Consolidating Data

Consolidate is a function used to combine information from multiple sheets of the spreadsheet into one
place to summarize the information. It is used to view and compare variety of data in a single
spreadsheet for identifying trends and relationships.

You need to check the following before consolidating data.

• Open each sheet in the spreadsheet and check that the data types must match which you want to
consolidate.

• Match the labels from all the sheets which are used for consolidating.

• Enter the first column as the primary column on the basis of which the data is to be consolidated.

Data > Consolidate option that will open Consolidate dialog box.

Groups and Subtotals

Group and Outline in Calc is used to create an outline of the selected data and can group rows and
columns together so that one can collapse (-) to hide it or expand (+) it using a single click on it.
Select the data to be grouped, click on Data>Group and Outline.

The Subtotal tool in Calc creates the group automatically and applies common functions like sum,
average on the grouped data. One can use any type of summary function for each column as
per the requirement of data analysis. It can group subtotals by using category and sorts them in
ascending or descending order so that one need not to use filters.
Click on Data menu and choose Subtotals (Data>Subtotals) option.

Goal seek determines what values needs to be input in a cell to achieve the described result in a
formula cell as it allows varying the value for one cell.

Place the cursor in the formula cell, choose Tools > Goal Seek.
Electronic spreadsheet (advanced) using libre office calc 93 Observe that outline to the left of the row
numbers which is inserted after performing the subtotal tool. This outline shows the hierarchical
structure which can be used to show or hide different levels by clicking on the group indicators ‘+’ sign
to expand and ‘–’ sign to collapse the data. You can hide the low-level details and just look at the final
totals and grand totals.
If you want to remove the outline feature from the sheet at any point of time then it is possible by just
clicking on Data > Group and Outline > Remove Outline. Notes Create a sheet as shown in Fig. 4.16 and
then calculate the average of marks subject wise on the basis of class and stream. Also, try out another
function Count to calculate the number of students in each subject.

What-if Scenarios
What-if scenario is a set of values that can be used within the calculations in the spreadsheet. A name
is given to the scenario and several scenarios can be created on the same sheet.
It is used to explore and compare various alternatives depending on changing conditions. It can be used
in the beginning of any project to optimise the output. This tool is used to predict the output while
changing the inputs which reflects the output and thus one can choose the best plan of action based on
it.
Tools>Scenarios will open scenario dialog window.
Macro
A macro is a single instruction that executes a set of instructions. These set of instructions can be a
sequence of commands or keystrokes that can be used for any number of times later. A sequence of
actions such as keystrokes and clicks can be recorded and then run as per the requirement.

It is important to know that by default the macro recording feature is turned off when LibreOffice is
installed on your computer. Hence, to record a Macro ensure that the macro recording is enabled.
Macro recording can be enabled using the Tools option on the main menu bar by selecting Tools >
Options > LibreOffice > Advanced. Observe the Optional Features. There are two options which are not
check marked. Put the checkmark on the option “Enable macro recording”.

Follow the steps given below to record a macro.

Step 1. Click on Tools > Macros and then click on the Record Macro option.
Step 2. Now start taking actions that will be recorded.
Step 3. Once you click on Record Macro option, recording of actions starts and a small alert will be
displayed. Clicking on “Stop Recording” button will stop the recording of actions.

To Run A Macro open the Macro selector dialog box by clicking Tools-> Macros-> Run Macro.

the following steps to organize the macro .

Step 1. Click on Tools > Macros > Organize Macros >Libre Office Basic to open the Libre Office Basic
Macro dialog window .
Step 2. Click Organizer to open the Basic Macro Organizer dialog box.

Macro as a Function
Consider a situation wherein you need to perform calculations that are repetitive in nature. Assume that
the same formula needs to be applied to different data in different sheets and there is no predefined
function for it. In such a situation will it not be convenient if we could create a macro that performs the
calculations? It will save us the effort of remembering and typing the formulas. It is possible to do so if
we use Macro as a function. Instead of writing instructions in between Sub and End Sub, we
can write instructions in between Function and End Function. A function is capable of accepting
arguments or values. It can perform operations on the arguments, perform calculations and return the
result.

Hyperlinks to the Sheet

Sometimes it is required to jump to a document stored at a different location from within a document. It
can be done by creating a hyperlink. It is possible to jump from a sheet in the same spreadsheet,
different spreadsheet or a website by creating a hyperlink.

Relative and Absolute Hyperlinks

A hyperlink can be either absolute or relative.
An absolute hyperlink stores the complete location where the file is stored. So, if the file is
removed from the location, absolute hyperlink will not work. For example:
C:\Users\ADMIN\Downloads\try.ods is an absolute link as it defines the complete path of the file.

A relative hyperlink stores the location with respect to the current location. For example:
Admin\Downloads\ try.ods is a relative hyperlink as it is dependent on the current location and thus the
folder admin is searched where the active spreadsheet is being stored. If the complete folder containing
the active spreadsheet is moved the relative link will still be accessible as it is bound to the source folder
where the active spreadsheet is stored.

Creating Hyperlinks
It is possible to hyperlink a sheet of other spreadsheet document in a spreadsheet. Suppose, you have to
hyperlink a Result sheet of “Result-X-A” spreadsheet document in the “Result-X-B” spreadsheet
document, then follow the following steps:
Step 1. Open the Result-X-B spreadsheet document.
Step 2. From the main menu, select and click on Insert > Hyperlink.
Step 3. To insert the spreadsheet document, click on the Document on the left pan of dialog box,
then to select the spreadsheet document, click on the button located after the Path. Select the
required document. In our case we select the spreadsheet document “Result-X-A”.
Step 4. Then click on the Target button to choose the sheet which is to be hyperlinked. Target in
Document helps to specifically choose a target in the document such as sheet, tables, frames,
images, headings and so on. Here in our case we will select the sheet Result as shown in
Step 5. Click on Apply and Close button to exit the Target Document window. Step 6. Enter the text in
the Text box to assign the hyperlink to that text. In our case we have entered the text as “Result-X-A” So
the hyperlink will be assigned to the text “Result-X-A”.

Linking to External Data

Internet is a rich source of information, which is stored in the form of web pages. The web pages are
written in HTML documents. Data on a web page can be stored in the form of tables. The versatility of a
spreadsheet allows us to insert tables from HTML documents into Calc. To insert the tables from a HTML
document, we can use the External Data Dialog box. The steps for the same are given below.
Step 1. Open the spreadsheet where external data is to be inserted.
Step 2. Select the cell to store the first cell of the table in the external data.
Step 3. Select Sheet > Link to External Data.
Step 4. The External Data dialog box . Type the URL of the source document or select it from the drop-
down list if it is listed and press enter.
Step 5. A dialog box is displayed to select the language for import. Selecting Automatic shows data in the
same language as in the webpage.

Sharing Spreadsheet
Sharing a spreadsheet is just like a teamwork to work in collaboration with
other users. The following are the steps to share the spreadsheet.
Step 1. Open a new spreadsheet and save it with some name.
Step 2. Select and click on Tools > Share Spreadsheet from main menu bar. This will open the Share
Document dialog window which can be used to enable or disable sharing option.
Step 3. Click on the checkbox “Share this spreadsheet with other users” to share the spreadsheet and
click on OK button. This will open the confirmation dialog window to save the spreadsheet to activate
the shared mode.
Step 4. Click on Yes to continue.
Step 5. Once the spreadsheet is saved, the name of the spreadsheet in the title bar will display (shared)
along with the name of the spreadsheet.

Opening a Spreadsheet
To open a shared spreadsheet, follow the following steps.
Step 1. While opening a spreadsheet which is a shared spreadsheet, a message will appear
that the spreadsheet is in shared mode and some of the features are not available to use in this
spreadsheet.
Step 2. Click on OK button to open the spreadsheet in shared mode.
Step 3. If you don’t want this warning option to be displayed again, then check the mark in the
checkbox ‘Do not show warning again’.
Step 4. Once the spreadsheet is saved in shared mode, some of the features will become unavailable
for used.
Step 5. Observe the Edit menu on the main menu bar that shows Undo, Redo, Repeat, Paste, Links to
External files, ImageMap, Object are not available for use.

Saving a Shared Spreadsheet

Follow the steps given below to save a shared spreadsheet:
Step 1. After making the changes in the shared spreadsheet, you need to save it before closing
the spreadsheet.
Step 2. If two or more users are working at the same time and the changes do not conflict, then the
message will appear stating that the spreadsheet has been updated with changes saved by other
users.
Step 3. If there is any conflict for the changes, then resolve conflict dialog window will appear.
Step 4. No other user can save the shared spreadsheet when you are resolving the conflicts.
Step 5. If another user is trying to save the shared document and resolve conflicts, then you will be
notified with a message that the file is locked.Now, you cannot save it.

Recording Changes
This feature of LibreOffice Calc provides different ways to record the changes made by one or other
users in the spreadsheet. While recording the changes, the spreadsheet will turn off its shared feature.
Follow the following steps for recording changes:
Step 1. To enable the Record changes, first disable the shared mode of spreadsheet.
Step 2. To disable the shared mode, open the spreadsheet “Test.ods”.
Step 3. Select and click on Tools > Share Spreadsheet from main menu bar. This will open the
Share Document dialog window. Remove the check-mark on the check box, “Share this spreadsheet
with other users”, and click on OK button. It will display the Confirmation dialog window to disable the
sharing mode. It will give warning to disable the shared mode of a spreadsheet .
Click Yes to continue.
Step 4. Observe that (shared) word from the name of the spreadsheet has disappeared from the title bar
of the spreadsheet.
Step 5. The feature of Track Changes > Record under Edit menu is turned ON which was
disabled and not working in the shared spreadsheet.
Step 6. Now to record track changes, click on Edit > Track Changes > Record as.
Step 7. Now change name Sia to Sita in cell B5.Observe that the border colour of the cell in which
data has been changed turns to red. Also, the changed cell will display thedescription if the cursor
moves to the changed cell. Recording Track changes under Edit menu enabled
Displaying the information of changes recorded under track changes
Confirmation dialog window to disable sharing mode of spreadsheet
Step 8. Thus, by looking at the spreadsheet, other users can easily know the changes made in the
cell and the changes made by whom.

Add, Edit and Format the Comments

In Calc, the comments are automatically added. Also, the author or reviewer can add their own
comments as well. Follow the following steps to add your comments:
Step 1. Select from main menu bar and click on Edit > Track Changes > Comment to add your own
comments.
Step 2. This will open the Add comment window. Enter your comments. Shows the comments entered.
Step 3. Now to view the entered comment, click on the cell. It shows the complete description of the
comments entered.
Step 4. You can also insert comments to a cell. Click on the cell where you want to insert comments.
Then select from main menu Insert > Comment
Step 5. This type of comments is known as notes or suggestions in the spreadsheet. The box will appear
to write the comment. The comment box shows the comments entered as “Contains only alphabets”.
Once this text is typed in the text box, you can observe a coloured dot in the upper-hand corner of the
cell where the comment is added using insert comment.
Step 6. Once the comment is added, you can display, edit or delete it. To perform these operations, right
click on the cell where you have inserted the comment. Observe the options under popup menu.
Step 7. Select the “Edit Comment” option to edit the comments. It will take you again to the comment
textbox to make any changes. Step 8. Select “Delete Comment” option to delete the comment.
Step 9. Select the “Show Comment” to view the comment. By selecting this option, the comments will
be displayed. Again when you right click on the cell, you will observe that “Hide Comment” option will
be activated in place of “Show Comment”. This is because when you are displaying the comments it
is already in show mode, which has to be hide. Formatting Comment You can format the comment box,
just like formatting the cell contents. It means changing the background colour, border style, and
transparency of a comment. Follow the following steps to format the comment.
Step 1. Right click on the cell where the comment is added.
Step 2. Select the option “Format cell”, which will display the Format Cells dialogue box as shown in
Step 3. You can apply the various formatting features from its tab such as Font, font Effects, Alignment,
Borders, Background and Cell Protection. Change the font, text colour, fill colour, line colour
for the comment box as desired and click on OK button to apply the changes. Observe the
desired formatting features applied to the comment box. Reviewing Changes – View,
Accept or Reject Changes Once the spreadsheet is edited by all the members of the team. It is the final
stage before submitting the spreadsheet. In this stage, we will go through the changes to accept or
reject to prepare the final spreadsheet after looking at all the changes made by the team members.
Follow the following steps to review changes.
Step 1. Select and click on Edit > Track Changes > Show. It will open the Show Changes dialog window.
Step 2. This is used to plan what all changes are to be displayed while reviewing the spreadsheet.
Step 3. Click on Edit > Track Changes > Manage to accept or reject the changes. It will display the
Manage Changes dialog window .
Step 3. In this dialog window, click on the line and click on Accept or Accept All or Reject All button
to review the changes.
Step 4. Click on Close button once the review is done.

Comparing Documents
Instead of merging two spreadsheets, one can compare the two spreadsheets by comparing the
documents. Follow the following steps to compare the documents. Let us compare the two earlier
created spreadsheets Test.ods and Test1.ods
Step 1. Open the spreadsheet file Test.ods. Click on Edit > Track Changes > Compare Document .
Step 2. This will open the Compare to dialog window, which will allow to open the spreadsheet to be
compared. Select the spreadsheet file Test1.ods and click on Open button.
Step 3. This will open the Manage Changes dialog window to accept/reject the changes. Click on Accept.
Step 4. Finally click on Close button to close the Manage Changes dialog window.