Apache OpenOffice (AOO) Bugzilla – Issue 61443
Conditions cannot be evaluated when field names contain spaces
Last modified: 2017-05-20 11:19:57 UTC
Using hidden sections to suppress null data fields in address labels, envelopes and the like does not function correctly in that a redundant paragraph mark is retained, or inserted, thus destroying the intended layout. It is clear from the lists that users, including this one, expect a level of functionality similar to that found elsewhere, where one ticks a box to suppress blank fields. There seems to be a high WIBNI factor (Wouldn't It Be Nice If) for this feature to be included; but if not, at least a fix for the bug would be appreciated.
Created attachment 33746 [details] Sample address list data source
Created attachment 33747 [details] Label template with sectioned address fields
The conditions in the sections are entered wrongly. Do no put the identifiers in quotes there. Instead of "county"=="" it should read county == ""
Closed.
The response suggests that analysis was somewhat superficial. One of the data source headings, and hence one of the merge fields is a string, "Post Code", containing a space character. If this string is not quoted the result is worse than the redundant paragraph mark - the field is hidden whether or not there is printable data! It may be a design intention to prohibit space characters in spreadsheet column headings, but I can find no such bar in the Help files, nor in any documentation. It would be a strange restriction, but if intentional there should be a very obvious statement to this effect that could not be missed by any installer/user of OpenOffice.org. An obvious workaround is to modify all data sources to eliminate spaces (and any other prohibited characters), but promulgating this to all current users could prove interesting. Finally, the case of imported files in alien formats, e.g. MS Excel, needs to be considered. Spaces are not an issue in column headings in those products. Regards Peter HB
MRU->OS: see the attached sample. The condition for the section "Post Code1" could not be evaluated correctly, because the referring database filed name contains a space character. As long as this is possible in such field name OO Writer's conditions need to take are of this somehow.
Target adjusted
This issue appears to have been resolved in OOo V2.3. Hidden paragraphs perform the required "hiding" and there are no problems with spaces in data source fields. Thanks for the fixing effort.
Reset assigne to the default "issues@openoffice.apache.org".