Creating a simple form

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This section explains how to create a simple form without any links to a data source or database and without advanced customization.

Create a document

There is nothing special to be done when creating a document to use as a form. Create a new Writer document with File > New > Text document.

Form toolbars

Two toolbars control form creation: Form Controls and Form Design. Select View > Toolbars > Form Controls and View > Toolbars > Form Design to show them both. See Form controls reference for a summary of the tools on these toolbars.

Image:Tip.png The Form Design toolbar can also be launched from the Form Controls toolbar. Some of the less commonly used controls are on a third toolbar—More Controls—also launched from the Form Controls toolbar.

You can dock these toolbars in different places on the Writer window, or leave them floating.


The Form Controls toolbar has a button for each of the most commonly used types of control.

Image:documentation_note.png In OpenOffice.org, form controls are the text boxes, list boxes, option buttons, push buttons, and other items that can be placed in forms.


The three form design toolbars.

Design Mode

When creating a form, you will want to check that all the parts of the form work correctly. If design mode is off, the form behaves as it would for the end user. Buttons can be pressed, check boxes checked, and list items selected. If design mode is on, clicking on a control item selects it for editing.

Click the Design Mode On/Off button Image:FormDesignOnIcon.png on the Form Controls toolbar to turn design mode on and off.

Image:Tip.png If the Design Mode button is not available, click on the Select button Image:SelectIcon.png. This activates most of the tools on the three toolbars.


Insert form controls

  1. To insert a form control into the document, click the control’s icon to select it. The mouse pointer changes to look like this: Image:FormMousePointer.png
  2. Click in the document where you want the control to appear. (You can move it later.)
  3. Holding the left mouse button down, drag the control to size it.
  4. The control button remains active, so you can insert several controls of the same type without needing to go back to the toolbar.
  5. To change to another tool, click its icon on the toolbar.
  6. To stop inserting controls, click on the Select button Image:SelectIcon.png on the Form Controls toolbar, or click on any of the controls you have just inserted. The mouse pointer changes back to its normal appearance.
Image:Tip.png Holding down Shift when creating a form control makes the control square. If you press Shift when resizing an existing control, its proportions are kept the same.


Image:documentation_note.png When you insert a group box, list box, or combo box, a wizard is launched to guide you through the setup. If you prefer not to run the wizard, click the Wizards On/Off button Image:FormWizardsIcon.png on the Form Controls toolbar.


Configure controls

Having inserted the controls, you need to configure them to look and behave as you want. Right-click on a form control within your document and select Control from the pop-up menu.

The Form Control Properties dialog box has three pages: General, Data and Events. For simple forms, only the General page is of any interest. On this page you can set the look and feel of the control.

Control Properties dialog box.

Some controls have other useful options:

  • Some controls have visible labels, such as Push Button and Option Button. The label text can be set.
  • The List Box contains a list of options to choose from. Set these in the List entries box.
Image:Tip.png Double-clicking on a control also brings up the Control Properties dialog box.


Using the form

To use the form, leave design mode by clicking the Design Mode On/Off button Image:FormDesignOffIcon.png.

A typical way to use a form is:

  1. You design the form, then save it when you are happy with it.
  2. You send the form to others (for example, by email).
  3. They fill in the form, save it and send it back to you.
  4. You open the form and see what their answers are.
Image:Tip.png By using a data source, or setting a form to update over the web, you can automatically gather data. However, both of those are more complex and you might prefer to keep things simple.



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