Re: [libreoffice-users] Number comparisons in conditional text

The first option is what I have been doing - it uses a calc file to 
drive a mailing list. The logic is in the document, not in the calc 
file, so that I can bring in new data without a lot of effort - the raw 
data can just be a .csv file.

The second option, using a "smart" calc file, moves the logic to the 
data file which is what I don't want to do. It means importing the data 
or calculation into a calc file each time. The second option, moving the 
logic into a base file seems more promising.

However, after much wailing and gnashing of teeth, I have to question 
whether base can do what I want. I can't get it to take a query using a 
BETWEEN criterion (e.g., youth is AGE between 0 AND 18).

It won't (apparently) do any queries on calc sheets. Fortunately 
copy/pasting to create a new base table is easy enough. Unfortunately 
without being able to match the main table (containing participant 
information) against age categories, etc., it's not much good.

I suppose I can use a brute force technique and create a table row for 
every possible age (for example) but that seems like a ludicrous kludge 
when the basic problem is that Writer's form letter functions can't 
compare numbers.


On 28/04/16 09:58 PM, Bruce Hohl wrote:
> Two more ideas for this problem:  (1) Do not use a Calc file - see 
> LO_Labels_howto.odt, (2) Move the logic from Writer into either Calc 
> or a Base query.  While I can't explain how this might work for your 
> Certificate mail merge I can show you through the attached examples 
> how I used these two ideas to solve my mail merge problem.  Good Luck 
> and I hope you can make this work for you in LO.
>
> On Wed, Apr 27, 2016 at 9:17 PM, Gary Dale <garydale@torfree.net 
> <mailto:garydale@torfree.net>> wrote:
>
>     I can browse to a spreadsheet directly without first attaching it
>     to a database, but that's just a kludge. LibreOffice creates the
>     base file when you select the spreadsheet, which brings me back to
>     the same problem.
>
>
>
>     On 27/04/16 07:24 PM, Bruce Hohl wrote:
>
>         Reportedly, as of LO 5.1 you can create a mail merge without a
>         Base file -
>         reference this:
>         http://vmiklos.hu/blog/mail-merge-embedding.html You might
>         try to recreate your Certificate mail merge without the Base
>         file being
>         careful to select cell formats for your data that work with
>         Writer.  (If
>         you have good spreadsheet skills you could likely get the job
>         done entirely
>         in Calc.)
>
>         On Wed, Apr 27, 2016 at 6:18 PM, Gary Dale
>         <garydale@torfree.net <mailto:garydale@torfree.net>> wrote:
>
>             I've tried it with Debian/Stretch v5.1.2.2.0+ and Windows
>             7 v5.1.3. If I
>             was running anything old or unusual, I would have noted
>             it. The document is
>             simple, as is the spreadsheet and the base file that
>             connects them.
>
>             I tried changing the numbers to text but Base doesn't seem
>             to allow that.
>             It's decided that the columns for age and place are
>             decimal numbers.
>
>             So far as I can see, either the number comparisons operate
>             differently
>             from the text comparisons (which the documentation doesn't
>             mention) or the
>             number comparisons are broken. Normally I'd consider that
>             unlikely, but my
>             past experience with printing "form letters" and labels is
>             that these areas
>             don't get a lot of attention.
>
>
>             On 27/04/16 03:32 PM, Bruce Hohl wrote:
>
>                 Can you give more details of your set-up.  What is in
>                 the Writer, Calc
>                 and / or Base components of LO.
>
>                 On Wed, Apr 27, 2016 at 11:44 AM, Gary Dale
>                 <garydale@torfree.net <mailto:garydale@torfree.net>
>                 <mailto:garydale@torfree.net
>                 <mailto:garydale@torfree.net>>> wrote:
>
>                      I'm trying to print certificates for a group of
>                 athletes and need
>                      to have them reflect their standing in the event.
>                 The certificate
>                      has a number of conditional text fields, such as
>                 to translate
>                      their gender from M/F to male/female, which are
>                 working.
>
>                      However the ones that are doing numeric
>                 comparisons aren't. The
>                      comparison always seems to return "true" so the
>                 "then" condition
>                      is printed. For example Run Results.Race.place ==
>                 1 is the
>                      condition but the translation text is always
>                 "first place", never
>                      empty. Since I have 5 different conditions (first
>                 3 positions,
>                      participate, supported), I get a lot of text
>                 printed that shouldn't.
>
>                      The slightly more complex Run Results.Race.age >
>                 18 AND Run
>                      Results.Race.age < 60 always prints adult. At one
>                 point I had it
>                      print an else (senior) but that branch was never
>                 taken even when
>                      the age was well past 60.
>
>                      I've checked the Run Results.odb file (which
>                 links to a
>                      spreadsheet) and the age & place fields are both
>                 of type decimal.
>
>                      What am I doing wrong?
>
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