Sams Teach Yourself StarOffice® 5 for Linux in 24 Hours

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Hour 2: Getting Started StarOffice

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Defining Parts of the StarOffice Window


When you first start StarOffice, after closing the dialog box that requests that you register StarOffice, it looks similar to Figure 2.7. Because StarOffice has some integration that you're probably not used to with other office packages, here's a review of the parts of the screen that you see immediately:

Figure 2.7
StarOffice appearance at startup.

Note - StarOffice tries to expand to full screen when it opens. If you're using KDE, StarOffice might cover up the panel or taskbar. In this case, you'll need to resize the StarOffice window (or press the Maximize button) in order to see the Status bar and Start bar.


Now you can look more carefully at the parts of the StarOffice window that you haven't seen in other graphical programs.

Understanding the Overall Layout of StarOffice

To understand the things you'll be doing with StarOffice, it's probably best to start thinking of the StarOffice window as a Web browser rather than as an office software package.

To begin with, notice the box in the middle of the top toolbar (The Function toolbar) that resembles an URL from your Web browser. Actually, it is an URL, but it probably starts with the word file because you're viewing your Desktop, which is actually just a file stored in your Linux filesystem.

You can use the file:// descriptor to view other local files. In fact, when you load a document or spreadsheet, the filename is displayed with a file:// URL. This is similar to opening a local HTML or text file in a Netscape browser.

Tip - The StarOffice Desktop and other features described in this hour are located in your StarOffice directory. For example, the Desktop is located at ~/Office50/Desktop, and the Explorer contents are at ~/Office50/explorer.


You can also use StarOffice to browse the Web. To see this in action, if you have an active Internet connection, try entering another URL in the text entry box--for example, type the following:


http://www.cnn.com

You will learn about using StarOffice with the Internet in Hours 22, "Creating Internet Documents with StarOffice," and 23, "Using StarOffice Email and Newsgroup Features."

Most of the other features of StarOffice that you'll learn about are implemented within this browser-like design. StarOffice just happens to be a browser that can edit documents and spreadsheets, run slide shows, maintain databases, and so on.

To return the StarOffice window to the main Desktop display, choose the icon with the picture of a drafting table (a desktop), just to the right of the Start button on the Start bar.

Here's a closer look at the features on the Function toolbar that contains the URL box.

Using the Function Toolbar

The Function toolbar (shown in Figure 2.8) is composed of icons that are used within all parts of StarOffice. Taken together they look like a combination of the icons you know from your Web browser and your favorite office software.

You can see a brief description of each of these icons by leaving your mouse cursor sitting on the icon for a couple of seconds. The following is a description of each of the icons, looking from left to right on Figure 2.8:

Figure 2.8
The Function toolbar in StarOffice.

Note - Documents in the history list might not be available if your network or Internet connections have changed since you viewed a document.


Some of the Function bar icons change depending on the type of document you're working with. You'll look at those as they're needed in later hours.

With that basic description of the Function bar, you can explore some of the other parts of StarOffice, starting with the status bar.

Reading the Status Bar

The status bar in StarOffice is similar to the status bar in most other popular graphical applications, but it contains some unique features as well.

You can hide the status bar if you want more room onscreen for your documents. Choose Status Bar from the View menu; choose it a second time to display it again. The status bar is shown in Figure 2.9 as it appears when you begin editing a document . The Status bar includes, from right to left, the following components:

Figure 2.9
The StarOffice status bar.

Figure 2.10
The Zoom selection menu is displayed when you right-click on the current size in the status bar.

Figure 2.11
The Navigator window.

Note - The page count is not displayed if you select Online Layout from the View menu.

Using the Start Bar

The Start Bar is separated from the Status Bar when your document windows in StarOffice are not maximized to fill the StarOffice window. A Status Bar appears at the bottom of each document window, whereas the Start Bar always appears at the bottom of the StarOffice window.

The Start Bar includes the following items:

Figure 2.12
The first level of options on the StarOffice Start menu.

Most sections of the status bar can be sized however you want them. You can even size some of them into oblivion. When you move the mouse pointer near the border between two parts of the status bar, the mouse pointer changes to a double arrow. Just click and drag to resize that part of the status bar.

Using the Toolbars

The toolbars in StarOffice are similar to toolbars you've used in other office suite programs; StarOffice just uses more of them. The default display has both a Function toolbar and an Object toolbar. The icons on the Object toolbar change depending on what type of work you're doing. The icons on the Function toolbar stay relatively constant.

You can choose to hide or redisplay any of these Toolbars by selecting them from the View menu, under the Toolbars submenu.

When you start working on a document, the Main toolbar is also visible, as shown in Figure 2.13. It is located on the left side of the StarOffice window and is used to insert objects of different kinds into your documents. Because this is often the easiest way to quickly add a feature, you learn how to use the icons on the Main toolbar as you explore formatting and inserting objects into your documents in Part 2, "Creating Documents with StarWriter."

Figure 2.13
The Main toolbar enables you to insert many types of objects into your document.

Sams Teach Yourself StarOffice® 5 for Linux in 24 Hours

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Hour 2: Getting Started StarOffice

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