Multiple choice exam from Calc database needed in Writer

English
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#1

Hi. New to LO. Cant seem to figure out how to create a multiple choice exam in Writer using questions and answers from a list of 500 questions in CALC organized into 6 columns. First is the header consisting of number, the question, then 4 possible answers followed by 500 rows of this.

I thought Mail merge was an option but I was wrong. I can pick and choose the questions and create a spreadsheet with the subset of questions I want to feed into Writer, but am at a loss at what the correct question is to ask Libre Office for help with this to get it into a printable Writer document with say 4 multiple choice questions per page by say 10 pages or so?

The test can be answered with an old fashioned pencil circling the write answer on a page so I am not currently investigating automating that.

(Is calc the best place to put the questions and answers or should I put those in another LO tool?)

Any thoughts appreciated.

#2

Your exam document looks probably something like this:

1. This is the question
   [_] Answer 1
   [_] Answer 2
   [_] Answer 3

Considering you have to type your questions and answers, the simplest way to proceed is to go with Writer from the start instead of Calc+Mail Merge in Writer. You can then benefit from the full formatting capabilities of Writer.

My suggestion is to use a 2-level list where first level is numbered (automatically) and second level is bulleted with an empty checkbox. Indents are tuned in the chosen list style.

#3

Open your Writer document and hit Ctrl+Shift+F4 for the data source window.
Drag the table icon from the left pane into the Writer document and import as a table.

You may also open the database document (right-click in the data source window > Edit database…), then right-click the table icon in the database document and choose “Create report…”

#4

when you say database document… you mean the calc spreadsheet or something else?

#5

You tried mail merge, so you generated a database document which reads your spreadsheet as a database.

#6

That is the kind of layout I want. However I dont want to actually type questions and answers. Rather I wish to import them from a source file which I currently have setup as a Calc sheet and autopopulate at the rate of say 4 questions per page. I suppose I could transfer the contents of the Calc to another LO tool if necessary.

#7

I tried to follow the mail merge instructions in LO but it failed to work. I could never see the CALC file with the Q and A

#8

Did you register the calc file as a data source?

#9

I’m sorry this is a quick posting…too quick. However, you can examin the uploaded documents here to see if you can mine them for ideas. These are two documents that work together to create a mail-merge with option buttons and the resulting one document. If you are not familiar with registering a data source and doing mail-merge in LO, you may have to read up on that first. (Chapter 14 Mail Merge).

OptionButtonDataSource.ods (14.8 KB)
OptionButtonText.odt (11.2 KB)
OptionButtonTextResult.odt (12.9 KB)

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