to 20 x 20 centimeters with a page margin of 0.5 centimeters: Warning: The TimeSerial function formats time details in the same way that the DateSerial function formats dates: Their parameters should be specified in the sequence: hours, minutes, seconds. The following call creates a copy of the Source file under the name of Destination: With the help of the following function you can rename the OldName file with NewName. As a result, it returns a data field containing the names. 3D charts usually also have a floor. If the operators are applied to Boolean values, the operation provides the result required directly. Like bubbles, the variables gradually migrate to the right position. Anyone who is already familiar with LibreOffice Basic programming can find additional information in the Developer's Guide on LibreOffice Basic and LibreOffice programming. The following example uses the hasByName method to check if a page called MyPage exists. Whereas the dialog functions are available in all LibreOffice documents, the full scope of the form functions are only available in text and spreadsheets. To prevent this effect, the user can access the associated paragraph portions rather than the entire paragraph. com.sun.star.awt.UnoControlTimeField, A numeric field makes it possible to enter, display and edit formatted numeric values. InputBox receives three standard parameters: The Beep function causes the system to play a sound that can be used to warn the user of an incorrect action. Text fields provide the following properties: The following properties are provided through the associated model object: A date field makes it possible to enter, display and edit date values. To get the most out of this book, you should be familiar with other programming languages. The definition will then be available to all routines in the module. This can be compared with highlighting a point in the text using the mouse. Care should be taken when you use the On Error Resume Next command as this dismisses all open error messages. The top left cell is usually called A1 and the bottom right row is usually called Xn, where X stands for the letters of the top column and n for the numbers of the last row. An example of how to use the definition, and how to reference the fields within an instance, appears in the section on WithEnd With. com.sun.star.frame.Desktop resembles an object type; however in UNO terminology it is called a service rather than a type. The example uses the supportsService method to check whether the TextElement is a paragraph or a table. You will find a range of examples which use these methods in the following sections. A complete list of all text fields is provided in the API reference in the com.sun.star.text.textfield module. Finally, the removeByName call removes the object behind OldStyle from ParagraphStyles. The WithEnd With bracketing statements provide an alternative to writing out all the qualifiers, every time and some of the qualifiers in the API can be quite long. The ShapeCollection is added to the page using the Group method and returns the actual Group object that can be edited like an individual Shape. The formatting properties can be found in each object (Paragraph, TextCursor, and so on) and can be applied directly. LibreOffice does not limit the number of pages in a drawing document. Logical operators allow you to do operations on elements according to the rules of Boolean algebra. This example shows how to connect to an existing data source. It passes through a complete document and formats the first word of every sentence in bold type. It can, for example, be moved into the next line if a line break occurs. However there is one major difference: whereas the command format expects English abbreviations and decimal points or characters as thousands separators, the country-specified abbreviations must be used for the structure of a command format for the NumberFormats object. The type of removal is defined by one of the following values from the com.sun.star.sheet.CellDeleteMode enumeration: The XRangeMovement interface provides two additional methods for moving (moveRange) or copying (copyRange) cell ranges. VBA: The VBA option for issuing list entries with a numerical additional value (ItemData) does not exist in LibreOffice Basic. For example, you can create a rectangle and then insert another rectangle inside it to create a hole in the original rectangle: With respect as to which areas are filled and which areas are holes, LibreOffice applies a simple rule: the edge of the outer shape is always the outer border of the polypolygon. All objects that support the com.sun.star.text.Paragraph service also provide support for the paragraph properties in com.sun.star.style.ParagraphProperties. The dialog then changes its appearance as follows: The strings of a Dialog can be localized, see the Developer's Guide chapter #Dialog Localization. The same applies when attempting to assign a string to a Boolean variable: Again, the basic interpreter reports an error. In #Cells and Ranges, the following example has the qualifiers in the Case statements written out completely, for clarity. StarOffice 5: The database is actually accessed in LibreOffice through a ResultSet object. In dialogs, the distinction between data and depiction is not always as clear as in other API areas of LibreOffice. The descriptor objects are created using the document object, completed in accordance with the relevant requests, and then transferred back to the document object as parameters for the search methods. The status information remains valid until the program encounters a Resume or On Error command, whereupon the information is reset. Example declarations of double variables: Currency variables differ from the other variable types by the way they handle values. The following example replaces three characters with the string is from the sixth position of the MyString string. The wall is set to be blue. The loadComponentFromURL function introduced in the previous section returns a document object. Since however, the paragraph portions are edited directly, their formatting information is retained when replacing the string. If you want to keep the original values, use the Preserve command: When you use Preserve, ensure that the number of dimensions and the type of variables remain the same. In other words, formatting using templates is assigned a lower priority than direct formatting in a text. Whereas cell, paragraph, and character elements can be formatted directly, page formats can also be defined and indirectly applied using page styles. Since these function areas are available in all types of documents, they are explained first in this chapter. If no more matches are found for the search term, the function establishes the part of the string still remaining and adds this to the return buffer. The values for selecting the buttons are: To set a button as the default button, add one of the following values to the parameter value from the list of button selections. The methods are accessed through the following object call: A format is specified using a format string that is structured in a similar way to the format function of LibreOffice Basic. The type declaration symbol for a currency variable is @. The modules are of no other functional importance for LibreOffice Basic programmers. FileNo is the handle created by the FreeFile function. A global Dlg variable that references an open dialog must be included to make this example possible. The bookmark is then assigned a name and is inserted in the document through insertTextContent at the cursor position. To get the most out of this book, you should be familiar with other programming languages. For more in-depth information please refer to the OpenOffice.org BASIC Programming Guide on the Wiki. The start() method of the object is used to start the example and run the screen presentation. The preceding Filename and Title properties are of the string type. 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