Issue 75979 - Calc - Dumbing down to Excel - text in arithmetic
Summary: Calc - Dumbing down to Excel - text in arithmetic
Status: CLOSED NOT_AN_OOO_ISSUE
Alias: None
Product: Calc
Classification: Application
Component: configuration (show other issues)
Version: OOo 2.1
Hardware: PC (x86_64) Windows XP
: P3 Trivial with 1 vote (vote)
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: AOO issues mailing list
QA Contact:
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2007-04-01 03:50 UTC by jminney
Modified: 2017-05-20 09:54 UTC (History)
3 users (show)

See Also:
Issue Type: ENHANCEMENT
Latest Confirmation in: ---
Developer Difficulty: ---

Attachments
Add an attachment (proposed patch, testcase, etc.)

Note You need to log in before you can comment on or make changes to this issue.
Description jminney 2007-04-01 03:50:25 UTC 
Very specific issue:
1) Excel cannot do arithmetic on a range or a cell which contains text - it
gives an error.
2) In Calc, if text is included in a range, then you do arithmetic on the range
(sum, to take a simple example), it treats the text field as value zero, and
does the calculation without complaints. I find this really useful for
annotating my work.
3) Before sending my files to an Excel user, I have to debug all those instances
out.
4) WHY IS THAT A PROBLEM? The problem is the need to run an instance of
genyew-wine Excel itself to chase down and eliminate all these instances. So we
can't run an MS-free shop. Of course you can't provide configurable
switch-on-or-off-as-needed "dumb-down" compatibility with all the problems of
Excel, but as this one is fairly specific and very widely applicable, could it
be done?

Possible Implementation: Under Configuration, have an option to view it as an
Excel user would see it. Build in this function into that, and any others that
seem high enough priority.

Thanks! I'm busily evangelising
Comment 1 kpalagin 2007-04-05 09:26:26 UTC 
jminney,
in my opinion Calc's current behavior of treating text as zero is wrong and 
this needs to be addressed as you can have '145687 in cell and Calc will treat 
it as zero and you will treat it as the salary, whereas generating an error 
would quickly flag the problem.
Comment 2 jminney 2007-04-05 09:47:45 UTC 
kpalagin,
Very good point that I hadn't thought of. I still like being able to put
annotation into the area (compared to using comments) but I see what you mean.
Generating an error only when there is text which looks like it could be a
number is too luxurious.
Comment 3 jminney 2008-03-12 09:51:24 UTC 
Using "highlight values" mostly clears up this problem. (OK it took me some
weeks of using OOo before I noticed the highlight values feature, but that's a
different dimension of problem.) I'd be inclined now to downgrade my issue to a
non-issue.
Comment 4 oc 2008-07-15 10:45:10 UTC 
reassigning features and enhancements to user requirements@openoffice.org which
will be the default owner for those tasks (was introduced some time ago)
Comment 5 Edwin Sharp 2013-08-16 14:56:55 UTC 
Excel 2010 doesn't give error when text is present in sum.

Rev. 1513819 Win 7