Format Templates for OpenDocument Text Documents

If the report is to be generated as OpenDocument Text document, then an OpenDocument Text template (.ott) is required as format template.

The following hints should be considered when a custom OpenDocument Text format template is to be created:

• All layout settings - like the page layout - are left unchanged in the resulting report.

• The headers and footers are left unchanged in the resulting report.

• The format template may also contain additional contents, like a table of contents, e.g.. All additional contents are placed in the resulting report between the title page and the document body. The title page is considered to comprise all parts before the first chapter of the DocBook structure of the report to be generated.

• During report generation the following paragraph styles are used from the format template:

  • Title and Subtitle

• In addition, depending on the report template used, additional paragraph and table styles may be necessary. The ARCWAY standardreport template, e.g., uses the following paragraph styles:

  • StandardBold
  • StandardSmall
  • StandardSmallBold
  • StandardSmallItalicGrey
  • ParaTitle
  • Image
  • Caption

  and table style:

  • PropertiesTable

• Since the concept of table styles is not supported by ODF, the definition of table styles is realised via sample tables in the format template. These sample tables must be included at the end of the format template. They must be separated from the rest of the format template by a paragraph of type "StyleTemplatesSeparator". It is allowed to place text or other contents between the sample tables, like e.g. descriptions of the sample tables.
  The name of a sample table is used as the style name which must be used to refer to the table style from the report template.
  All table properties of the sample table are taken into account with one exception: the table properties dialogue of OpenOffice also allows to set the column widths. These, however will not be taken from the sample table but from the DocBook structure of the report to be generated. Column widths hence are usually defined in the report template. Also, the check boxes for "Adapt table width" and "Adjust columns proportionally" should not be ticked in the table properties dialogue of OpenOffice, since this may lead hardly predictable effects in combination with the column widths defined in the report template.
  A sample table usually consists of two rows with two cells each. The first row is used as sample for the header row of a target table, while the second row is used as template for all further rows of a target table. In both cases the row properties and the cell properties of the first cell of the row are taken into account. The second cell is only intended to make the distinction between row and cell properties easier while creating the sample table.

Please note that autotext fields (like e.g. a table of contents), which may be part of Your format template, are not updated automatically during report generation. You have to trigger the update manually after the report generation. To do so, open the report in OpenOffice, select everything using the keyboard short cut 'STRG + A' and start the update by choosing "Tools->Update->Update All" from the main menu.

You can find a sample for an OpenDocument Text format template on the ARCWAY web site at www.arcway.com/downloads.