Preface

StarOffice 5.2 Calc Handbook

This book is designed to get you up and running quickly with StarOffice Calc. Most users have had some experience with spreadsheet software and have a basic understanding of what a formula is and what a chart is supposed to look like. So, this book was designed to stay away from lengthy, overdone explanations related to features and commands. Simple, concise examples are given on how to take advantage of a particular feature and then the steps to access that feature and perform a particular task are provided. You won't get lost in a sea of theory in this book. StarOffice 5.2 Calc Handbook subscribes to the basic precept that in today's busy work-world, things need to happen fast. This book's approach to using StarOffice Calc will have you working with even the most complicated tasks quickly.

The table of contents in this book is organized so that instead of having sections listed according to the menus or commands that you use when working in StarOffice Calc, they are based on actual tasks that you perform with the application. For example, to work with a Calc function (one of Calc's built-in formulas) such as PMT, which allows you to compute the monthly payment for a loan, look in the table of contents in the chapter “Working with Functions.” Listed in that chapter is the section “To Use the PMT Function.” In fact, task-based sections for a number of Calc's functions are easily accessible in this chapter. A conscious effort was made as part of the overall design for this book not to bury important information in an unrelated section as a fifth-level header that, by the way, might not even get listed in the table of contents. Like tasks are grouped together in the chapters of this book.

Feedback

While every effort has been made to ensure that this book is accurate and timely, there is no doubt that some errors will be found or that information in this book will be overtaken by subsequent releases of StarOffice. If you find anything in need of correction, please let me know at [email protected]. I will ensure that the necessary corrections are made in future editions or in errata.