4.4 Changing the Global Settings

Global settings can be changed in any OpenOffice.org application by clicking ToolsOptions on the menu bar. This opens the window shown in the figure below. A tree structure is used to display categories of settings.

Figure 44 The Options Window

The following table lists the setting categories along with a brief description of each category.

Table 17 Global Setting Categories

Setting Category

Description

OpenOffice.org

Covers the various basic settings, includingyour user data (like your address and e-mail), important paths,and settings for printers and external programs.

Load/Save

Includes the settings related to theopening and saving of several file types. There is a dialog forgeneral settings and several special dialogs to define how externalformats should be handled.

Language Settings

Covers the various settings related tolanguages and writing aids, namely your locale and spell checkersettings. This is also the place to enable support for Asian languages.

Internet

Includes the dialogs to configure anyproxies and to change settings related to search engines.

Text Document

Configures the global word processingoptions, such as the basic fonts and layout that Writer should use.

HTML Document

Changes the settings related to the HTMLauthoring features of OpenOffice.org.

Spreadsheet

Changes the settings for Calc, such asthose related to sort lists and grids.

Presentation

Changes the settings that should applyto all presentations. For example, you can specify the measurementunit for the grid used to arrange elements.

Drawing

Includes the settings related to thevector drawing module, such as the drawing scale, grid properties,and some print options.

Formula

Provides a single dialog to set somespecial print options for formulas.

Chart

Defines the default colors used for newlycreated charts.

Data Sources

Defines how external data sources shouldbe accessed.

IMPORTANT:  All settings as listed above are applied globally—they are used as defaults for every new document you create.