4.4 OFFICE APPLICATIONS
This section will introduce the world of office applications that are used widely
by all of us to carry on our day to day tasks like writing a project document,
preparing our monthly budget, corresponding with each other on email or
scheduling our daily calendar.
4.4.1 Word Processing
A word processor (more formally known as document preparation system) is a
computer application used for composition, editing, formatting and printing of
any sort of printable material.
4.4.2 Introduction
Word processing was one of the earliest applications for the personal computer in
office productivity. Although early word processors used tag-based markup for
document formatting, most modern word processors take advantage of a graphical
user interface providing some form of ―What You See Is What You Get‖ editing.
Most are powerful systems consisting of one or more programs that can produce
any arbitrary combination of images, graphics and text, the latter handled with
type-setting capability. Microsoft Word is the most widely used computer word processing system;
Microsoft estimates over five hundred million people use the Office suite, which
includes Word. There are also many other commercial word processing
applications, such as WordStar, WordPerfect, which dominated the market from
the mid-1980s to early-1990s, particularly for machines running Microsoft's MSDOS operating system. Open-source applications such as AbiWord, KWord, LyX
and OpenOffice.org Writer are rapidly gaining in popularity. Online word
processors such as Google Docs are a relatively new category.
Word processing typically implies text manipulation functions that extend beyond
a basic ability to enter and change text, such as automatic generation of:
- batch mailings using a form letter template and an address database (also called mail merging);
- indices of keywords and their page numbers;
- tables of contents with section titles and their page numbers;
- tables of figures with caption titles and their page numbers;
- cross-referencing with section or page numbers;
- footnote numbering;
- Version control of a document using variables (e.g. model numbers, product names, etc.)
Other word processing functions include "spell checking" (actually checks against
wordlists), "grammar checking" (checks for what seem to be simple grammar
errors), and a "thesaurus" function (finds words with similar or opposite
meanings. Other common features include collaborative editing, comments and
annotations, support for images and diagrams and internal cross-referencing.
Text editors (modern examples of which include Notepad, BBEdit, Kate, Gedit),
were the precursors of word processors. While offering facilities for composing
and editing text, they do not format documents.
Later desktop publishing programs were specifically designed to allow elaborate
layout for publication, but often offered only limited support for editing.
Typically, desktop publishing programs allowed users to import text that was
written using a text editor or word processor.
Almost all word processors enable users to employ styles, which are used to
automate consistent formatting of text body, titles, subtitles, highlighted text, and
so on.
A few features of Microsoft Word 2007 are described here.
4.4.3 Adding Header, Footer or Page Number to a Document
To add a graphic or text on the top or bottom of a document, a Header or Footer
has to be added
1. Click on Insert Tab, select the Header or Footer or Page Number from Header & Footer group.
2. You can select from the available gallery and choose the design required.
3. After selection, the same design chosen will appear in the document.
To add a customized design for the Header or Footer, double click on the Header or Footer area in the document. The same is opened in the design mode. After making the required changes to the design, close the Header/Footer area.
4.4.4 Creating a Table in Word
In Word, a Table can be inserted by either by choosing from a gallery of
preformatted table templates or by using the table menu to choose the number of
rows and columns that are required.
To Choose from gallery of table templates:
1. Click in the document where the table has to be inserted.
2. On the Insert tab, in the Tables group click Table, and then choose Quick table.
3. Choose the required template from the gallery displayed.
4. The chosen table will be inserted into the document.
To insert a simple table with required number of row and columns:
1. Click in the document where the table has to be inserted.
2. On the Insert tab, in the Tables group click Table, and then under Insert Table, select the number of rows and columns required in the table.
3. The table will be drawn on the document.
4.4.5 Creating a Table of Contents
Table of Contents (TOC) is created by applying heading styles to the text that is
to be included in the TOC. Word will search for those headings and create the
TOC in the document. The Table of Contents can be selected from design gallery
provided in word.
1. Select the text that is to be appear in the TOC
2. On the Home tab, in the Styles group, click the Style (Heading1,
Heading2….) that you want to choose
3. Click the place in the document where the TOC has to be inserted.
4. ON the Reference Tab, click Table of Contents on the Table of Contents
group
5. Choose the TOC Style that is required
Here it will be possible to change the heading levels, overall look of TOC etc.
4.4.6 Creating a memo for multiple recipients – Mail Merge
Mail merge is a software function describing the production of multiple (and
potentially large numbers of) documents from a single template form and a
structured data source. This helps to create personalized letters and pre-addressed
envelopes or mailing labels for mass mailings from a word processing document
which contains fixed text, which will be the same in each output document, and
variables, which act as placeholders that are replaced by text from the data source.
The data source is typically a spreadsheet or a database which has a field or
column matching each variable in the template. When the mail merge is run, the
word processing system creates an output document for each row in the database,
using the fixed text exactly as it appears in the template, but substituting the data
variables in the template with the values from the matching columns.
You use mail merge when you want to create a set of documents, such as a form
letter that is to be sent many customers or a sheet of address labels. Each letter or
label has the same kind of information, yet the content is unique. For example, in
letters to your customers, each letter can be personalized to address each customer
by name. The unique information in each letter or label comes from entries in a
data source.
The mail merge process entails the following overall steps:
1. Set up the main document. The main document contains the text and graphics
that are the same for each version of the merged document. For example, the
return address or salutation in a form letter.
2. Connect the document to a data source. A data source is a file that contains the
information to be merged into a document. For example, the names and
addresses of the recipients of a letter.
4. Add placeholders, called mail merge fields, to the document. When you
perform the mail merge, the mail merge fields are filled with information from
your data file.
5. Preview and complete the merge. You can preview each copy of the document
before you print the whole set.
Thus, Mail Merge is used to create documents that are essentially the same but
have a few unique data elements that vary for each document.
