Custom labels , part2

part one was here.

the next step was to get it into a mailmerge type of arrangement , linked to a dataabse , so editing, adding or removing entries was a simple business.
The database bit is easy - OOBase is good enough. So I set up a database of addresses ( usual stuff, firstname,lastname.address1, adress2  etc etc )
And the mailmerge works (!)  - with a bit of fiddling around - more later .

Taking the data from the Table in the database

You can add and remove names in the database viewed in the  template document   and sort entries alphabetically by the surname. but when it prints out from there , the names  are in the unsorted order.


The way to get them sorted is to add a Query  which will do the sorting

eg SELECT * FROM Addresses ORDER By "Last"  

and then get the database view to show the query - called here  inOrder

But if you do the mailmerge to the original document , the results is  blank pages.
The template for the mailmerge references the Table and field of the database table  that it was created from , not the current table/query/view even though the field names are the same .

the placeholder has the format <DB><TableName><ColumnName>

So to get it to merge from the query I had to change things from

<PDlabels><Addresses><First>  to  <PDlabels><inOrder><First>

and then copy the frame down the page 

So  the order of doing things has to be

1.  Create and populate database
2.  Write SQL query
3.  Open template document
4.  Drag column labels to the document. ( Copy/paste across as before) 
5.  I then found that I had to tell the mailmerge where to  put the next record - otherwise it was  producing a complete page of the same name . The explanation is here .

Ctrl -f2 gets you to the correct screen

So i think I'm sorted !

EastCoast Wifi

I think if you can travel using the off-peak servies East Coast mainline service ( After all , its the Peoples Railway - run by a holding company of the Department of Transport since 2009) isn't actually too bad, other than the extortionate cost of peak travel.

I've used the wireless internet from time to time . Actually quite useful, as i take my netbook and its a good opportunity to do 3 hours work  . My recent trip was on  Friday 30th March. I had changed my 'Frequent flyer' points for wifi.
But it was hopeless - too slow to load anything .
Heres some monitoring of the download speeds ( and some ping times) , which  demonstrate that it was a connection that was so slow as to be unusable.

Ive also emailed it to ECML wifi support , and they have acknowledged the receipt. I wonder if I will get more response than that

Goodbye mint

I used Linux Mint 10 when Ubuntu went to the Unity desktop and was very happy with it.
The upgrade from 10 to 12 was  disaster though.  The root of the problem is that /home is on a separate Hard Disk and all the stuff in /home is therefore preserved. Something in there in a config file doesnt work.

the Desktop it as you see it

-ERROR: ld.so: object '/usr/lib/libv4l/v4l1compat.so' from LD_PRELOAD cannot be preloaded: ignored.
 recedes every command line execution  ( but skype is OK!)
-desktop shortcuts don't work
-terminal command line  stuff doesnt work
-no desktop background ( not that important)

Ive posted on the LM forums   but no suggestions /solutions so far so I need to try something  different . So ive got a different HD and with LXDE mint on it , so I'll see whta happens there. ive also got a seprate machine with gentoo installed, but id forgotten what ahassle gentoo can be to get everything set up ( Im sure its fine when its done, but i haven got the time at the moment)

Watch this space

the things you learn......

I went to the Councils' Cycling forum. They have a webpage devoted to cycling  its been going a couple of years  or so, and actually seems to be working quite well  - they take notice of comments, you can see progress on projects.
im sure having Katya  and the Newcastle Cycling Campaign there helps.

So other than the usual stuff about cycle parking   and looking at routes , there were a couple of other things of interest,.

There is  a terms of reference document which was discussed. I timed the discussion over this Agenda item  -12 minutes. And whats missing ? - a policy about what to do about Mobile phones during the meeting . I'm in favour of staring at people  and listening to the conversation if they answer it  during a meeting but this wasnt a universally adopted.  I don't think there actually was  a decision ( rather than leave things as they are - people leave the room to answer a call if they have to) .

And at some schools  in Newcastle pupils have to show some sort of ID before they are let in the school. Pupils ?????. I can perhaps see that random adults shouldn't be wandering round schools , but pupils ? They are worried about  kids who have gone to the wrong school or who, instead of bunking off and hanging round Eldon Square , decide to go to an English lesson ?

And scratchbikes is a well used means for students to get back to Jesmond after a night out

ibuprofen here

 

I went into the local Boots and  asked for 'generic Ibuprofen' . they took me to these  boxes, hidden in a corner. Price 0.37p 

This of course compares with these , on prominent display  behind the counter 

 

Price £1.95 

So Nurofen is over 5 times the  price of  the cheaper variety. 

Guess which I bought ?

Coast Road cycle route problems

According to the  City Council think a problem  here , because cyclists are going the wrong way down a one-way street and coming into contact with pedestrians.


Of course nothing is as straightforward as it first  seems.
The problem is actually here

The Signposted cycle route is to enter this alley.


But cars and vans ignore the No Entry sign and is you venture up this alley, as signposted , you are likely to meet a van coming the other way , round a blind corner.

So hardly surprisingly , cyclists dont do it, preferring to  vanture the wrong way down the one way street, using the pavement,as necessary  and hence coming into conflict with pedestrians.


Of course you shouldn't cycle on the pavement  - its  illegal  according to 1835 Highway Act . That also includes a legal definition of a pavement .

I wonder if the council will tackle the car and van drivers who make the official route so hazardous , or catch the cyclists. I wonder which group will be the easier target . ?

Multiple copies of labels in OpenOffice

A relative does some volunteer work for the Parkinsons  Disease Society .

She needs  3 copies of each address label. Currently its a MSWord/Avery labels  document where an address is copied across the sheet.   Its alphabetical  so any changes mean a lot of work  in moving rows up and down . Can OpenOffice do better. ?

Things that I've looked at and not got very far  :

• I've looked for a macro where the text in column  1 is copied across the other 2 columns.
• The list could be printed out 3 times, but that could be wasteful with the last page of each run only having a few labels.  OK there are macros around that let you use bits of a sheet. but I want to make this as easy as possible

So I've done it by defining my own label size  containing the label text replicated 3 times.  I experimented with  some sheets  I bought from WHSmith that aren't exactly the same as the default 'industry standard' Avery

1.Create a new label sheet from OpenOffice File -> New ->labels.
Check the page is the correct size for A4  - 297 X 210 mm

and then create a custom label size. A4 is 297x 210 mm. I measured the margins on the label sheet (1.5cm each side)and created a label the remaining width of the document by the measured height of the label. The frame is  3.81cm X 19.0 cm ( width of the sheet minus margins)

 

In the top frame , drag the placemarkers to the correct place. I then added the conditional formatting for missing address fields as described here

2. I then measured the distance the 2nd and 3rd column text would be and set the tabs and tabbed across and copied the  database field labels to the new columns ( a bit tedious )

 

3.I saved the template layout file at this stage

4. the copy the filled frame down the page

5. Tell it where to start the next record 

5. And then did then run the  mailmerge from the Database (this was odb file , but I suppose it  could be anything ) containing the  Address details
choose

• No address block  (I wonder if it could be done with no text and just an address block ? ) 
• No salutation

6. Run the mailmerge and do a test page .

If its not quite right then fiddle with the margins or tab spacing.