7.3 Base Guide - updates to Chapters 5 and 6

Documentation General
#1

Hello everybody,

I have placed two updated files in the relevant NextCloud folder:

* BG7305-Queries_SF_12Jan2022.odt
 * BG7306-Reports_SF_14Jan2022.odt

These two files are now in the 7.3 template, include captions for figures and tables, and have a little less negativity in the text (e.g., less use of the word "unfortunately"; etc).

Chapters 5 and 6 are not scheduled for significant updates at this issue. Please could somebody review the figure / table captions, and any other tracked changes in these two to make sure I haven’t done anything stupid?

Regards,

Steve

#2

General comment on template. Figures are very crowded
eg BG7305-Queries_SF_12Jan2022.odt Figure 2. Readability might be improved
with more whitespace before/after figures, say 0.21cm padding.

#3

These are comments in the vicinity of changes as I've skimmed chapters and
haven't followed the examples using Base (
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/DocumentationTeamInfo/ProducingLibreOfficeUserGuides#What_to_look_for_in_an_update_or_review
).

It's good to see the document tone updated.

* BG7305-Queries_SF_12Jan2022.odt

   - I note most of the figures used are not referenced in the text.
   - What is the capitalisation guide for figure text?
   - Paragraph after Figure 11 - *That* is normally a redundant word
   - Figure 17 Count... prefer *shows* (used extensively in
   guides) alternatively *calculates*
   - Figure 19 - delete unexpectedly
   - The paragraph under Figure 36 end of first sentence... as Figure 36
   shows.
   - Other changes read well

* BG7306-Reports_SF_14Jan2022.odt

   - Changes read well

#4

Thanks for that.

I agree that the specific figure that you mention in Chapter 5 of the Base Guide is crowded. It should be replaced when we get around to performing a full review of that chapter in a future issue.

As for modifying the template, your suggestion may be a sensible one. However, I would not unilaterally apply template changes to the Base Guide - agreement would be needed from the Team to apply the change across all books. Maybe you could suggest this as a topic for discussion at a future Documentation Team meeting?

Regards,

Steve

#5

Thank you for those comments.

With regards to the two general points:
1.    “I note most of the figures used are not referenced in the text”. This is the situation throughout the document and was inherited from the previous issue. As we review and update chapters more fully (such as the work we are doing for Chapters 1 and 2 at this update) then I am ensuring that the figures are referenced in the text. For other chapters, that update will have to wait until subsequent issues of the document.
2.    “What is the capitalisation guide for figure text?”. Sentence-style capitalization is currently the norm in our guides.

I have addressed your other comments on Chapter 5 (Queries) and uploaded the revised file to NextCloud.

Regards,

Steve

#6

Review of Chapter 5 complete - BG7305-Queries_SF_NI_31Jan2022.odt

   - Worked through demo database.
   - References added for remaining Figures and Table.

Comments for the record and wider consideration:

   1. Can't select multiple fields and apply the same action to all, eg add
   fields to query grid
   2. Inconsistent icon sets will make interpretation of documentation more
   difficult – see
   https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=144631, consider
   naming commands instead of showing buttons
   3. Entering queries - would be useful to save queries
   4. Figure 23 - Media titles in German language
   5. Figure 23 does not calculate $8 reported in the following paragraph
   6. Query enhancement using SQL Mode - theory only with no practice
   dataset

#7

Hi,

Thanks for the comments. I will check through the tracked changes and process them in the next few days.

As for the six additional comments listed below, I'd prefer to address the document-related issues when we get around to properly checking and updating the affected chapter. Perhaps we need a mechanism to maintain a list of BG issues that we know about, but haven't time to resolve at present?

Regards,

Steve

#8

Hello everybody,

I have processed the comments on Chapter 5 (Queries) and returned the updated document to the Work in Progress folder. The new file is called BG7305-Queries_SF_FW_SF_31Jan2022.odt and it is ready for 2nd review if anybody is available.

Regards,

Steve

#9

Review of BG7306-Reports_SF_FW_03Feb2022.odt complete. There are two
comments, one I can't delete (see
https://ask.libreoffice.org/t/possible-bug-cant-fully-delete-comment-when-record-track-changes-is-on/50320/1).
Worst case I suppose an xml edit would fix it.

This document has a really poor style which I assume is due to translating
instead of rewriting. Would benefit from a rewrite in the future,
particularly the first part.

#10

Re Chapter 5 queries.

Some interesting and unexpected things are apparent about Tables/Queries in
the Getting Started Guide with Base
<https://books.libreoffice.org/en/GS72/GS7208-GettingStartedWithBase.html#toc20>
I
didn't notice in the Base Guide:

   1. Numbers are not aligned right by default eg
   https://books.libreoffice.org/en/GS72/GS7208-GettingStartedWithBase-img/GS7208-GettingStartedWithBase-img043.png
   2. Maybe it's because numbers are converted to strings to display eg
   https://books.libreoffice.org/en/GS72/GS7208-GettingStartedWithBase-img/GS7208-GettingStartedWithBase-img049.png

I don't understand why different quote treatments are required for numbers
here:
Step 4 1) Type >0 in the Criterion cell under FuelID in the query table.
Step 8 4) Type > '0' in the Criterion cell.

Why would quotes even be required around numbers within an expression?

#11

Hi flywire,

    1. Numbers are not aligned right by default eg
    https://books.libreoffice.org/en/GS72/GS7208-GettingStartedWithBase-img/GS7208-GettingStartedWithBase-img043.png

You could report a bug/enhancement request for this. If I create a table the alignment will be set to horizontal alignment "default". But "default" will never be saved. It will be "left" instead. Could be it is planned but not implemented yet.

    2. Maybe it's because numbers are converted to strings to display eg
    https://books.libreoffice.org/en/GS72/GS7208-GettingStartedWithBase-img/GS7208-GettingStartedWithBase-img049.png

No, test it with a new table. You could see every content is aligned left in the table.

I don't understand why different quote treatments are required for numbers
here:
Step 4 1) Type >0 in the Criterion cell under FuelID in the query table.
Step 8 4) Type > '0' in the Criterion cell.

If I test it with LO 7.3.0.3 there are no quotes around numbers in the GUI. If I try to set quotes here it give a warning:
The entered criterion cannot be compared with this field.

I could only set quotes in SQL view but it will end with an error if I set it back to design view.

The quotes in the example are wrong for the GUI of Base and LO 7.3.0.3

It seems also the screenshots were made with different county format. There is a decimal separator '.' for $ and a decimal separator ',' for all other decimals.

Regards

Robert

#12

> 1. Numbers are not aligned right by default eg
>
https://books.libreoffice.org/en/GS72/GS7208-GettingStartedWithBase-img/GS7208-GettingStartedWithBase-img043.png

You could report a bug/enhancement request for this.

Of course, it's a bug. Table and query layout are the same thing, reported:
https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=144701. It is
misleading to tie display formatting to the ODF specification when other
packages support it. This really kills Base for ad-hoc data analysis where
users know the data and what would be trivial query formatting has to be
done in a form, report, spreadsheet, or another package.

The current situation is:
https://ask.libreoffice.org/t/convert-yyyy-mm-dd-to-dd-mm-yy-in-query-sql/73718/23

#13

Hi flywire,

Of course, it's a bug.

Only an enhancement request. See

https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=144701

which is marked as duplicate of a bug I have reported in 2014. And for an enhancement request you need a developer, who is interested. Formatting for a query has never been saved since Base exists.

Regards

Robert

#14

Olivier, Steve, Vikram, Pulkit

My understanding is:

#15

BG7305-Queries_SF_FW_SF_VG_FW_27May2022.odt is ready to process comments
following 2nd Review. There are suggestions to flattening headings.

Two general comments for the next version:
* most functionality for creating queries can be done in either Design View
or SQL View but the guide presents it in one view without making it clear
the other could also be used
* SQL code examples would be more useful if they were directly executable
using the example database which generally isn't the case

Regards

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