On Fri, Apr 5, 2013 at 3:25 PM, Tom Panfil <tap.h...@verizon.net> wrote:
> Hello All, > > I've used Open Office on my MacBook Pro for about three years and > like it, but have not done anything particularly challenging. I'm using > Apache OpenOffice 3.4.0 now. > > I need advice as to whether OO's Base with MySQL can be used in a > practical way to do some tasks, before making a major attempt to > switch from MS Access to OO & MySQL for this work. I started to > make this switch 3 years ago but stopped when I learned that Base > does not include its own database engine. Sample tasks are as follows: > you might have misslearned that. Base always included it's own database engine called HSQLDB > > For many years I used MS Access to facilitate mailing CDs, later DVDs, > to attendees of ACM SIGAda Conferences, now morphed into HILT > Conferences. I'd use the Conference Attendee List in the Access DB > to perform two jobs to support this work: > > * Print shipping Labels via a DYMO Printer. The labels would > include a graphic, the shipping address, the return address, > and the number of disks to be included in the package. > > * Print US Customs Forms to mail to attendees from outside the > USA. Initially the US Forms were a single sheet, then later they > changed to a triplicate format. I handled that by separating the > forms and printing on three copies in succession, being careful > to keep the forms with the same pre-printed number together. > The info printed was essentially the same as that used on the > Shipping Labels. > OpenOffice Base uses Writer which has a good support for diferent page sizes, and specifications. > > The critical capability provided by Access, besides driving jobs from its > database, was the capability to control placement of the text very > precisely, to match the fields on the pre-printed forms. > > I'd really rather be able to do this job running OO's Base and MySQL > directly from Mac OS X, rather than starting my Windows XP Virtual > Machine, mechanized via Parallels, so that I can use MS Access > from my MS Office XP Professional software. > > Do such tasks seem appropriate for OO's Base & MySQL? Can Base > provide very critical control of the positioning of text? > I suggest to have a look at our forums where there are many sample databases and you can work with the people there to get you up to speed. > > v/r, > > Tom Panfil > > -- Alexandro Colorado Apache OpenOffice Contributor http://es.openoffice.org
