[PLUG] MS Access -> ? for OOo

Rogan Creswick creswick at gmail.com
Mon Feb 11 06:56:35 UTC 2008


On Feb 10, 2008 10:05 PM, John Jason Jordan <johnxj at comcast.net> wrote:
> However, I have zero - and I mean absolutely zero - knowledge of
> scripting or anything else requiring computer codes. I have tried
> programming and I find it impossible to understand. I'm sure I could
> learn, but the learning curve would be massive and I don't have the
> time now. Besides, this is the only place I'd probably ever need it.

I can assure you that's not true ;) Many of your questions over the
years have pointed out excellent examples of UI bugs that Unix/Linux
hackers have happily been scripting around for decades.  You're one of
the few users who has the patience and tenacity to beat these
situations around until the (often times meager) tools will solve your
problem.  If you ever want a job in QA, just show the interviewer your
PLUG history ;)

That said, I would solve your problem with LaTeX and some scripting.
(probably in Haskell, but that's personal preference.)  Learning to
use scripting languages is a lot like learning how to use duct
tape--you can do *anything* with it (even if you shouldn't ;).

> It would be a ridiculous amount of effort for me.

This, however, is true.  I don't think it'd be as bad as you expect,
especially with some tutelage though.

You really must learn LaTeX some day though (LyX is a good way to
start -- it's WYSIWYG) I think you would really enjoy how it separates
the content from the formatting, yet still does the formatting
perfectly.

For your problem, it looks like it *is* possible to get to OO Base to
load an sqlite db:

http://documentation.openoffice.org/HOW_TO/data_source/SQLite.pdf

It doesn't look *that* hard, but probably not a 5-min job.

--Rogan



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