Apache OpenOffice (AOO) Bugzilla – Issue 72676
Cannot select list box with Multiselect=ON and DropDown=ON
Last modified: 2017-05-20 10:45:19 UTC
The following behavior has been observed by me on three different computers with 3 different OOo 2.x releases (OOo2.0.3/MSWin2K SP3; OOo2.1/MSWin2k SP3; and Novell 2.0.0.1/SuSE 10.0). I have a spreadsheet that began life in MSExcel97. It has a single combo box at cell C32. The selection box works as expected when the control property "Multiselection" = "NO". As soon as this property is set to "YES", it is no longer possible to select the box, view the contents list of the box, or make any selection.
Created attachment 41489 [details] Spreadsheet estimating tool with combo box problem
7kaltoid, how do I bring up the properties of that combobox (to change multiselect)? Thanks.
I just confirmed the following steps using OOo2.1 and the attachment to this issue to assure myself a new problem didn't creep in: 1. Open (View) the Form Design Toolbar. 2. Select Design mode ON. 3. Left click to select the combo box. You must see the sizing anchors which assures you are in Design mode. 4. Left click select the Control Icon on the Form Design Tool Bar. This opens the properties list for the combo box. -- DeT
7kaltoid, "Design mode" button is unavailable on that toolbar (see attached screenshot). I have tried some steps to open the file in form design mode, but could not do that. Any idea why the button is unavailable and how to open the spreadsheet in design mode?
Created attachment 41848 [details] Screenshot
(bleep!) I wanted you to do what I meant, not what I wrote. :( *Form CONTROLS* toolbar.
Confirming with OO 2.1 on WinXP.
Hi Frank, please have a look at this one. Frank
hmm, what do you expect from a list box which has DropDown=YES and MultiSelection=YES? How should this look like? DropDown=YES means you have exactly one line in the listbox, displaying the selected string. MultiSelection=YES means you can have more than one selected string. This contradicts each other. I admit that probably the UI could be improved here, in not allowing MultiSelection=YES when there already is DropDown=YES. But I'd say conceptually, the issue cannot be fixed.
What an incredibly arcane definition which is completely unintuitive and nowhere that I can find in writing. Not to mention the fact that switching Dropdown to No and Multiselect to Yes puts a horizontal slider bar in the box and displays absolutely none of the list. To answer your question, I expect the function to work in a normal manner regardless of the dance moves that may be required to get to that point. You offered no verifiable method to correct the problem. This issue is still OPEN.
In this case, please state how you would expect a list box with DropDown=YES and MultiSelect=YES to work. All you said so far is you expect it "to work in a normal manner". As I tried to explain, there is no "normal manner", since the concepts of DropDown and MultiSelection are mutually exclusive. So please describe how a list box control with those two properties set should work, in your opinion.
clu->7kaltoid: is this issue still valid for you? if you do not respond, this issue will be closed
The issue is not resolved. A published definition for the intended behavior of such a box is at http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/interact/forms.html#h-17.6 [excerpt] "SELECT Attribute definitions name = cdata [CI] This attribute assigns the control name. size = number [CN] If a SELECT element is presented as a scrolled list box, this attribute specifies the number of rows in the list that should be visible at the same time. Visual user agents are not required to present a SELECT element as a list box; they may use any other mechanism, such as a drop-down menu. multiple [CI] If set, this boolean attribute allows multiple selections. If not set, the SELECT element only permits single selections." [/excerpt] When I earlier said "work in a normal manner", it is to be in accordance with the definitions and specifications published by the standards bodies. More to the point, if the project does not wish to use these definitions , then publish a glossary. At least that way, we might know words like "multiple" have selective meaning depending upon who is responding to the issue.
Hi, I can reproduce the problem that the listbox doesn't work anymore when I set Multiselect and dropdown to YES. I reassign this issue to the right developer to disable one property when the other is set to YES. Bye Marc
"I reassign this issue to the right developer to disable one property when the other is set to YES." Isn't that what is already happening though? Or did you mean ENable one property when the other is set to YES. The list should drop open when clicked, then the user should be able to hold the Ctrl key (or whatever equivalent for other OSs than Windows) and click on as many selections as needed. This is a common method for helping users to filter out data records (I want records that match 1959, 1965, 1982) or to simply specify multiple preferences (I like green, blue and purple).
Marc meant to disable "Multiple Selection" when "Drop down" is set to "Yes", since, as outline above, multiple selection doesn't make sense in a drop down list, since there is no way to display the current selection as soon as the drop down window is closed. fs->7kaltoid: The HTML spec you refer to is useless to answer the question "How should it behave?". More concrete, it doesn't specify a dropdown attribute - the user agent encountering an "<select multiple='true'>" element is completely free how to render the control. If you take the time to try it out, then you will notice that any browser you try will create a *non-drop-down* list box as soon as you specify "multiple='true'". The reason is what has been mentioned here before: Drop down and multiple selection are mutually exclusive concepts.
Reset the assignee to the default "issues@openoffice.apache.org".