Hello,
I am a member of the German OOo-QA. Andre Schnabel suggested that I
discuss certain bugs and usability issues directly with the developers of
the spreadsheet application.
I hope I have found the correct list to do so.
Below I have outlined some test cases that lead to sometimes serious
problems (up to corrupted documents) when copying and pasting cells,
especially melted cells.
============================
Test case in graphical form:
============================
Spreadsheet Document 1
Sheet 1: Sheet 2:
A B C A B C
/------------------------- /----------------------------
1 | [melted origin] 1 [melted target5]
2 | target4 [melted target3] 2 target6 [melted cells]
3 | target1 3
4 | target2 4
5 | 5
=================================================
Instructions how to generate the test case above:
=================================================
01. Start OpenOffice.org
02. File - New - Spreadsheet
03. Select Sheet 1
04. Select A1
05. Enter some value
06. Select A1-B1
07. Use Format - Merge Cells
08. Select B2-C2
09. Use Format - Merge Cells
10. Select Sheet 2
11. Select A1-B1
12. Use Format - Merge Cells
13. Select B2-C2
14. Use Format - Merge Cells
15. Switch back to Sheet 1
=====================
The working testcases
=====================
16. Select merged cell A1-B1
17. Use Edit - Copy
18. Select A3
19. Use Edit - Paste
-> this generates melted cell A3-B3 as expected
20. Select A4
21. Use Edit - Paste Special
with deselected "Paste All" and "Formats" and
all other entries in fields "Selection" selected
-> this generates cell A4 as expected - a single
cell which apparently proves that the 'melting'
property is part of the 'formats'.
22. Select melted cell B2-C2
23. Use Edit - Paste
-> raises error "Cell merge not possible if cells already merged"
as expected
24. Select A2
25. Use Edit - Paste
-> raises error "Cell merge not possible if cells already merged"
as expected, because newly melted cell would clash
with existing one B2-C2
========
The bugs
========
26. Select melted cell B2-C2
27. Use Edit - Paste Special
with deselected "Paste All" and "Formats" and
all other entries in fields "Selection" selected
-> raises error "Cell merge not possible if cells already merged"
This is bug #1, as it should NOT copy any format as we have
learned in step 21, so there can be no clash.
28. Select A2
29. Use Edit - Paste Special
Deselect "Paste All" and "Formats", select all other
entries in fields "Selection"
-> raises error "Cell merge not possible if cells already merged"
This is bug #2, as it should NOT copy any format as we have
learned in step 21, so there can be no clash.
30. Select Sheet 2
31. Select melted cell A1-B1
32. Use Edit - Paste
-> raises no error
This is bug #3, as similar action did not work on Sheet 1
as shown in step 23.
33. Select A2
34. Use Edit - Paste
-> raises no error
This is bug #4, as similar action did not work on Sheet 1
as seen in step 25.
Furthermore, now cell C2 can no longer be select neither
with cursor nor with mouse! The document got corrupted.
35. Open a second new spreadsheet document in another window,
keep the first one open
36. Establish melted cells A1-B1 on Sheet 2 of the new document
37. Try to copy cell A1-B1 from Sheet 1 of the first document
into A1-B1 Sheet 2 of the second document
-> raises no error
This is a bug #5, as similar action did not work on Sheet 1
as shown in step 23.
BTW: Testing the same with target A1-B1 on Sheet 1 of second
document will raise an error.
==========
Discussion
==========
Apart from the bugs, there is also a usability problem. For a normal user
it is not understandable, why he should be unable to copy something into a
melted cell.
Currently, the only way to copy the contents of a melted cell into another
melted cell is to "Paste-Special" with "Format" turned off into a third
non-melted cell in a completely unused area, then copy this cell and again
"Paste-Special" with "Format" turned off into the original target cell -
which is quite bad usability.
While it is clear, that the 'melted format' sometimes cannot be copied due
to clashes with surrounding melted cells, OOo should automatically switch
to copy just cell contents when a clash is detected. This would help to
overcome most problems in this area.
Of course, first of all, the bugs with the "Paste - Special" and the
document corruptions as outlined above need to be fixed.
Regards,
Guido
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