[Solved] Converting to text

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oneota
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[Solved] Converting to text

Post by oneota »

I have made a simple m x n table into which I want to enter letters, numbers and symbols. But OO interprets the table as an interactive spreadsheet. When I went to F1 and entered 'convert to text,' all the sub-sections (i.e., entries on the fith half of the screen) were for converting text, not TO text. How do I disable this sorcerer's broom?
Last edited by Hagar Delest on Mon Jun 17, 2019 8:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: tagged solved
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robleyd
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Re: converting to text

Post by robleyd »

interprets the table as an interactive spreadsheet.
What sort of data are you entering, and what is happening to it? How did you add the table - via Ctrl+F12 or Table | Insert | Table ?
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Re: converting to text

Post by Villeroy »

Use the indexed search when the other search fails and vice versa.
Please, edit this topic's initial post and add "[Solved]" to the subject line if your problem has been solved.
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oneota
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Re: converting to text

Post by oneota »

I made the table using the icon on the bar at the top of the page. I am entering single letters and short words. Stuff like <B4> appears instead, and when I try to go to the next cell down, the program simply refuses, staying in the first cell in the column.

I am using the indexed search; the other search requires JRE.
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robleyd
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Re: converting to text

Post by robleyd »

Can you upload a sample file that shows the issues you are having? [Forum] How to attach a document here Note maximum file size is 128K. If your file is larger, use a file sharing site such as Mediafire and post the link here. The link also contains information on how to anonymise your document if it contains confidential information.
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oneota
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Re: converting to text

Post by oneota »

An office-mate solved my problem: He said there was a red X that he clicked on.
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Re: converting to text

Post by Bill »

Was that the red X on an error message?
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oneota
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Re: converting to text

Post by oneota »

I don't think so. when I asked him (a non-native speaker of English) to show me where it was, he sort of waved at the upper left (where spreadsheets have formulae etc.), but I didn't see it and didn't want to re-create it.
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Lupp
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Re: converting to text

Post by Lupp »

Did you try to enter something starting with the character "=" or just this single character?
To start an input into an empty table cell tells Writer you want to create a formula. A subsequent click into any cell is interpreted as the wish to create a reference to the content of that cell...
On Windows 10: LibreOffice 24.2 (new numbering) and older versions, PortableOpenOffice 4.1.7 and older, StarOffice 5.2
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oneota
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Re: [Solved] Converting to text

Post by oneota »

I only typed in
p
a
(for present and absent)
or single digits: 1, 9 etc.
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Re: Converting to text

Post by oneota »

Here is the file, with names altered.
Attachments
Intensive Lowest Class; Speaking 7 Listening, Summer 2019 Test.odt
(11.05 KiB) Downloaded 94 times
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robleyd
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Re: [Solved] Converting to text

Post by robleyd »

I'd imagine it looked like this, where I have typed = in the top left cell of the table:
table_formula.png
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Re: [Solved] Converting to text

Post by oneota »

I guess. So, when OO decides with-out my asking it to that instead of a simple table, I should have a spreadsheet, the red X is what I should click to have my table just be a table? I have made many tables in O with-out the automatic conversion, why did this suddenly happen? Has the software changed?
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Re: [Solved] Converting to text

Post by robleyd »

That will happen if you type an = in the cell, as I and Lupp both mentioned; or it will happen if you press F2. Writer takes that as the start of a simple formula and presents the formula input bar. Tables can contain simple formulae like a very basic spreadsheet.

If you inadvertently open the formula bar, yes, click on the X to close it again.
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Re: [Solved] Converting to text

Post by oneota »

But I didn't press F2; nor did I enter = in a cell.
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Re: [Solved] Converting to text

Post by RoryOF »

With respect, this was your file, you drove the computer. We cannot read your mind, or know with any certainty what _you_ did.
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robleyd
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Re: [Solved] Converting to text

Post by robleyd »

As far as I can determine from documentation and personal experimentation, only those two keys will invoke the formula bar in a Writer table; the ways to dismiss it are either click the red X or press the ESC key.

It may be that there is some special keyboard mapping, or some other 'feature' of your computer that causes it to behave differently. If that is the case we can't know about it.

I believe that the issue of how to exit the 'spreadsheet' has been resolved?

There is another feature of tables that you may wish to be aware of and possibly disable. See this entry in the documentation Wiki for more information.
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Re: [Solved] Converting to text

Post by Villeroy »

You hit F2 instead of F1 with the cursor in a text table cell.
Please, edit this topic's initial post and add "[Solved]" to the subject line if your problem has been solved.
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oneota
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Re: [Solved] Converting to text

Post by oneota »

No, I don't use the F keys in OO.
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Re: [Solved] Converting to text

Post by Bill »

oneota wrote:But I didn't press F2; nor did I enter = in a cell.
Those are the only ways to open the Formula Bar. If the Formula Bar is no longer appearing after you closed it, then something associated with your system sent an F2 or = keystroke to OpenOffice to cause the Formula Bar to appear in the first place. If you think that something else caused the Formula Bar to appear, then it's up to you to tell us what that something was.

See the documentation:
Using spreadsheet functions in a table
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oneota
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Re: [Solved] Converting to text

Post by oneota »

I can only tell what I did: I created a text document with a small amount of text, then I made a table using the table icon, pulling down the image until the desired number of cells appeared and I thus created a table. I wrote some text (labels across the top, names, and single letters and numbers in some cells), greyed the label row, copied the table and most of the text above it, pasted that material, changed one number in the text above the second table, added two rows and names, did a strike-through of two other names, added another table and changed the text above it. Then I added a single letter in the second table, and the spreadsheet function started. That's it.
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Re: [Solved] Converting to text

Post by Bill »

When you followed that procedure to test it, did the Formula Bar appear? It didin't when I tried.
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oneota
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Re: [Solved] Converting to text

Post by oneota »

No, it didn't happen when I followed the procedure just now.
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