Digital Documentation

Digital Documnetation
2: Introduction to Digital Documentation
Evolution of Documentation
Manual typewriters replaced by electronic typewriters, then computers.
Office productivity software performs word processing, data processing, communication, and presentation effectively.
What is a Document?
A paper with written contents.
Documentation: The process of preparing a document.
Purpose: Preserve contents for longer periods or use as evidence.
Examples: Letters, reports, theses, manuscripts, legal documents, books.
Disadvantages of Handwritten Documents: Understanding specific handwriting.
Automation: Advanced computer hardware and software automated handwritten documentation to computer word processing.
 3: Limitations of Typewriters
Manual Typewriter Limitations:
Typing errors require retyping the whole sheet.
Sending the same letter to multiple people with different addresses requires multiple typing efforts.
Lack of all required characters or symbols.
Inability to produce documents in desired formats.
Electronic Typewriters:
Introduced by Xerox in 1974 to partially solve manual typewriter problems.
Allowed changes in content and multiple copies with minor changes.
Limitation: Very small screen (one or two lines) to display contents.
 4: Introduction to Word Processing Software
Definition: Word processing is the use of computer software to enter, edit, format, store, retrieve, and print documents.
Documents can be letters, notices, reports, business correspondence.
Origin of the Term: “Word processing” was invented by IBM in the late 1960s and recognized as a “buzz word” by The New York Times by 1971.
Early Word Processors: WordStar was a widely used word processing software in the beginning.
Modern Word Processors:
Introduced in the late 1970s with computer software technology.
Allow documents to be navigated, edited, formatted, and printed.
Utilize GUI (Graphical User Interface) for WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) editing.
Special effects on text are visible on the screen.
 5: Key Features of Word Processing Software
Core Capabilities:
Create, edit, save, retrieve, and print documents.
Select and move text within or between documents.
Copy text within or between documents.
Change font size, font style, and font type.
Format paragraphs and pages.
Check spelling and grammar.
Create tables, modify size of rows, columns, or cells.
Combine multiple documents.
Insert pictures or graphs.
Print selected text or pages.
Applications: Used in business, home, and education (schools/colleges) for letters, reports, project reports, assignments, question papers, and notes.
 6: Office Suite and LibreOffice
Office Suite: A collection of programs for word processing, spreadsheet preparation, presentations, and database management.
LibreOffice:
Free and Open Source Software (FOSS).
A fully-featured office productivity suite.
Available for free download from www.libreoffice.org.
Supports many languages and runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux platforms.
Uses Open Document Format (ODF) for publishing documents.
Components are integrated with a similar ‘look and feel’ for ease of use.
Includes support for opening and saving Microsoft Office, HTML, XML, WordPerfect, and PDF files.
LibreOffice Components:
Writer: For word processing.
Calc: For spreadsheet preparation.
Impress: For presentations.
Base: For database management.
Draw: For drawing.
 7: Getting Started with LibreOffice Writer
Opening LibreOffice Writer (Windows):
Double-click the LibreOffice Writer shortcut on the desktop.
Alternatively, click Start/Windows button → LibreOffice → LibreOffice Writer.
Using Search: Type ‘writer’ in the search field and select LibreOffice Writer.
Opening LibreOffice Writer (Ubuntu Linux):
Find the LibreOffice Writer icon on the application launcher or search via ‘Show Applications’.
Web-based Word Processors:
Google Docs.
Office 365 Word.
Microsoft OneDrive Word.
 8: Document Creation and Management
Creating a New Document:
Menu: File Menu → New → Text Document.
Keyboard Shortcut: Ctrl+N.
Saving a File:
Menu: File Menu → Save.
Give a suitable name (e.g., ‘report’).
Default format: .odt.
Saving with a Password:
Select File → Save.
Tick “Save with a password” checkbox.
Enter and confirm the password.
Saving with Another Name (Save As):
Use Save As option to create another copy with a new name or in a different location.
Closing a Document:
Menu: File → Close.
Opening an Existing Document:
Menu: File → Open.
Keyboard Shortcut: Ctrl+O.
 9: LibreOffice Writer Window Components
Title Bar:
Located at the top.
Shows the title (filename) of the currently opened document.
New documents are “Untitled X”.
Menu Bar:
Appears below the Title Bar.
Contains menu items like File, Edit, View, Insert, Format, Tables, Tools, Window, Help.
Submenu items with ‘…’ open a dialog box.
Submenu items with ‘►’ open another submenu.
Toolbars:
Appear below the Menu Bar.
Standard Toolbar: Contains commands as icons (e.g., Print icon).
Formatting Toolbar: Contains options for formatting a document as icons.
Activated via View menu → Toolbars.
Status Bar:
Located at the bottom-left of the Writer window.
Displays page number, word count, language, zooming.
Scroll Button and Scroll Bar: Used to scroll the document.
Zoom:
Changes the scale of text and pictures for view only.
Does not affect the physical document. Used to check finishing quality.
 10: Cursor Movement and Mouse Pointer
Text Cursor:
A flashing vertical line in the body of the text.
Cursor Control Keys:
The 4 arrow keys (←↑↓→) move the cursor.
Home key: Jumps to the beginning of the line.
End key: Jumps to the end of a line.
Ctrl+Home: Jumps to the beginning of the document.
Ctrl+End: Jumps to the end of a document.
Mouse Pointer:
Takes pointer shape when moving around the screen.
Changes to ‘I’ shape when moved over text, allowing control of text cursor location by clicking.
 11: Editing Documents – Undo, Redo, Cut, Copy, Paste
Undo and Redo:
Undo (Ctrl+Z): Erases the last change made.
Redo: Reverts an Undo command.
Cut and Paste:
Used to move selected text from one place to another.
Steps: Select text → Edit → Cut (or Ctrl+X) → Place cursor → Edit → Paste (or Ctrl+V).
Copy and Paste:
Used to make a duplicate copy of selected text.
Steps: Select text → Edit → Copy (or Ctrl+C) → Place cursor → Edit → Paste (or Ctrl+V).
 12: Selecting Text
General Selection: Swipe the mouse cursor over text.
Deselecting Text: Move mouse pointer to an unselected location and click once.
Selection Tricks:
Letter(s): Drag mouse across.
Single word: Double-click anywhere on the word.
Complete sentence: Triple-click anywhere in the sentence.
Complete paragraph: Quadruple-click anywhere in the paragraph.
All text: Ctrl+A.
Selecting Non-Consecutive Text:
Using Mouse: Select first piece → Hold Ctrl key → Select next piece(s) with mouse.
Using Keyboard: Select first piece → Press Shift+F8 (Adding selection mode) → Use arrow keys to move → Hold Shift and select next piece(s) → Press Esc to exit.
Selecting a Vertical Block of Text:
Menu: Edit → Selection Mode → Block Area.
Keyboard Shortcut: Ctrl+F8.
 13: Find and Replace
Purpose: Search for specific text and replace it with other text.
Steps:
Menu: Edit → Find & Replace.
Keyboard Shortcut: Ctrl+F.
Type text to find in the “Find box” (or “Search For” option).
Click Find to locate one instance or Find All to select all occurrences.
To replace, enter new text in the “Replace box” (or “Replace with” option).
Click Replace for the first occurrence or Replace All for all matches.
 14: Navigation and Non-Printing Characters
Jumping to Page Number:
Useful for large documents.
Menu: Edit → Go to Page.
Keyboard Shortcut: Ctrl+G.
Specify page number in dialog box; cursor moves to the first character of that page.
Non-Printing Characters:
Characters entered when pressing keys like Enter, Space Bar, Tab key that don’t visibly appear on screen.
Helpful for formatting: Shows exact formatting.
Display Toggle: Press ¶ button or Ctrl+F10.
Indicators: Tab space shown by ‘→’, spacebar by ‘.’.
 15: Spelling and Grammar Check, Synonyms, and Thesaurus
Spelling and Grammar Check:
Corrects spelling mistakes and checks grammar.
Grammatical errors are underlined by a wavy blue line.
Unrecognized words (spelling errors) by a wavy red line.
Right-clicking offers suggestions.
To Check: Tools → Spelling and Grammar or F7 or click button on Standard toolbar.
Automatic Spell Checker: Checks as you type, marks unrecognized words with wavy red line.
Synonyms and Thesaurus:
Synonyms: Different words with the same meaning.
Antonyms: Words with the opposite meaning.
Thesaurus: Provides lists of synonyms and antonyms.
Access: Right-click on a word → Point to Synonyms on context menu.
Allows replacement of words with alternatives.
 16: Document Formatting – Page Setup
Page Formatting: Defines the basic layout of all pages in the document.
Page Setup (Page Styles):
Menu: Format → PageSetup → Page option.
Default Style: Assigned to new documents by default, appears on taskbar.
Options:
Paper Size: Select A4, A5, B4, Letter.
Orientation: Set as Portrait (height > width) or Landscape (height < width).
Margins: Adjust Left, Right, Top, Down.
 17: Text Formatting – Basics
Applying Formatting:
First, select the text.
Methods: Menu options, Formatting toolbar buttons, context menu (right-click), keyboard shortcuts.
Removing Manual Formatting:
Clears existing formatting to apply fresh features.
Menu: Format → Clear Direct Formatting.
Button: Clear Direct Formatting button on Formatting toolbar.
Keyboard Shortcut: Ctrl+M.
Common Text Formatting Features:
Changing Font Size: Select from font size options.
Changing Font Style: Bold (Ctrl+B), Italic (Ctrl+I), Underline (Ctrl+U). Toggle buttons available on Formatting Toolbar.
Changing Font Type: Select from font drop-down.
Changing Font Colour: Select from font colour icon/box.
Changing Text Case: 6 Change Case options (e.g., Sentence case, lowercase, UPPERCASE, Title Case, tOGGLE cASE).
Superscript and Subscript:
Superscript: Text appearing slightly above (e.g., 5th).
Subscript: Text appearing slightly below (e.g., O2).
Menu: Format → Text → Superscript/Subscript.
 18: Paragraph Formatting
Paragraph Styles:
Every paragraph has a style (e.g., Text Body).
Change by clicking pop-down window and selecting choices.
Indenting Paragraphs:
Increases/decreases indent of entire paragraph.
Use ‘Increase Indent’ and ‘Decrease Indent’ tools.
Aligning Paragraphs:
Align Text Cursor in the paragraph, then select tool from Format Toolbar.
Align Left (Ctrl+L).
Center Horizontally (Ctrl+E).
Aligned Right (Ctrl+R).
Justified (Ctrl+J): Lines up both left and right sides with margins.
Font Color, Highlighting, and Background Color:
Font Color: Changes text color.
Highlighting: Applies a background color to selected text.
Background Tool: For paragraph background color.
Bullets and Numbering:
Assign bullets or numbering to list items.
Can create nested lists.
Options on Bullets and Numbering toolbar or dialog box.
Assigning Background Color to Paragraph:
Select paragraph → Format → Paragraph → Area → Colour.
Assigning Border to Paragraph:
Select paragraph → Format → Paragraph → Borders → Select Line – Style, Width, Colour.
 19: Inserting Elements in Writer Document
Page Break:
Forces current page to break and moves content to new page.
Menu: Insert → Page Break.
Can also specify line/column breaks: Insert → Manual Break.
Headers and Footers:
Headers: Appear at the top of every page.
Footers: Appear at the bottom of a page.
Specified by page styles.
Insert Header: Insert → Header and Footer → Header.
Insert Footer: Insert → Header and Footer → Footer.
Page Numbers:
Place cursor in footer section → Insert → Page Number.
Inserting Images:
Image file should be stored on disk.
Menu: Insert → Image.
Alternatively, click insert image icon below Formatting Toolbar.
Inserting Special Characters:
For characters not typable by keyboard (e.g., ¶).
Menu: Insert → Special Character.
Inserting Shapes:
Variety of shapes: Lines, Arrows, Symbols, Stars, Callouts, Flowcharts.
Menu: Insert → Shape → Choose element.
Other Elements (listed): Objects, Charts, Symbols, Tables, Columns, WordArt/Fontwork.
 20: Page Layout and Object Formatting
Dividing Document Page into Columns:
Used in magazines and newspapers.
Arrange text into two or three columns.
Menu: Format → Column.
Enter number of columns and spacing.
PAGE LAYOUT :
Change size, colour, add borders, change position.
Select the object → Use Toolbar for changes.
 
 21: Creating and Managing Tables
What is a Table?
Representation of data in tabular form with rows and columns.
Features of Writer Tables:
Create tables with rows and columns.
Delete rows/columns.
Merge cells.
Split cells.
Colour the table.
Change text direction.
Creating a Table:
Simplest Way: Click Table icon on Standard toolbar → Choose size from drop-down graphic.
Using Dialog: Place cursor → Table → Insert Table (or Ctrl+F12).
Table Properties: Explore more features via Table → Properties.
 22: Table Manipulation
Inserting Rows and Columns:
Place cursor in desired location.
Click Rows Above/Below or Columns Left/Right icons on Table toolbar.
Alternatively: Insert → Rows Above/Below or Insert → Columns Above/Below; set number and position.
Deleting Rows and Columns:
Place cursor in desired row/column.
Click Rows/Columns icons on Table toolbar.
Alternatively: Right-click → Delete → Rows/Columns.
Or: Alt+Delete and use arrow keys.
Splitting a Table:
Place cursor in cell that will be top row of second table.
Table → Split Table.
Select heading options. Table splits, separated by blank paragraph.
Merging Two Tables:
Delete the blank paragraph between them (using Delete key).
Select any cell in one table → Right-click → Merge Tables.
Alternatively: Table → Merge Table.
Deleting a Table:
Click anywhere in table → Table → Delete Table.
Alternatively: Select from end of paragraph before table to start of paragraph after table → Press Delete/Backspace.
Copying a Table:
Click anywhere in table → Table → Select → Table → Ctrl+C (or Copy icon) → Move cursor to target → Ctrl+V (or Paste icon).
Moving a Table:
Click anywhere in table → Table → Select Table → Ctrl+X (or Cut icon) → Move cursor to target → Ctrl+V (or Paste icon).
Then delete the original table.
 23: Printing a Document
Quick Print:
Click the Print icon.
Entire document sent to default printer.
Print Preview:
Useful to check document before printing (indentation, borders, etc.).
Controlling Printing (Print Dialog):
Menu: File → Print.
Keyboard Shortcut: Ctrl+P.
Options: Printer, Properties, Print Range, Copies, Options.
Printer Selection: Click small triangle (▼) next to ‘Name’ to select from installed printers.
Print Range Options:
All pages: Prints entire document.
Pages: Prints single pages (e.g., 5) or non-consecutive pages (e.g., 1,3,7) separated by commas, or consecutive range (e.g., 3-8).
Selection: Prints only the selected text.
 24: Mail Merge – Introduction
Purpose:
Create a series of the same documents with multiple addresses.
Efficiently send invitations, letters, or print certificates for many people.
Concept: Merging a main document (letter, certificate) with mailing addresses of various persons.
Scenario Example:
Company informs customers about new product: Product info is same, recipient info (name, address, greeting) changes.
School sending letters to parents: Letter content is same, addresses are different.
Advantage over Manual Copying: Avoids time-consuming and tedious manual copying and changing for hundreds/thousands of addresses.
Two Essential Documents:
Main Document (Form Letter): Contains the common contents and variable names for data.
Data Source: Holds the address list, containing values for corresponding variables.
 25: Mail Merge – Data Source Creation
Data Source Definition:
Set of mailing addresses in rows and columns, typically a database.
Each row is a record (for one person).
Contains various fields (e.g., name, address, pincode).
Creation Methods:
Easier using spreadsheet or database (table format).
Can be created during the mail merge process using Mail Merge Wizard.
Steps to Create Data Source (Mail Merge Wizard):
Start with Main Document: Create new document and type letter.
Open Wizard: Tool → Mail Merge Wizard.
Step 1: Select “Use the current document” → Next.
Step 2: Select “Document type → Letter” → Next.
Step 3 (Select Address List): Click “Select Address List” button.
Create New List: Click “Create” button in “Select Address List” window.
Enter Recipient Info: Fill data in “New Address List” window (default fields).
Customise Fields (Optional): Click “Customise” to add, delete, rename fields or change order.
Add New Recipient: Click “New” button after entering each recipient’s data.
Save List: Click “OK” to close list → “Save As” dialog appears. Save in .CSV format (e.g., MyList.csv).
 26: Mail Merge – Completing the Process
Selecting Created List:
After saving, a window shows created recipient lists.
Select the required list and click “OK”.
Step 3 (Insert Address Block):
The Wizard displays “Insert Address Block” window.
Click “Next”.
Step 4 (Create Salutation):
Set salutations (e.g., for male/female recipients), distinguishing by fields like “Gender” and “Field value”.
Click “Next”.
Step 5 (Adjust Layout):
Set layout of recipient address on page (top/left margin).
Click “Finish” to merge.
Mail Merge Toolbar:
After merging, Writer displays the Mail Merge Toolbar.
Final Actions:
Edit Individual Documents: Click to verify all letters before printing.
Exclude Recipient: Checkbox to exclude specific recipients.
Save Merged Documents: Save the combined document.
Print Merged Documents: Print the merged letters.
Send Email Messages: Send letters via email.