Hubert Fitch wrote:
Thanks for the reply Sandy!
Perhaps I am giving too much information, but I hope that it is
interesting to everyone who reads it?
I want to provide my CD book customer with a way to use spreadsheets
if he/she does not have Execl(r), and want to include an install open
office option on my book CD.
I have written a book on CD using web style pages with many
hyperlinks. Hyperlinks open a copy of an application file in a
temporary folder. This is ok for html pages. However, I want to call
spreadsheets from hyperlinks, so I must link to a batch file which
will call the spreadsheet file, so that it can have its full pathname,
and open there. This allows a spreadsheet to be saved to its correct
folder and with the same filename.
Hyperlinks are now relative, so your batch file is not needed to make
the path correct. Would it help to bundle everything into one folder?
If I did not do this, the normal web browser operation will cause the
customer changed spreadsheet file to be saved to the correct filename
the first time (but not to the original file, only to a copy, in a
temporary folder). For any additional save, it will be assigned a new
random file name (to prevent two files from having the same filename).
Are you using spreadsheet templates rather than spreadsheet documents?
So, if I use a command window batch file that forces the spreadsheet
to open in its original folder, and write to the original application
filename, the customer's modified spreadsheet will be saved properly.
Installation of my book CD is by an autorun.inf file, which copies all
the html, png, xls files to the customer's computer. Now whenever a
spreadsheet file is opened, it must have the columns of data cells to
be in the same unprotected state as when the spreadsheet file was
originally created.
If the Excel(r) file is opened by open office as write protected (read
only), or with input data cells protected, it is unusable.
In a previous version of open office 1.1.5 this worked properly, and
my spreadsheets open ready for input data. But in verison 2.0.4, I
have seen two problems. Files open with cells protected. I tried
unprotecting cells, and once I was able to do it with some extra work
(which my customer would not appreciate!).
So this problem exists when the file is opened by OpenOffice Calc, not
by Excel? In that case, one of the options in Tools >Protect >> must be
selected. Changing the default cell format may be ineffective if the
document is protected.
The next time I opened a spreadsheet file in open office, the format
cells option was greyed out, and I could not find a way to change to
unprotected cells.
While searching for a way to do this, a window said that the file was
read only (box checked). But when checking the file in Windows
Explorer, the file is NOT read only (box unchecked).
Other users have mentioned documents somehow acquiring "read-only"
status. Can you specify a different status in your batch file? This
sounds as though it could be a bug.
I am about ready to give up on open office as an option for my book
customers.
If this is a bug that can be easily fixed, then I do still want to
include an open office install option. But to do so, I must create new
book CD's including open office install option.
Thanks for any Help!!!
Hubert Fitch
If you cannot solve this with OpenOffice, you could possibly use Google
Spreadsheets by linking to that service.
--
If you're seeking, check out http://www.rci.org.au
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