https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=164741
Mike Kaganski <[email protected]> changed: What |Removed |Added ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Summary|Canc Guide |Calc Guide: completely and | |gravely wrong "Numbers as | |text" piece --- Comment #1 from Mike Kaganski <[email protected]> --- In Calc Guide 24.8, Chapter 2 "Entering and Editing Data", there is "Numbers as text" piece. It states: > Numbers can also be converted into text using one of the following methods. > Method 1 > 1) With the cell selected, open the Format Cells dialog (Figure 26). > 2) Make sure the Numbers tab is selected, then select Text from the Category > list. > 3) Click OK. The number is converted to text ... This is not only wrong (the number in the cell is *not* converted to text here), this is fundamentally destructive by feeding a widely spread misconception, where people do not see the difference between the data type, and its formatting. Changing cell formatting *never ever* changes the data type. Changing data type is inherently destructive process; e.g., when you have a *text* like "0 123 456,789", it is a sequence of 13 characters, with a zero, spaces serving as thousand separators, exactly three decimals. If you convert this to a number, this will be stored internally as a number exactly equal to 123456.789000000004307366907596588134765625 - so: the information about leading zero is lost; information about thousand separators is lost; information about exact value is lost ... Thus, only explicit actions for data conversions - like Text to Columns - really can convert the data type. -- You are receiving this mail because: You are the assignee for the bug.
