Hi,
 
Further to the update on issue 13257 I thought I would read the spec (http://dba.openoffice.org/specifications/index.html#forms) and offer some feedback from my first impressions.
 
[Off topic] Interestingly when I download the document using Windows XP Pro SP2 the odt file becomes a zip file. I'm not certain if this is only on my machine, but I thought I would let the list know. Files of type sxw open/save fine. A simple rename fixes the issue. Currently I have installed OOo1.1.4 and OOo1.9.104.
 
The following more importantly relates to the spec.
 
- It is good to see progress is happening on the multi column list and combo boxes front. Thanks. This is one of the things I can't live without in MS Access.
 
- Column heads
 
It is not explicitly stated in the spec what happens when the List Content is Table, Query, SQL, or SQL (native), what is the effect of Column heads value. I expect if Column heads is True the field names will appear in the heading row. Is this correct?
 
- 3.4 Notes
 
From my point of view as an MS Access developer I too find the width property one of those things that does not appear logical. If you define columns the width you want, why then give a total width. Having said this I have used the width property on a number of occasions. Thus it is used.
 
Setting the total width property less than the total of the columns allows the horizontal scroll to come into play and that may be handy sometimes. Setting the width property greater than the total columns if I recall correctly makes the last column appear wider than the specified column width. This may be useful for aesthetic reasons.
 
- Something I can't do in MS Access that may be useful.
 
The ability to wrap the contents of a column so that rows are not just a single line height in list and combo boxes.
 
Example.
 
A client has jobs. Each job has a number and a description. The description can be quite long. (By the way the description did start off as a short description, and whilst I did resist, eventually the client ended up getting the long description they wanted.)
 
When this is set up as a combo box the column for a job number is easily determined. The amount of text to display for the description however is more difficult. If I had the option which would allow the description column in a combo box to wrap becoming a multi-line value that would have been good.
 
This is probably outside the scope, but I thought I would feed the idea back.
 
- Will Basic Dialogs also have the same capability
 
I think the answer at this point in time will be no, but I thought I would point out that some of this functionality could be useful in the Basic Dialogs are as well.
 
Hope the feedback is of use.
 
 
Regards,

Kelvin Eldridge
Online Connections
Website: www.onlineconnections.com.au

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