Switching from OpenOffice to LibreOffice Calc – with difficulty

Topic

New Reply

At the moment I prefer to use OpenOffice Calc since it basically works as I expect (speaking as an ex-Excel user); but I’d like to migrate to LibreOffice since it’s still being actively supported, and also because I prefer LibreOffice Writer. It seems wasteful to maintain two office suites.

One example: when I import a bank statement in CSV format, my bank includes the currency symbol in the appropriate fields. LibreOffice Calc can’t do calculations on those cells; I have to do a search and replace to get rid of the currency symbol, then format those cells as currency if I want to proceed.

OpenOffice, on the other hand, correctly identifies the file format, performs calculations on cells which include a currency symbol, and even formats the result cells as currency.

I can’t find anything in the LibreOffice options to deal with these issues. Am I doomed to using two office suites?

Reply | Quote

Replies

When importing, click the ‘detect special numbers’ field; this converts the currency column correctly (at least it did when I tried it!).

Eliminate spare time: start programming PowerShell

Reply | Quote

When importing, click the ‘detect special numbers’ field; this converts the currency column correctly (at least it did when I tried it!).

A-ha! That does get me most of the way there, thanks. One small niggle remains: although the import preview correctly shows the GBP symbol that’s in my CSV, the imported spreadsheet renders currency fields as USD until I re-format them. No biggie, I can do that easily enough.

I believe Open Office classic is being supported again, now called Apache OpenOffice v.4.1.0.

Thanks, I had seen that Apache had taken up the baton. I’ll wait to see what happens with it. I should maybe have said that I’m using the PortableApps versions of these suites, and Apache OpenOffice hasn’t made it to full release status as a portable app yet.

Reply | Quote

I believe Open Office classic is being supported again, now called Apache OpenOffice v.4.1.0.

Reply | Quote

There is a portable version of 4.1 here http://www.openoffice.org/porting/

Reply | Quote

Thanks to all. I intend to stick to LibreOffice for now.

While it’s a good thing that OpenOffice is still alive, it does muddy the waters somewhat when trying to choose.

Reply | Quote