OpenOffice.org BASIC Guide - OpenOffice.org wiki
OpenOffice.org BASIC Guide - OpenOffice.org wiki
OpenOffice.org BASIC Guide - OpenOffice.org wiki
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C H A P T E R 1<br />
1 <strong>OpenOffice</strong>.<strong>org</strong> <strong>BASIC</strong> Programming <strong>Guide</strong><br />
This guide provides an introduction to programming with <strong>OpenOffice</strong>.<strong>org</strong> Basic. To get the most out of this<br />
book, you should be familiar with other programming languages. Extensive examples are provided to help you<br />
quickly develop your own <strong>OpenOffice</strong>.<strong>org</strong> Basic programs.<br />
This guide divides information about <strong>OpenOffice</strong>.<strong>org</strong> administration into several chapters. The first three<br />
chapters introduce you to <strong>OpenOffice</strong>.<strong>org</strong> Basic:<br />
The Language of <strong>OpenOffice</strong>.<strong>org</strong> Basic<br />
Runtime Library<br />
Introduction to the API<br />
These chapters provide an overview of <strong>OpenOffice</strong>.<strong>org</strong> Basic and should be read by anyone who intends to write<br />
<strong>OpenOffice</strong>.<strong>org</strong> Basic programs. The remaining chapters describe the individual components of the<br />
<strong>OpenOffice</strong>.<strong>org</strong> API in more detail and can be read selectively as required:<br />
Working with Documents<br />
Text Documents<br />
Spreadsheet Documents<br />
Drawings and Presentations<br />
Charts (Diagrams)<br />
Databases<br />
Dialogs<br />
Forms<br />
About <strong>OpenOffice</strong>.<strong>org</strong> Basic<br />
The <strong>OpenOffice</strong>.<strong>org</strong> Basic programming language has been developed especially for <strong>OpenOffice</strong>.<strong>org</strong> and is firmly<br />
integrated in the Office package.<br />
As the name suggests, <strong>OpenOffice</strong>.<strong>org</strong> Basic is a programming language from the Basic family. Anyone who has<br />
previously worked with other Basic languages — in particular with Visual Basic or Visual Basic for Applications<br />
(VBA) from Microsoft — will quickly become accustomed to <strong>OpenOffice</strong>.<strong>org</strong> Basic. Large sections of the basic<br />
constructs of <strong>OpenOffice</strong>.<strong>org</strong> Basic are compatible with Visual Basic.<br />
The <strong>OpenOffice</strong>.<strong>org</strong> Basic programming language can be divided into four components:<br />
The language of <strong>OpenOffice</strong>.<strong>org</strong> Basic: Defines the elementary linguistic constructs, for example, for variable<br />
declarations, loops, and functions.<br />
The runtime library: Provides standard functions which have no direct reference to <strong>OpenOffice</strong>.<strong>org</strong>, for<br />
example, functions for editing numbers, strings, date values, and files.<br />
The <strong>OpenOffice</strong>.<strong>org</strong> API (Application Programming Interface): Permits access to <strong>OpenOffice</strong>.<strong>org</strong> documents<br />
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