Build an Internal Navigation Index in OpenOffice Calc

What this adds

Build a visible contents sheet with links to two sections of a workbook. The Navigator lesson teaches navigation through application controls; this exercise puts navigation links inside the workbook for its readers. Unlike external spreadsheet references or the HYPERLINK formula, it uses the Document hyperlink dialog without requesting linked data.

Version and verification boundary

The procedural source is the historical OpenOffice.org 3 Calc manual, Hyperlinks and URLs, checked 21 October 2026. It is hosted by Apache but is explicitly an older manual, not proof of current AOO menu wording or execution. This is a documentation-qualified desktop exercise for comparison with your installed version. Native Calc, activation behavior, save/reopen persistence and screenshots were not tested. Stop if your interface differs rather than guessing destructive commands.

Apache’s ReadMe confirms OpenOffice is free to use. The exercise requires no add-on, account, subscription, macros or network source. Keep it in a disposable local ODS workbook.

Set up distinct destinations

Create three sheets named Index, Materials and Delivery. Use the sheet-name controls described in the existing organization lesson. Enter:

Cell	Materials	Delivery
A1	Materials section	Delivery section
A2	Boxes	Local trips
B2	8	2
A3	Labels	Remote trips
B3	5	4
A4	Total	Total
B4	=SUM(B2:B3)	=SUM(B2:B3)

Materials.B4 is 13; Delivery.B4 is 6. On Index put Section in A1, Expected total in B1, Materials in A2, 13 in B2, Delivery in A3 and 6 in B3. The Index figures are deliberately manual audit notes, not live formulas. Save Navigation-Baseline.ods, then a separate Navigation-Working.ods copy before adding links.

Create internal Document links

Select Index.A2 and open Insert > Hyperlink. Choose Document, leave Path empty for this workbook, and use the Target icon to select Materials in the document target chooser. Set Form to text and Text to Materials. Apply and close. Repeat in A3 for Delivery with visible text Delivery.

The historical manual documents the target chooser rather than requiring you to invent a fragment string. Use the listed sheet target; do not browse to another workbook. A blank document path is intentional in this same-file exercise.

Activate each link using the hyperlink activation behavior of your installed Calc. Check the actual active sheet name, section label in A1 and total. Materials must lead to Materials section with 13, Delivery to Delivery section with 6. Return to Index through its sheet tab after each test. Record a failure if the destination is wrong even when the displayed link label is correct.

Edit a target and expose a misleading label

In the working copy, place the cursor within the Materials link and open the hyperlink editor using the toolbar icon or historical Edit > Hyperlink command. Change its target to Delivery, retain the label Materials, and Apply. The link should now lead to Delivery and total 6. This is an intentional failed label-versus-destination audit, not the desired final workbook.

Restore the target to Materials, Apply, and verify 13 again. If the command cannot be located in your version, stop the edit test and retain the original file; do not overwrite the cell with guessed hyperlink formula syntax.

Change Materials.B2 to 10. Materials.B4 should become 15 while Delivery remains 6. Navigate again: the Materials link should still reach the Materials sheet. The manual Index note remains 13 and is now stale by design; restore B2 to 8 so the final Index notes agree with the data. Navigation and calculated summaries solve different problems.

Remove a link in a separate test copy

The historical manual describes right-clicking a text link and choosing Default Formatting to remove its clickability while retaining text; this can also reset other formatting. Try it only on the Delivery link in a separately saved Navigation-Removal-Test.ods. Check that the label remains, the link no longer navigates, and Delivery.B4 is still 6. If your version differs, record that native check as unresolved instead of deleting the destination sheet.

Return to the working file with both links intact. Save, close, reopen, and test both destinations again. These are requested reader checks, not author-observed results. Keep the untouched baseline as recovery rather than relying on Undo after reopening.

Acceptance and boundaries

The final working copy passes only when both labels match their actual sheet targets, both source totals are correct, and neither a file path nor external URL has been substituted. No link launches email, creates a new document or invokes a macro. The example does not test button-form links, relative external paths, hidden-sheet targets, renamed/deleted targets or export compatibility. Preserve the ODS master and audit real navigation links after structural changes.