Base documentation - Forms

I have worked through chapter 4 - forms on the Base documentation. Apart from a minor concern relating to the descriptions of the various options in the drop down menus I found that it was a good document, and would certainly be of help to people developing forms. Owing to a disk crash I have lost a number of e-mails relating to this project.
Would it be possible for someone to advise me on
1. How to check the chapter back in
2. What chapter should I work on next?
3. How do I check out any new chapters I work on?
4. What are the links for downloading chapters?

Sorry to be a pain but it has been many years since I have been involve in a large team and I do not want to screw anything up.

Thanks in advance

Regards

Peter Goggin

Hi :slight_smile:
You can attach the chapter to a private email to someone such as Jean, who
has access to ODFAuthors and knows what she is doing with it.

If you really want to learn how to do it yourself then this suggested
work-flow might help;
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/Development#Using_ODFAuthors_website
or / and this guide;
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/Development#Contributors_Guide

You can choose which chapter of which guide/handbook you would like to work
on next. This wiki might help you avoid things that other people are
working on;
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/Development/UserGuideTasks

If you'd like a recommendation then any of chapters 5, 6 and 7 makes sense
- to follow on from what you have already done.
    Chapter 5, about Queries, feels like a bit of a step backwards because
it's usually better practice to base Forms&Reports on Queries rather than
directly on Tables. However i think the aim was to quickly get something
working for the User and then help them find better and better ways of
doing things, and to help them discover why those ways are better.
    Chapter 6, about Reports, is more of a natural follow-on but is (VERY!)
roughly the same sort of thing. This might be something you could race
through quite quickly now and maybe use to improve your own database (i
doubt it because you know enough about databases already to know the
advantages and disadvantages of Forms over Reports, but it's still
possible).
    Chapter 7, about Linking to Databases, is probably the most hugely
useful one for you right now. It's the biggest advantage and main reason
why Base is sooo far in advance of Access that it makes Access look like a
child's toy.

The "Forms" chapter in Writer might have been fairly useful but we've
missed the chance for this release of the Writers Guide. No matter!!
Onwards and upwards! There will be another chance to work on it in a few
months time, or a years time or whenever the next version is being done.
There is plenty else to do here that would also be useful!

Btw i had a hard-drive failure yday but luckily turned out to be an
intermittent fault and it's working again today. I still need to back-up
my data! A colleague had the same problem but since he was on Windows it
was a more serious problem and he's doing a full reinstall to a new drive
and is restricted to just using his tablet until it gets done! It's good
to hear you were able to breeze through it more easily!
Many thanks and regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

<petergoggin@bigpond.com> To: Documentation@Global.LibreOffice.Org Date:
Wed, 01 Oct 2014 18:40:00 +1000

I have worked through chapter 4 - forms on the Base documentation. Apart
from a minor concern relating to the descriptions of the various options
in the drop down menus I found that it was a good document, and would
certainly be of help to people developing forms. Owing to a disk crash
I have lost a number of e-mails relating to this project.
Would it be possible for someone to advise me on
1. How to check the chapter back in
2. What chapter should I work on next?
3. How do I check out any new chapters I work on?
4. What are the links for downloading chapters?

Sorry to be a pain but it has been many years since I have been involve
in a large team and I do not want to screw anything up.

Thanks in advance

Regards

Peter Goggin

Hi Peter,

Anyone who is prepared to "step up to the plate" and help with the
documentation is _NOT_ a pain. Don't concern yourself too much about
"screwing anything up", because everything is fixable and nobody will
get upset about a genuine mistake. Probably the only semi-important
thing to remember is renaming any edited files you check back in. (See
point 1 below.)

You should find answers to most of your questions at:
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/Development
If you need any further clarification please write back to this list.

In answer to your specific questions:

1. See:
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/Development#Uploading_a_file_after_a_review
Change the name of the file you are checking back in to include your
initials and editing date. Something like:
BH4204-Forms_AC_PG_01Oct2014.odt
(The AC indicates that you reviewed Alan Cook's revision.)
Then change the status here:
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/Development/UserGuideTasks#Base_Handbook

2. The choice is yours. If you are interested in working on the Base
Handbook there appears to be plenty to choose from at:
http://www.odfauthors.org/libreoffice/english/base-handbook/drafts_4.2

3. See:
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/Development#Downloading_a_file_for_review
Then change the status here:
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/Development/UserGuideTasks

4. For chapters you want to work on I would recommend the ODF Authors
website: http://www.odfauthors.org/libreoffice/english
It appears that Jean has made the Base Handbook chapters "Externally
Visible" (ie. no log-in required), but if you want to retract (ie. work
on) them you will need to log-in first.

I believe the above information to be accurate, but others will
undoubtedly correct any errors I may have made.

I hope this helps.

Regards
Dave

Hi :slight_smile:
+1
to all of it especially about not being a pain.

Looks like a much better answer than mine. Thanks :slight_smile:
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

Only as a last resort, if you are unable to access the ODFAuthors website,
should you send a file directly to me. Otherwise, it might sit around for
awhile if I am away from my computer; I can't deal with it from a mobile
device.

In addition to the info in Dave Barton's note in reply: the preferred place
to upload a reviewed file is the Feedback or Reviewed folder for the book
you're working on.

Also, it's a good idea to tell the list where you've put it; otherwise, it
might be awhile before someone notices.

--Jean

Thanks for the instructions. When I try to upload my file it asks for a title and then another field for description used in searches etc.

What do I put in these field?

Is the title the file name?

Again sorry for the trouble, but as I get older I have some difficulty in grsping new concepts, until I have used them one or two times.

Thanks in advance

Peter Goggin

For title, put the number and name of the chapter, for example BH42 Ch4 Forms.

You can leave the description blank; it's not needed. Or you can put a
note about what you've done. For example, "Reviewed and some changes
and questions are in the file."

--Jean

I have uploaded my version of the the Forms chapter. I looked at the link for changing the status of the file. I do not have access to change the status. Do I need an account for this, other than the ODF authors login. (This does not work on the sign in.) It says my user name is invalid, yet when I try to create a user it says I already exist.

I need to be able to set the status to reviewed and then be able to check out another chapter.

Regards

Peter Goggin

Peter,
You were able to log in to ODFAuthors and upload the file, so your
user name is clearly valid. I just checked and you appear to have the
necessary permissions to change a file's status, so I don't know why
you can't. Don't worry about it; it's not stopping you from doing
anything else. Anyway, there is no "reviewed" status for files on the
ODFAuthors website; we keep track of that on the wiki:
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/Development/UserGuideTasks#Status_of_tasks_BH_v4.2

As for checking out another chapter, just download it from ODFAuthors.
Then put your initials in the "Checked out" column on the wiki page I
linked above.

Yes, I know it's a slightly clunky system. We tried to do a more
automated one several years ago, using a different platform, but it
didn't work out. (Long, boring explanation omitted here.) The people
actually doing the work at the time appeared to be happy with the
system we're using. Of course, it may be time to change the system, if
enough people find it's a problem and want to do something different.

Lastly, I see there was no folder for Reviewed 4.2, so I have created
one and moved your reviewed file from Drafts 4.2 to the new folder.
Using different folders seems to help people keep track of what stage
a file has reached.
http://www.odfauthors.org/libreoffice/english/base-handbook/reviewed-4.2/

--Jean

This is the page where I cannot edit or change the fields in the table. If I try to log on using my ODF login it says I am not a user.

How can I change the status of files in this page?

I have downloaded the Queries chapter (4.2 Chapter 6 Queries) and will work on this
Regards

Peter Goggin.

Should be chapter 5 for Queries.
Regards
Peter Goggin

Which precise page are you attempting to access without success? You
uploaded a file to ODFAuthors so you definitely have a working login there.

If you mean the LibreOffice wiki page, that is a different website
which uses its own login, separate from ODFAuthors. You should be able to
create your own login on the wiki: look for the link in the upper right
hand corner. You can use the same username etc when you create your account
there, if you wish.

--Jean

Sorry, the wiki page referred to is actually on the Document
Foundation wiki, as shown in the URL.

I am sorry but I do not seem to be able to make any changes to this page, despite logging on etc. I need to remove the reference to me in the last column for Ch 4 Forms and put an entry indicating I am working on Ch 5 Queries.

I am probably missing something blindinglynobvious.

Regards

Peter Goggin

Hi Peter,

can you post the link to the page you are trying to edit? Then maybe Jean
or I can have a look at your rights.
But as Jean already pointed out, you have the same rights as any other user
that can check in documents...
However, it could be a bug, that's why I'm aksing.

Sigrid

Hi :slight_smile:
I tried to fix it to show the right updated status of the 2 chapters in
question.

I think it's correct? Peter, is that correct now?
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

Thanks, that looks ok to me.

Regards

Peter Goggin

Hi :slight_smile:
Thanks, so that's the wiki kinda sorted for you :slight_smile: I might be able to help
the couple of you who are having trouble with that maybe next week :slight_smile:
Others on this mailing list can also help but might be busy.
Thanks and regards from
Tom :slight_smile: