Base does not allow autotext

[Damiön la Bagh]

Binary package hint: openoffice.org

When filing in a form (or directly in the table it doesn't matter) in OpenOffice Base it's possible to select a piece of text and push CTRL+F3 to create an autotext from this entry.
Under the AutoText button the New button and New (from text) selections are missing.
It is also not possible to use an autotext created in Writer by pressing the shortcut plus F3.

Autotext is necessary since we are entering a large list of e-mail addresses and would like to autotext the common e-mail addresses to save time.

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: amd64
Date: Fri Dec 5 01:15:27 2008
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 8.04
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Package: openoffice.org-core 1:2.4.1-1ubuntu2.1
PackageArchitecture: amd64
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=/usr/lib/openoffice/program:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: openoffice.org
Uname: Linux 2.6.24-22-generic x86_64

[Chris Cheney (ccheney)]

Do you still have this problem with the new version of OOo in the ppa at https://launchpad.net/~openoffice-pkgs/+archive ?

[Damiön la Bagh (kat-amsterdam)]

Yes this is still a problem in openoffice.org-base (1:3.0.1~rc1-2ubuntu2~intrepid1) installed from the PPA.
I've attached a screenshot of the problem. You can see that I'm trying to create a New autotekst. But OpenOffice base won't let me.
I tried the exact same action in OOWriter (PPA version) and was able to create the AutoTekst, but again. not use it in a form in OOBase. The button Insert is also blanked out.

[Chris Cheney (ccheney)]

How did you get that screen to come up? I can't find that option anywhere in the table edit mode, or is it some other window?

[Damiön la Bagh (kat-amsterdam)]

I've uploaded a blank version of our customer database so you can see what I mean.

Steps to reproduce the error:

 Open the database customer_database.odb
 click on Forms (Formulieren)
 open the form by clicking e-mail_list_new_entry
 click on the EmailAddress field under ENTER CUSTOMER DATA
 type <email address hidden>
 highlight @gmail.com
 hit CTRL+F3 or go to Edit AutoText

Here you can then see what I was showing in the previous screenshot.

It is impossible to create an autotext or use an autotext. Which is silly since AutoText is the most useful when you are doing large batches of data entry.

[Ccheney-b (ccheney-b)]

From the Ubuntu bug report:
"
I've uploaded a blank version of our customer database so you can see what I mean.

Steps to reproduce the error:

 Open the database customer_database.odb
 click on Forms (Formulieren)
 open the form by clicking e-mail_list_new_entry
 click on the EmailAddress field under ENTER CUSTOMER DATA
 type <email address hidden>
 highlight @gmail.com
 hit CTRL+F3 or go to Edit AutoText

Here you can then see what I was showing in the previous screenshot.

It is impossible to create an autotext or use an autotext. Which is silly since
AutoText is the most useful when you are doing large batches of data entry.
"

Database file to test with:
http://launchpadlibrarian.net/24124991/customer_database.odb

Screenshot:
http://launchpadlibrarian.net/21653283/AutoTekst_noNew_oobase.png

Verified on official OOo 3.0.1

[Marc-neumann (marc-neumann)]

It's not possible to use AutoText inside Form Controls. However I send it to the
requirements team for evaluating.

[Björn Michaelsen (bjoern-michaelsen)]

[This is an automated message.]
There are no new official OpenOffice.org releases in Ubuntu packaging anymore => Won't Fix

If the problem persists, please mark this bug as "also affects project Libreoffice" or "also affects distribution Libreoffice (Ubuntu)" if that has not happened already.

Please leave references to upstream OpenOffice.org bugs in place to allow cross pollination.

[Rolf Leggewie (r0lf)]

"Autotext is necessary since we are entering a large list of e-mail addresses and would like to autotext the common e-mail addresses to save time."

To me this sounds like an improperly coded database. You shouldn't even have to do this if your tables were properly normalized. That's only a side-note, though. I haven't really used autotext enough to verify the button is missing as claimed in this bug report.