[Solved] Grey menu prevents field entry

[morphingstar]

I want to enter the field for Author (and more, the usual page, date etc stuff).
CALC Menu INSERT
In Openoffice the choice is grey. V4.1.14.
In Libreoffice the choice does not exist. V7.6.2.1.

Both programs used to work fine, no such problem until today.

Chaos reigns

[FJCC]

I don't see any menu item related to inserting an author field in Calc. Are you really using Calc? I'm familiar with that in Writer.

[floris v]

In Apache OpenOffice 4.1.11, Insert - Fields is not available, You can enter some document statistics in the header or footer of a Calc document. To do that, select Format - Page, select the Header or Footer tab, enable the header or footer and then click Edit to open a simple editor where you can insert some fields. The Author field is not available in Calc, but you can enter such data manually. You can enter the author name, but that option is well hidden. In the screenshot, floris_v v is the author name. All of this is very limited, but then, remember that Calc is calculating software, not formatting software.

Schermafdruk van 2023-12-07 22-54-59.png (25.95 KiB) Viewed 2046 times

[Alex1]

Check if the file is read-only.

[robleyd]

Cross posted on AskLibreOffice

If you cross post, as a courtesy please let us know that you have done so, otherwise it leads to several discussions and a waste of time because several identical answers may be posted by different users.

[Hagar Delest]

It seems that Calc does not support fields in the header/footer.
I haven't even found any enhancement request for that on the LO bugzilla.

[robleyd]

LibreOffice Calc seems to have similar to what floris v describes for AOO. For LO 7.6.3.2 choose Format | Page Style which presents this dialog:

lo_calc_header01.png (31.32 KiB) Viewed 1569 times

Select Edit and a further dialog allows addition of various fields to the header.

lo_calc_header02.png (39.78 KiB) Viewed 1569 times

[morphingstar]

Lots of answers, most not to the matter at hand, thanks for trying. Please look at the CALC picture, it answers all doubts mentioned.

[img]E:\ASUS\HD_ALL\Pictures\_Screenshots\LO field entry no choice 20240301a.jpg[/img]

first the file was too big, I did not change it, later it worked.

[img]E:\ASUS\HD_ALL\Pictures\_Screenshots\LO forum file size problem when dropping into text field 20240301a.jpg[/img]

[floris v]

That screenshot doesn't show the cell where you want to insert a field. I just played with this and found that when you select a cell, so it has a blue border and no cursor is visible, Insert - Field is disabled. Double click in the cell so that the cursor appears, then you can insert fields.

On a side note: when your files are so big that the forum software blocks uploading, you can always upload them at a freehoster like mediafire.com and post a link here. Any other freehoster will do, but expect trouble if you select one where we have to register before we can download anything.

[morphingstar]

I shall try sugg's, thanks for help. As to "floris" in spreasheet there is always 1 cell ready to accept input (except when protected), never mind the position of the cell cursor, else the sheet could not work.
If the drop down menu indicates the available choices but greyed out it indicates these are not active, there must be a reason.
The cell to go is not protected, keyboard entry is possible. The cell to go does not have to be near the drop-down menu to show, though it might need to be empty.
I 'll continue trying, shall come back and add solution / reason if found, and the add Solved. Til then

[Bill]

When a cell is first selected, it is in Selection Mode. Typing input when a cell is selected switches to Input Mode. Input while in Input Mode replaces existing cell content. Double-clicking a selected cell or pressing F2 switches to Edit Mode and existing cell content can be edited. Insert > Fields options are only available for cells in Input Mode or Edit Mode.

Calc/Cell Edition Modes

[morphingstar]

the question referred to greyed menus of Calc. these are quite different from spreadsheet cells. the answer is well meant and does not apply.

[Hagar Delest]

Sorry but I don't think you got the point.
What is said is that if you merely select a cell, then the field option is disabled. But if you double-click a cell to edit it (inside the cell), or if you go to the input line top of the sheet, then the field feature is available.