OpenOffice.org BASIC Guide - OpenOffice.org wiki

frame objects are set to the starting values required.
More Than Just Text
The interaction between the AnchorType (from the TextContent Service) and VertOrient (from the
BaseFrameProperties Service) properties should be noted here. AnchorType receives the AS_CHARACTER
value. The text frame is therefore inserted directly in the text flow and behaves like a character. It can, for
example, be moved into the next line if a line break occurs. The LINE_TOP value of the VertOrient property
ensures that the upper edge of the text frame is at the same height as the upper edge of the character.
Once initialization is complete, the text frame is finally inserted in the text document using a call from
insertTextContent.
To edit the content of a text frame, the user uses the TextCursor, which has already been mentioned numerous
times and is also available for text frames.
Dim Doc As Object
Dim TextTables As Object
Dim Cursor As Object
Dim Frame As Object
Dim FrameCursor As Object
Doc = ThisComponent
Cursor = Doc.Text.createTextCursor()
Frame = Doc.createInstance("com.sun.star.text.TextFrame")
Frame.Width = 3000
Frame.Height = 1000
Doc.Text.insertTextContent(Cursor, Frame, False)
FrameCursor = Frame.createTextCursor()
FrameCursor.charWeight = com.sun.star.awt.FontWeight.BOLD
FrameCursor.paraAdjust = com.sun.star.style.ParagraphAdjust.CENTER
FrameCursor.String = "This is a small Test!"
The example creates a text frame, inserts this in the current document and opens a TextCursor for the text
frame. This cursor is used to set the frame font to bold type and to set the paragraph orientation to centered. The
text frame is finally assigned the “This is a small test!” string.
Text Fields
Text fields are TextContent objects because they provide additional logic extending beyond pure text. Text
fields can be inserted in a text document using the same methods as those used for other TextContent objects:
Dim Doc As Object
Dim DateTimeField As Object
Dim Cursor As Object
Doc = ThisComponent
Cursor = Doc.Text.createTextCursor()
DateTimeField = Doc.createInstance("com.sun.star.text.textfield.DateTime")
DateTimeField.IsFixed = False
DateTimeField.IsDate = True
Doc.Text.insertTextContent(Cursor, DateTimeField, False)
The example inserts a text field with the current date at the start of the current text document. The True value of
the IsDate property results in only the date and not time being displayed. The False value for IsFixed ensures
that the date is automatically updated when the document is opened.
Note – VBA : While the type of a field in VBA is specified by a parameter of the Document.Fields.Add
method, the name of the service that is responsible for the field type in question defines it in OpenOffice.org
Basic.
Note – StarOffice 5 : In the past, text fields were accessed using a whole range of methods that
OpenOffice.org made available in the old Selection object (for example InsertField, DeleteUserField,
SetCurField).
In OpenOffice.org, the fields are administered using an object-oriented concept. To create a text field, a text field
Chapter 6 · Text Documents 87