Calc Guide

Calc can import data from a huge number of foreign data formats, for
example from other spreadsheets (Excel, Lotus 1, 2, 3), from databases
(like dBase), and from simple text files.
The drawback of copying or importing foreign data is that it will not
update automatically if there are changes in the source file. With a
Calc file you are limited to 65535 rows.
Registered data source
A registered data source in OpenOffice.org is a connection to data held
in a database outside Calc. This means that the data to be analyzed will
not be saved in Calc. It always uses the data from the original source.
Calc is able to use many different data sources and also databases that
are created and maintained with OpenOffice.org Base. See Chapter 10
(Linking Calc Data) for more information.
External data (OLAP)
No implementation exists at the moment so this option is not available.
The DataPilot dialog
The function of the DataPilot is managed in two places: first in the
DataPilot dialog and second through manipulations of the result in the
spreadsheet. This section describes the dialog in detail.
Basic layout
In the DataPilot are four white areas that show the layout of the result.
Beside these fields are buttons with the names of the fields in your
data source. To define a layout, drag and drop these field buttons into
the white areas.
The Data Fields area in the middle must contain at least one field.
Advanced users can use more than one field here. For the data field an
aggregate function is used. For example, if you move the sales field
into the Data Fields area, it appears there as Sum – sales.
244 OpenOffice.org 3.x Calc Guide