I attempted to create a database form in open office 1.1.0, in the word 
processor. It took a great deal of time, was not very intuitive, involved using 
the wizards and modifying the results, trial and error, etc.

At the end of the day, I had it. Not perfect, but reasonable, and working.

Naturally, I saved my document.

A couple of days later, I went to open the document. It was gone. The save file 
was there, but there was nothing in it to indicate that I had a database form.

I actually made two different forms, in two different documents. One was 
intended to be a quick and dirty quicken style interface, for eventually 
turning into a quicken replacement (just the basics). I figured that if 
quicken/quickbooks were written in visual basic, I could use the open office 
basic as a full programming environment.

The setup was pretty straightforward. One view showing the summary lines 
(account number, transaction total, transaction ID), another table with the 
detail lines (each tagged with the transaction ID). There was a third view, but 
I don't remember exactly what I had it doing, just that I needed it in the 
middle to get the detail lines.

On saving, the resulting .sxw file looks like an .rtf file, and starts with 
font information, style sheet information, etc. Attempting to load it results 
in the following displayed (since this is a plain text interface, the 
formatting will be lost, sorry)

Text body;List;Caption;Index;Heading; Heading 1; Heading 2; Heading 3; Heading 
4; Heading 5; Heading 6;Header;Footer;Table Contents;Table 
Heading;Footnote;Sender;Endnote;Quotations;Preformatted Text;Horizontal 
Line;List Contents;List Heading;Footnote Characters;Numbering Symbols;Internet 
Link;Visited Internet Link;Endnote Characters;Emphasis;Quotation;Strong 
Emphasis;Source Text;Example;User Entry;Variable;Definition;Teletype;