Sort data in LibreOffice Writer

[Jay Ridgley]

On 2/24/22 18:57, Tommy Trussell wrote:
> On Wed, Feb 23, 2022 at 5:25 PM Jay Ridgley <jridgley2 at austin.rr.com> 
> wrote:
>
>     My wife has created a large number if recipe cards, over a period of
>     several years, in a single file. Is there any way to alphabetize
>     them by
>     recipe name.
>
>     They are formatted as a single page in most cases, however, a few are
>     two pages long. The page if formatted for a 4x6 card. There are well
>     over 200 of them. I have not seen anything that provides a clue on
>     how
>     to sort them.
>
>     There is a title line (naturally) and a body but other than the title
>     being on a single line at the top of the page they are just a file of
>     data records.
>
> I responded earlier describing a method using the Navigator. 
> (According to the LibreOffice documentation, you should be able to 
> drag Navigator titles or headings around at will. I suggested the 
> arrow buttons because I couldn't get the headings to drag when I 
> tried. Version: 7.2.5.2 / Ubuntu 21.10. However I might just have a 
> recalcitrant touchpad.)
>
> Although I have thoroughly enjoyed the other suggestions,* it spurred 
> me to look a bit harder to find a way to get LibreOffice itself do the 
> sorting WITHOUT exporting and importing, learning XSLT, FODT, 
> splitting the recipes into 200 individual files, etc. etc. SO...
>
> I found a LibreOffice macro that sounds very promising:
>
> https://ask.libreoffice.org/t/writer-is-it-possible-to-sort-a-documents-content-based-on-headings/31438/2
>
> I really like this idea, but it still requires you to format the 
> document using Heading 1 styles (just like with the Navigator; not 
> difficult, but possibly a new idea to you). It also requires you to 
> learn a bit about macros, insert the one supplied into your Writer 
> document, and debug it. Maybe this isn't too far beyond your 
> experience, or maybe it is.
>
> Please follow up to let us know how far afield we got in our responses!
>
> * From the mid-1980s to the early 2000s I worked as a technical writer 
> and editor in various software development groups. When confronted 
> with such an issue at work I would have jumped right in and evaluated 
> data conversions or scripts as folks described, especially if it was 
> something that was going to come up regularly. In the '80s I 
> occasionally wrote HyperTalk scripts to generate and process Word RTF 
> on a Macintosh, for example.
>
> HOWEVER I have worked with plenty of authors, including technical 
> writers, who are MUCH more comfortable dealing with a more "manual" 
> process, even if it takes longer. There's nothing wrong with shifting 
> headings around using the Navigator (similar to the "Outline" view in 
> Microsoft Word, if you've used that). Whatever works for you! Please 
> let us know.
>
>
>

Thanks Tommy, I will explore this idea, and get back to you, it may take 
a while...

Thanks everyone else for the input, it was helpful in understanding 
where I went wrong with the initial setup and mess that it has created 
for me.

The way I handle the situation now is to print them as she creates them 
one at a time. Then append the new ones to the master file, generally 
not needed or seen again. The file was started in the eighties so there 
has been s/w changes as well and as I work thru this I am discovering 
issues with formatting since no retrofit was ever done.

The wrinkle is our grand children are wanting copies of ALL of them, and 
the master file is not in very good shape.

Regards,

Jay


-- 
Jay Ridgley
jridgley2 at austin.rr.com
Registered Linux User ID - 9115
https://linuxcounter.net/cert/9115.png
Registered Ubuntu User ID - 23320
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