Re: [libreoffice-users] Re: Serious application development with LibreOffice and LibreOffice Basic

On 04/29/2013 05:54 PM, Michael Lueck wrote:
> Greetings Mark,
>
> I am puzzled at what you posted in reply to my original message...
>
> I was talking about a desktop database as the front-end in a
> Client/Server application.
>
> It appears your question was with using spreadsheets as a database table.
>
> Did I not understand something that was intended?
>
> Sincerely,
>Mark LaPierre wrote:> Oops!  I meant to send this to the list.
>>
>> This is what I was told when I asked about the capabilities of Base:
>>
>> "
>> Le 17/02/2013 02:38, Mark LaPierre a écrit :
>>
>> Hi Mark,
>>
>>
>>> Now how do I create non-linked tables inside the same DB?
>>>
>>> How do I link to another external spreadsheet using the same DB?
>>
>>
>> You would be better off using an external HSQLDB instance to link
>> directly to text tables (note that these would not be Excel files). 
>>See the HSQLDB manual for how to do this.
>>
>> http://hsqldb.sourceforge.net/doc/guide/guide.html#texttables-chapter
>>
>>>
>>> Can I link to only one spreadsheet at a time?
>>
>>
>> In a single ODB file with the embedded hsqldb engine, AFAIK yes.
>>
>>
>>
>>>
>>>  From your email I gather that all tables must be tabs on the one
>>> spreadsheet that is linked.  Is that a true statement?  Seems pretty
>>> inconvenient.
>>>
>>
>>
>> It is, fairly. But LO Base is not Access, nor FMPro. If you need to 
>>work
>> comfortably with and edit multiple separate data sources, using the
>> embedded hsqldb is probably not the best choice.
>>
>> Alex"
>>
>> YMMV

Your post was requesting some guidance for "Serious application 
development with LibreOffice and LibreOffice Basic".  My reply was 
intended to communicate the fact that LO Base is very limited when it 
comes to serious uses.

LO Base is not capable of connecting to an SQL based back end, and 
linking to a LO Calc spreadsheet at the same time.  If you link to a 
spreadsheet all tables used in your LO Base application must exist as 
worksheets inside that same LO Calc spreadsheet.

That one restriction was enough to disqualify LO Base from consideration 
for what I consider to be a very simple application.  I have four 
different LO Calc spreadsheets that contain related information.  I 
wanted to link to all four of those spreadsheets and extract the 
appropriate data from each to build a report combining information from 
each.

The data contained in the LO Calc spreadsheets change on a weekly basis. 
 I need to combine all that weekly data into a large database 
containing combined data for many years.  Can't get there from here.

Something like this would be trivial for MS Access.

What I'm trying to tell you is that you should consider LO Base as a 
front end for a single LO Calc spreadsheet and not much else.  You can 
not import data from a spreadsheet into a LO Base application.

Another issue is the lack of documentation.  I've searched and asked but 
found only the barest of guidance.  A computer program without 
documentation is what they call a video game.

Now, if anyone on this list knows better, please feel free to post your 
illustrative prose in reply.


--
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   ^ ^  Mark LaPierre
Registered Linux user No #267004
https://linuxcounter.net/
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