Hi Steve Em 26/11/2019 11:00, Stephen Fanning escreveu: > Olivier, > > As you are aware I have noted some discrepancies between the Function > Wizard and the Help system with regards to the descriptions of the 500+ > Calc functions. I have kept a list of the issues found so far and will > raise bugs in due course.
I am interested in these discrepancies because the Help system is actually the reference information to users. Therefore, information accuracy in the Help system is a quality issue and must be addressed. > > However the scope of cross-checking the available sources of information is > wide and I’ve only really scratched the surface so far while updating the > relevant Calc Guide chapter. Right, not a perfect world. LibreOffice implements both OpenDocument Formula Function standard (ODFF) as well as many Excel function for interoperability. Some function names are the same but with different results or arguments, depending on several external factors (Excel version, Excel change in naming and so on). > > Once I have completed the draft Calc Guide chapter, I would be prepared to > carry out a more systematic and thorough cross-check of the function > descriptions over the next few months, as a background task. Would that a > worthwhile exercise? In the Calc Guide point of view, my personal opinion is that it can turn the chapter into an extensive reference, which can turn the book a bit too heavy, having pages and pages of esoteric math/sciences/financial//computer sciences/.../ functions, perhaps better fit into a "Handbook of LibreOffice Calc Functions" book on its own. Would that be a worthwhile exercise? yes definitely. Everyone will benefit. Help system: must be as accurate as possible with respect to the current software implementation. the "Handbook": will be a wonderful piece of work for LibreOffice Calc. 500 or more functions is not a small task, though. Note: We often see a mix of objective in product documentation blurring Reference info and Guide info. To try to make things a bit clear, the software Help system must be reference-oriented, where information is factual and accurate (and dull). For example, the Help system should not be used to explain the math behind the COS function. The same COS function can figure in a Guide with some trigonometry background info to help user in achieving a goal, because Guides are essentially goal-oriented information. Cheers PS ODFF 1.2 standard is described in http://docs.oasis-open.org/office/v1.2/OpenDocument-v1.2-part2.html -- Olivier Hallot LibreOffice Documentation Coordinator Comunidade LibreOffice Rio de Janeiro - Brasil - Local Time: UTC-03:00 http://tdf.io/joinus -- To unsubscribe e-mail to: [email protected] Problems? https://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: https://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/documentation/ Privacy Policy: https://www.documentfoundation.org/privacy
