Writer Guide

Alternatives to using forms in Writer
In OpenOffice.org 3, the Base component provides an alternative way
to access a data source. There are a lot of similarities between forms in
Base and Writer, but one may be better for a particular task than the
other. Base is appropriate only if the form accesses a data source; you
would not use it for simple forms.
Most other OpenOffice.org components—Calc, Impress, and Draw—
also support forms in almost the same way that Writer does.
Creating a simple form
This section explains how to create a simple form without any links to a
data source or database and without advanced customization.
Create a document
There is nothing special to be done when creating a document to use
as a form. Create a new Writer document with File > New > Text
document.
Form toolbars
Two toolbars control form creation: Form Controls and Form Design.
Select View > Toolbars > Form Controls and View > Toolbars >
Form Design to show them both. See “Form controls reference” on
page 471 for a summary of the tools on these toolbars.
Tip
The Form Design toolbar can also be launched from the Form
Controls toolbar. Some of the less commonly used controls are
on a third toolbar—More Controls—also launched from the
Form Controls toolbar.
You can dock these toolbars in different places on the Writer
window, or leave them floating.
The Form Controls toolbar has a button for each of the most
commonly used types of control.
Note
In OpenOffice.org, form controls are the text boxes, list boxes,
option buttons, push buttons, and other items that can be
placed in forms.
468 OpenOffice.org 3 Writer Guide