https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=90799
--- Comment #2 from Ady <[email protected]> --- FWIW, there have been attempts to report this "unexpected" behavior in the past, and users that are used to the "expected" (as seen in other spreadsheet programs) behavior are having troubles identifying the real issue. This is especially relevant for users of other (popular) spreadsheet programs in which the default references to sheets are always absolute, not relative. Such "old" users are seeing the problem when using the "copy/move sheet..." task. Under such situation, the resulting new (pasted) sheet has several "REF!" errors, so "old" users of other spreadsheet programs tend to think that the problem is with the "copy sheet" task itself, or with the formula not being copied "as expected". The _relative_ reference default behavior usually escapes the initial evaluation for these "old" users. The "REF!" result is only one (evident) case. Some users (coming from other spreadsheet programs) would expect that copy+pasting a sheet would result in an "exact copy" (as with absolute references to sheets), and some users are unaware that the result is actually not an exact copy but a "relative" one. The situation can be even more complex when copying sheets to other documents (as oppose to copying sheets inside the same workbook), as the position of the sheet can modify the whole result, and this situation is unexpected by unaware ("old") users. What these "old" users don't realize at that moment is that what is really different is the "references to sheets" behavior (besides the fact that there is such a thing as relative references to sheets, they are the default ones in Calc), as I described in the initial description. Therefore, forum posts and alike are sometimes "answered" but "old" users cannot understand what's really "wrong". Moreover, bug reports about this matter are recurrently being opened, but the reports are frequently misunderstood (mutually, by the initial reporter and by those who try to answer). One such example is bug #85538 <https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=85538>. I have had my own "REF!" experiences because of this "relative references to sheets as default" behavior, which is unexpected by users of other spreadsheet programs, who have been used to a different behavior (i.e. "absolute references to sheets as default behavior") for about 2 decades. Replicating in other spreadsheet programs the 2 procedures I described in my initial description should help clarify the "expected" behavior regarding "references to sheets" and "references to cells in other sheets". One thing that could also help users (in addition to this suggested change in behavior): adding and clarifying the Help information about relative references to sheets. In some other (popular) spreadsheet programs, an expression starting with "=Sheet1..." is treated as an absolute reference to "Sheet1", whereas in Calc such expression is by default a relative reference to "Sheet1", requiring the "$" symbol for it to be interpreted as absolute reference ("=$Sheet=...). Having the possibility to choose between relative and absolute references to sheets is indeed useful. We ("old" users, or at least par tof them) just need an adjustment in the default behavior in Calc so to make its usage slightly more familiar to what we have been used to for 2 decades. (Note though, that there are some spreadsheet programs other than Calc that do include the possibility of relative references to worksheets.) Whether with a new setting option, or with a new default behavior (or even without changing anything), the behavior in Calc needs to be much more clearly documented and published, so to not affect / confuse users coming from other spreadsheet programs, neither Calc users that might (only) be used to the current behavior. -- You are receiving this mail because: You are the assignee for the bug.
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