Page 1 of 1

Import Calc spreadsheet content into Writer table?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 2:05 pm
by Moon
I have a simple spreadsheet in Calc that has 6 columns and twenty rows with some text in it. I would like to import the contents of this sheet into a table in a writer document. How do I this? Whenever I copy and paste I only get the complete spreadsheet over instead of just the cell data. TIA!

Re: Import Calc spreadsheet content into Writer table?

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 2:47 pm
by Villeroy
Copy the cell range in Calc.
Writer-menu:Edit>Paste Special... [Ctrl+Shif+V].
This pops up a dialog with several options. You get the same options from the clipboard-icon on the main toolbar.
calc8 = insert editable object, the default you already know
DDE link = insert a table linked to the Calc table
HTML and RTF = insert as formatted table
GDI and Bitmap = insert as picture
Unformatted text, inserted with tabs between columns, can be converted to a table [menu:Table>Convert>Text to table]

Re: Import Calc spreadsheet content into Writer table?

Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 12:08 am
by mattball
To elaborate on Villeroy's Post:

Using the HTML and RTF formatting gets you most of the way there, but there are some formatting hold-overs that you may want to clean up. Here is a process to get the formatted Calc information into a Writer table:
  • Create a new Writer Table with the number of columns and rows you need (Table->Insert->Table, or Ctrl+F12)
  • In Calc, select and copy the range of cells you want to import into Writer
  • In Writer, use Paste Special (Edit->Paste Special... or Ctrl+Shift+V) below or above the Writer table (not in the table, yet). For 'Selection', choose either "Formatted text [RTF]" or "HTML (HyperText Markup Language)". This creates a temporary table.
  • Select and copy the contents of the newly created (but badly formatted) temporary table (you may have to scroll back to where you were -- Writer has a glitch that scrolls up sometimes after the previous step) (also, there probably aren't borders on this table, and the paragraph spacing might be funny).
  • Paste the contents of the temporary table into the original table you created in the first step.
  • Delete the temporary table.
The temporary table is necessary to bridge the gap between Writer's handling of external formatted data and Writer's handling of internal tables. Hopefully this will get cleaned-up in a future release.

Re: Import Calc spreadsheet content into Writer table?

Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 4:07 pm
by heisenberg2o
Many thanks to Mattball who gave a clear recipe for this annoying limitation.

Re: Import Calc spreadsheet content into Writer table?

Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 5:21 pm
by olof nord
How come this issue is not solved yet?
The integration between this two programs should IMHO work better.

Re: Import Calc spreadsheet content into Writer table?

Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 10:27 pm
by Hagar Delest
You should report it (haven't seen any feature request after a quick search): [Tutorial] Reporting bugs or suggestions.

Re: Import Calc spreadsheet content into Writer table?

Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 12:11 am
by Villeroy
File>New>Database...
[X] Connect to existing database
Database type: Spreadsheet
Specify your spreadsheet document
[X] Register the new database
Save the database and forget the database.

In Writer or Calc hit F4 and drag the table into your document. Drag the icon on the left side or a selection of rows from the right side.