I’d like to be able to view my databases from within #writer .odt files like I currently can with #calc .ods files, since form creation is unnecessary if the default #base database viewer GUI is reused.
Is this possible? I don’t see the option.
menu:View>Data sources… [Ctrl+Shift+F4]
Drag a query or table icon from the left pane into the document. No, this won’t be an OLE object.
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Thanks, loads. This is, although obviously not OLE, darn close to good enough. However, does the database used have to be a registered database?
I ask because I use my .odb files in rather non-centralized manners – their parent dir needs to be able to move about in such a manner that as long as the database and document remain within the same directory, the files being in the same PWD is enough to find each other.
Additionally, could I use a .dbf and import that as an OLE object, if I want auto-updating of the linked spreadsheet’s data?
I ask because reading that Importing and Exporting dBASE Files
A LibreOffice Base database table is actually a link to an existing database.
and viewing both
-
$HOME/.config/libreoffice/4/user/database/biblio/biblio.dbf(not uploaded because of Allow uploading `.dbf` files) and - biblio.odb (2.8 KB),
the files appear to demonstrate that I can use a .dbf file to automatically convert a database into a spreadsheet/tabular representation of its data, allowing me to use that spreadsheet in my .odt document.
I forgot input forms. You can use input forms attached to Writer and Calc documents. Yes, this is what database registration is about. No, you must not move around any database.
biblio_form.odt (20.6 KB)
Actually you use either a datasource (.odb-file) to connect to a folder with dBase-files like shown above by @Villeroy or you load a copy of a dbf-file into Calc, partly converting data to internal representation of Calc. You could create a DDE-REFERENCE to this Calc-document.
The transition to Calc seems easy as it shares the tabular representation with databases. Writer is primarily designed for (longer) text.
.
One hint on the side: Writer can’t reuse Elements of Base to show items, as forms in Base are already specialised Writer-Files. You may create a simple Form with a grid-control in Base, then save it as a “stand-alone” form. (You have to reconnect the database afterwards).
Maybe you wish to try this path…
When you drag the icon of a query or table from the data source window into Calc, you get a linked database range rather than a copy. menu:Data>Refresh refreshes the link.
Sorry, for nitpicking.
No problem, but with “copy” I meant to open the .dbf file. There we have a copy, but usually the original .dbf will be locked by Calc