User's Manual - version: 0.2
The easiest way to get familiar with KeyValue's features is using OpenOffice or Excel add-ins based on it. KeyValue comes with examples of core and bridge libraries allowing for the build of an OpenOffice and an Excel add-in. This section introduces some of these features using these add-ins as example.
We assume you are familiar with the basics of OpenOffice Calc or Excel. These two applications have very similar user interfaces. For this reason, we address instructions to OpenOffice Calc users only. Excel users should not have trouble in adapting them. Moreover, remember that OpenOffice is open source software available at
It is worth mentioning one interface difference between OpenOffice Calc and Excel. In both, either double-clicking or pressing F2 on a cell start its editing. Pressing Enter finishes the edition. If the new content is a formula, while Excel immediately calculates the result, OpenOffice Calc recalculates only if it belieaves the cell's content has changed. In particular, F2 followed by Enter recalculates a cell formula in Excel but not in OpenOffice Calc. To force OpenOffice Calc to recalculate the cell, we have to fake a change. Therefore, keep in mind the following:
To recalculate a cell formula double click on the cell (or press F2 if the cell is the current one), then press Left Arrow followed by Enter. To recalculate a formula range, in OpenOffice one must select the whole range (select any cell in the range and then press Ctrl+/) before pressing F2.
From spreadsheet applications, KeyValue derives some terminology regarding data containers:
Is a piece of data that, in a spreadsheet application,
would fit in a single cell. For instance, the number 1.0 or the
text "Foo".
Is a collection of data that, in a spreadsheet, would fit in a one-dimensional range of cells like A1:J1 or A1:A10. More precisely, when those cells are one beside another in a row we call it a row vector (e.g. A1:J1). When the cells are one above another in a column (e.g. A1:A10) we call it a column vector. In particular, a single is both a row and a column vector.
Is a collection of data that, in a spreadsheet, would fit in a two dimensional range of cells like A1:B2. In particular, single and vector are matrices.
After building Keyvalue with its core and bridge examples (see
Section Section 3), under KeyValue's home
directory, we should have a ready-to-use OpenOffice add-in named
keyvalue.oxt (or an Excel add-in named
keyvalue.xll). The exact location is shown in Table 3.
| Build | OpenOffice (GNU/Linux) | OpenOffice (Windows) | Excel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debug | openoffice-addin/out/linux-gcc-debug |
openoffice-addin\out\windows-msvc-debug |
excel-addin\out\windows-msvc-debug |
| Release | openoffice-addin/out/linux-gcc-release |
openoffice-addin\out\windows-msvc-release |
excel-addin\out\windows-msvc-release |
Launch OpenOffice Calc, open the debug add-in and the example
workbook keyvalue.ods (or
keyvalue.xlsx for Excel) located in
doc/workbooks.
Notice that a console window pops up. KeyValue uses it to present some output, notably error messages.
