Re: [documentation-dev] Questions about Web Page Query filter in Calc
Hi, On 04/04/09 09:11, Jean Hollis Weber wrote: I'm writing a section for the Calc Guide about linking from a spreadsheet to external data. I found a page in the help titled Inserting External Data in Table (WebQuery) which explains what to do The WebQuery works the other way round: data from another document (that may be a web page containing html tables) gets pasted into your current Calc spreadsheet. but seems to assume some background knowledge that I don't have (and I suspect many of the readers of the Calc Guide won't have) -- or perhaps it's just a matter of using terms in ways that are not familiar to me. So I hope someone here can help me understand better, so I can write this up for the user guide. I searched the forum and the wiki, and didn't find anything useful to me. Haven't gone to the [users] list yet; thought I'm check with this group first. I thought it is easy if you follow the Help from top down - but obviously I must rework that Help page. For example, here's part of a sentence from the help: If you have loaded an HTML document with the Web Page Query filter as the source document... Er... how do I load a doc with the WPQ filter? Do I simply choose that as a file type in the Open dialog? Or does something else need to be done? this filter is mentioned some paragraphs above in the same Help page. It is used automatically if you enter an http URL in the External Data dialog box. If you want to reference a file of your file system, you click the ... button and select that filter in the File Open dialog. The file that you select or the web page must contain some tables. ... you will find the tables in the Navigator, named continuously from HTML_table1 onwards, and also two range names that have been created: HTML_all – designates the entire document HTML_tables – designates all HTML tables in the document I guess I need to somehow pick a table of data and avoid tables used for layout... or does it matter? The webQuery inserts the data from the external table cells into your Calc doc. The link is live and dynamic. An example, with illustrations or HTML samples, might help me get the concept. I suspect it's quite easy and obvious once one understands it! sure, would be nice to have some illustrations. May be on a Wiki page? Thanks for any help you can give me. --Jean - To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@documentation.openoffice.org For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@documentation.openoffice.org Uwe -- u...@openoffice.org - Technical Writer StarOffice - Sun Microsystems, Inc. - Hamburg, Germany http://documentation.openoffice.org/ http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Documentation http://blogs.sun.com/oootnt http://user.services.openoffice.org/en/forum - To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@documentation.openoffice.org For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@documentation.openoffice.org
Re: [documentation-dev] Questions about Web Page Query filter in Calc
On 04/06/09 11:45, Jean Hollis Weber wrote: ... I have just written a web page, with illustrations. http://www.taming-openoffice-org.com/newsite/?page_id=633 Would be good if you check it to see if I made any mistakes. (It's also now part of a draft chapter of the Calc Guide and will appear on the OOo wiki when I get a chance to upload it. It's probably a lot more detailed than relevant for the help, but a few sentences could probably be reused in the help.) --Jean Jean, your External Data help at http://www.taming-openoffice-org.com/newsite/?page_id=633 looks perfect! Uwe -- u...@openoffice.org - Technical Writer StarOffice - Sun Microsystems, Inc. - Hamburg, Germany http://documentation.openoffice.org/ http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Documentation http://blogs.sun.com/oootnt http://user.services.openoffice.org/en/forum - To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@documentation.openoffice.org For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@documentation.openoffice.org
Re: [documentation-dev] Questions about Web Page Query filter in Calc
Uwe Fischer wrote: I thought it is easy if you follow the Help from top down - but obviously I must rework that Help page. The instructions are easy to follow, but they don't give the reader any idea what's really going on. Perhaps most people don't care, but some (like me) do want to understand. For example, here's part of a sentence from the help: If you have loaded an HTML document with the Web Page Query filter as the source document... Er... how do I load a doc with the WPQ filter? Do I simply choose that as a file type in the Open dialog? Or does something else need to be done? this filter is mentioned some paragraphs above in the same Help page. It is used automatically if you enter an http URL in the External Data dialog box. The help did not say it was automatic in that situation. That's one of the problems: background knowledge is assumed. The webQuery inserts the data from the external table cells into your Calc doc. The link is live and dynamic. One web page I tested had 20+ tables, of which I wanted only one. Working out which one to choose from the list took me awhile. It was easy once I figured out the trick, but not at all obvious before that. An example, with illustrations or HTML samples, might help me get the concept. I suspect it's quite easy and obvious once one understands it! sure, would be nice to have some illustrations. May be on a Wiki page? I have just written a web page, with illustrations. http://www.taming-openoffice-org.com/newsite/?page_id=633 Would be good if you check it to see if I made any mistakes. (It's also now part of a draft chapter of the Calc Guide and will appear on the OOo wiki when I get a chance to upload it. It's probably a lot more detailed than relevant for the help, but a few sentences could probably be reused in the help.) --Jean - To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@documentation.openoffice.org For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@documentation.openoffice.org
