Apache OpenOffice (AOO) Bugzilla – Issue 74155
Give formulas in table the capability to reference onto cells containing text
Last modified: 2013-02-07 22:40:11 UTC
A formula in a table cell can refer to another cell. Such a reference is, in effect, replaced by the value of the other cell. If the formula in a cell consists of nothing but a reference to another cell, the formula produces a copy of the other cell. So, if in cell A1 we have "123" and cell A2 we have the formula "=<A1>", cell A2 will be a copy of cell A1. In Calc, this replacement works transparently for any value a cell can hold. In Writer, this behavior only holds for numeric values. Steps to reproduce: 1. File > New > Text Document 2. Insert > Table... OK (Accept default 2x2) 3. Select table; Number format = Text 4. In cell A1: Enter: "01080" 5. In cell A2: Enter: = (Formula bar grabs focus) Click on cell A1; formula bar shows "=<A1>" Enter. Cell A2 now shows "1080" instead of "01080" 6. In cell A1: Clear contents (Ctrl+A;Delete) Enter: "Abc" Note: formula in A2 does not update. Tools > Update > Update all Cell A2 now shows "0" instead of "Abc" I encountered this when I needed a table to show the same data in two different fonts: human-readable in one column, as bar codes in the other column. The data are mostly numeric but may have leading zeros (which are significant), or punctuation. Unfortunately, this problem makes Writer unsuitable for this task, as it is very difficult to visually check for missing zeros or non-updated fields when the data appear as bar codes. The two columns need to match perfectly and reliably. Using Calc might be one workaround, but I need to make labels, for which Writer is far better suited. Using fields is another possible workaround. Fields can accurately copy the data, but cannot be used for a whole table full of such data.
Created attachment 42714 [details] Document demonstrating problem
Confirming with OO 2.1 on WinXP - formulas in Writer tables misbehave.
Processing text as port of calculations in tables has not been implemented so far. This could be a good thing for future versions.
This function has still not been added I aws hoping to find that it was even in the process of being added, this would is a crucial function of the template document that I am creating to show to the partners at the firm I work at to get them to switch over to this program for all of our needs. basically I am looking to be able to take a number of different fields and fill in the entire document with them, using a date in a field using string logic would make all of this exceptionally more helpful if I could copy from one text table to another text table...
No leading zero in Writer Table cells I confirm this problem for the 3.0.0 beta-2 release (Mac Intel version) Open a new Writer document. Create a table. Put a number beginning with (one or more) zero(s) in any cell of the table. Move out of this cell. The leading zero(s) are stripped. Using different options of the Number Notation (such as Text) or Formula doesn't allow for keeping the leading zero(s).
I can confirm that something has changed under OOo 3: in order to reproduce the the behavior described for this issue, I have to first make sure Tools > Options > OOo-dev Writer > Table > Input in tables > Number recognition = OFF (unchecked). With that option off, then the steps in the description above, and this issue still exists in OOo 3. I tested DEV300_m25 on Fedora 9.
This is a desirable feature for our application of Writer documents. Due to the changing nature of our work (commercial appraisal), using a duplicate of one text table cell to another, similar to Calc, is much more suitable than using fields.