[Solved] How to add check box to column cell?

[JimTrail]

Hello Open Office Community Forum!

Question: How can I insert a check box into a column cell?

I have got a monthly sales spreadsheet. I need to have one column where every cell has a check box.

I would appreciate any assistance with my question.

Thanks.

[squenson]

This is an interesting idea but not easy to do. You can only create checkboxes one at a time using the toolbar "Form Control".

It is much better to store a real value in such cell (1|0, Yes|No, True|False), you will then be able to filter, sort, sum, etc. according to the value in this column. And if you need to absolutely show the nice little square box in a print-out, then add a new column and use a formula like =IF(mycell="Yes",symbol 'tick', symbol 'untick').

[acknak]

I think it would be a really nice enhancement if calc could flip cells formatted as Boolean (T/F) with just a mouse click. The cell value could toggle between 0/1 and you could assign a custom format that could display a blank "" or "X" or whatever.

Hmm ... Ugh. I guess that's the problem, isn't it? Calc doesn't have a separate Boolean type, so it has no way to know whether a cell or column is Boolean or numeric.

Oh well.

[lino]

Here is my suggestion:
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=64017#p283980

[acknak]

Yep, that's what I had in mind--nice! But it really needs to be set/unset with a simple click.

I'm sure it could be done with a macro, but someone else can fiddle with that

[MrProgrammer]

I'm sure it could be done with a macro, but someone else can fiddle with that ;-)

It can be easily done with a recorded macro, so no programming knowledge is required. After ensuring that we have option (OpenOffice.org > Preferences on a Mac, Tools > Options on other platforms) Calc > General > Input Settings > Press Enter to move selection unchecked, use

• Tools > Macros > Record
• Edit > Copy
• Type 1 and press Enter
• Edit > Paste Special > Selection=Values > Operation=Subtract > OK
• Stop Recording > {Assign name to macro, perhaps "Toggle"}

Tools > Customize > Keyboard can be used to map a keyboard shortcut to this macro. If Press Enter to move selection is checked, you will need to record an additional step before Paste Special to move the selection back to the cell to be toggled.

[JimTrail]

Thanks everyone for the help.