Introducing LibreOffice Calc

Calc is the spreadsheet component of LibreOffice.

Introducing LibreOffice Calc
What is LibreOffice Calc
Other Features
Spreadsheet, Sheets and Cells
Parts of the main Calc window
Title bar
Menu bar
Toolbar
Formatting Toolbar
Formula Bar
Individual cells
Sheet tabs
Status Bar





What is Calc?
Calc is the spreadsheet component of
LibreOffice. You can enter data (usually
numerical) in a spreadsheet and then
manipulate this data to produce certain results.
Alternatively, you can enter data and then use
Calc in a What if... manner by changing some
of the data and observing the results without
having to retype the entire spreadsheet or
sheet.

Other Features
Functions, which can be used to create formulas
to perform complex calculations on data
Database functions, to arrange, store, and filter
data
Dynamic charts; a wide range of 2D and 3D charts
Macros, for recording and executing repetitive
tasks; scripting languages supported include
LibreOffice Basic, Python, BeanShell, and
JavaScript
Other Features
Ability to open, edit, and save Microsoft Excel
spreadsheets
Import and export of spreadsheets in multiple
formats, including HTML, CSV, PDF, and
PostScript
Spreadsheets, sheets, and cells
Calc works with elements called spreadsheets.
Spreadsheets consist of a number of individual sheets,
each sheet containing cells arranged in rows and columns.
A particular cell is identified by its row number and column
letter.
Cells hold the individual elementstext, numbers,
formulas, and so onthat make up the data to display and
manipulate.
Each spreadsheet can have many sheets, and each sheet
can have many individual cells. In Calc 3.3, each sheet can
have a maximum of 1,048,576 (65,536 rows in Calc 3.2
and earlier) and a maximum of 1024 columns

Parts of the main Calc window
Title bar
The Title bar, located at the top, shows the
name of the current spreadsheet. When
the spreadsheet is newly created, its name
is Untitled X, where X is a number. When
you save a spreadsheet for the first time,
you are prompted to enter a name of your
choice.
Menu bar
Under the Title bar is the Menu bar. When you choose one of
the menus, a submenu appears with other options.
File contains commands that apply to the entire document
such as Open, Save, Wizards, Export as PDF, and Digital
Signatures.
Edit contains commands for editing the document such as
Undo, Changes, Compare Document, and Find and
Replace.
View contains commands for modifying how the Calc user
interface looks such as Toolbars, Full Screen, and Zoom.
Insert contains commands for inserting elements such as
cells, rows, columns, sheets, and pictures into a
spreadsheet.

Menu bar
Format contains commands for modifying the layout of
a spreadsheet such as Styles and Formatting,
Paragraph, and Merge Cells.
Tools contains functions such as Spelling, Share
Document, Cell Contents, Gallery, and Macros.
Data contains commands for manipulating data in your
spreadsheet such as Define Range, Sort, Filter, and
DataPilot.
Window contains commands for the display window
such as New Window, Split, and Freeze.
Help contains links to the Help file bundled with the
software, What's This?, Support, Registration, and
Check for Updates.
Toolbars
Calc has several types of toolbars: docked
(fixed in place), floating, and tear-off. Docked
toolbars can be moved to different locations
or made to float, and floating toolbars can be
docked.
Four toolbars are located under the Menu
bar by default: the Standard toolbar, the Find
toolbar, the Formatting toolbar, and the
Formula Bar.
Formatting toolbar
In the Formatting toolbar, the three boxes on the left are
the Apply Style, Font Name, and Font Size lists (see
Figure 7). They show the current settings for the
selected cell or area. (The Apply Style list may not be
visible by default.) Click the down-arrow to the right of
each box to open the list.

Formula Bar
On the left hand side of the Formula Bar is a
small text box, called the Name Box, with a letter
and number combination in it, such as D7. This
combination, called the cell reference, is the
column letter and row number of the selected
cell.

Individual cells
The main section of the screen displays the cells
in the form of a grid, with each cell being at the
intersection of a column and a row.
At the top of the columns and at the left end of the
rows are a series of gray boxes containing letters
and numbers. These are the column and row
headers. The columns start at A and go on to the
right, and the rows start at 1 and go down.
These column and row headers form the cell
references that appear in the Name Box on the
Formula Bar

Sheet tabs
At the bottom of the grid of cells are the
sheet tabs. These tabs enable access to
each individual sheet, with the visible
(active) sheet having a white tab. Clicking
on another sheet tab displays that sheet,
and its tab turns white. You can also select
multiple sheet tabs at once by holding
down the Control key while you click the
names.
Status bar
The Calc status bar provides information about
the spreadsheet and convenient ways to quickly
change some of its features.

Status bar
Sheet sequence number ()
Shows the sequence number of the current
sheet and the total number of sheets in the
spreadsheet. The sequence number may not
correspond with the name on the sheet tab.
Page style ()
Shows the page style of the current sheet. To
edit the page style, double-click on this field.
The Page Style dialog opens.
Status bar
Insert mode ()
Click to toggle between INSRT (Insert) and
OVER (Overwrite) modes when typing. This
field is blank when the spreadsheet is not in a
typing mode (for example, when selecting cells).
Selection mode ()
Click to toggle between STD (Standard), EXT
(Extend), and ADD (Add) selection. EXT is an
alternative to Shift+click when selecting cells.

Status bar
Unsaved changes ()
An icon appears here if changes to the
spreadsheet have not been saved.
Digital signature ()
If the document has not been digitally signed,
double-clicking in this area opens the Digital
Signatures dialog, where you can sign the
document. See Chapter 6, Printing, Exporting,
and E-mailing, for more about digital signatures.

Status bar
Cell or object information ()
Displays information about the selected items. When
a group of cells is selected, the sum of the contents
is displayed by default; you can right-click on this
field and select other functions, such as the average
value, maximum value, minimum value, or count
(number of items selected).
When the cursor is on an object such as a picture or
chart, the information shown includes the size of the
object and its location.

Status bar
Zoom ()
To change the view magnification, drag the Zoom
slider or click on the + and signs. You can also
right-click on the zoom level percentage to select a
magnification value or double-click to open the Zoom
& View Layout dialog.