Using and Creating Value Lists

Using Selection Lists

If you do a lot of repetitive text entry in spreadsheets, and you don't want to use AutoInput (previous section), you can use selection lists to select text you've entered previously.

graphics/19inf06.jpg

  1. Select the cell in which you want to enter text.

  2. Right-click the cell, and choose Selection List.

    A list of all text entered in the column is displayed.

  3. Choose the text you want to enter in the cell.

If you don't get a selection list, the column may contain data that's too varied.

Setting Up Sort Lists

Calc makes filling in cell information easy and automatic by using the automatic fill feature (see Filling to Increment Data on page 531). The idea is to type one piece of information in a cell, select the cell, and drag the little square in the lower right corner of the cell in any direction to fill in a consecutive list of items.

For example, say you want to track sales in your organization's five biggest cities, and you either want to list those cities in regional order (or you don't want to have to type each one in manually in every spreadsheet you create). Set up a sort list for those cities so that when you enter one city name , you can use automatic fill to enter the names of the remaining cities, as shown in Figure 19-3.

Figure 19-3. A sort list of cities

graphics/19fig03.gif

Adding a Sort List
  1. Choose Tools > Options > Spreadsheet > Sort lists.

  2. Click the New button.

  3. In the Entries area, type the list of items in the order you want them, as shown in Figure 19-4.

    Figure 19-4. Adding a sort list

    graphics/19fig04.jpg

    Press Enter after each entry. You can also separate entries with a comma. If you use a comma to separate items, don't add a space after each comma.

  4. When you're finished entering the list, click the Add button and click OK.

When you do an automatic fill for the sort list, dragging to the left or up fills in cells with the values that precede the one you entered.

Note

You can also enter a new sort list by selecting a range of cells in Calc, opening the Sort List options window, clicking the Copy button, and clicking OK (see Figure 19-5).

Figure 19-5. Copying a sort list from the spreadsheet

graphics/19fig05.gif


You don't have to set up sort lists for numbering or dates. Calc knows how to handle those already.

Modifying a Sort List
  1. Choose Tools > Options > Spreadsheet > Sort lists.

  2. In the Lists box, select the list you want to edit. Its contents display in the entries box, as shown in Figure 19-6.

    Figure 19-6. Modifying a sort list

    graphics/19fig06.gif

  3. Edit the list by changing the text in the Entries list and pressing Enter after each item

  4. Click the Modify button.

  5. Click OK.

Deleting a Sort List
  1. Choose Tools > Options > Spreadsheet > Sort lists.

  2. In the Lists box, select the list you want to remove.

  3. Click the Remove button, click Yes in the confirmation window, and click OK.



OpenOffice. org 1.0 Resource Kit
OpenOffice.Org 1.0 Resource Kit
ISBN: 0131407457
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 407

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