https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=150414
--- Comment #10 from Stéphane Guillou (stragu) <[email protected]> --- Created attachment 188745 --> https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/attachment.cgi?id=188745&action=edit test kit to show difference between "Paste Special > As Link" vs "Sheet > External Links" (In reply to Stéphane Guillou (stragu) from comment #9) > I tested OOo 3.3 and formatting is kept when reloading the data (I tried > linking an ODS to a named range in another ODS). > Formatting was never copied across, only data. But cell formatting was kept, > so I see this as a regression, although I don't want to tag it as such until > we know when it started. Sorry for the confusion, this _paste special_ scenario still works in 24.2. There are differences between "Paste special > As link", and "Sheet > External links", which I didn't realise earlier. I tested with linked data from ODS and from CSV, using both linking options. See attached test kit. 0. Extract test kit 1. Open includes_linked_data.ods 2. Click "allow updating" in the infobar How the methods differ: - Sheet > External links: the source format is used, and restored when updating the data. Which equates to no format for text-based files like .txt or .csv. This is what Carsten, as well as duplicate bug 156587, and I assume bug 100188 too. (Note that on update, it goes through the Text Import dialog for the CSV.) - Paste special > As link: no source format is used, only the data is linked. Which means that newly applied format will be persistent on data update. So I think what we have here is two features that seem equivalent in their function (i.e. "two different ways to do the same thing") but differ greatly regarding formatting. This is not obvious in the UI and needs improving. Looking into Edit > Links to external files, one can see that the External Link method uses an "element" in the file, whereas the Paste Special doesn't. But that's pretty much the only thing available to differentiate the two different kinds of links. In my opinion there's two main options: A. make the two feature behave in exactly the same way _and_ provide an option to use the source formatting (my preferred solution), see comment 3. B. Clarify in Help and UI how the two methods differ. (e.g. "As link to data" in Paste Special, and a "Includes the source format" warning in External Links.) Note that none of the two relevant help sections mention formatting currently: - Paste special (section "Link"): https://help.libreoffice.org/24.2/en-US/text/shared/01/02070000.html?System=UNIX&DbPAR=CALC&HID=modules/scalc/ui/pastespecial/grid1#bm_id31541011 - External links: https://help.libreoffice.org/24.2/en-US/text/scalc/01/04090000.html Version used: Version: 24.2.0.0.alpha0+ (X86_64) / LibreOffice Community Build ID: eef0c5d4d45ba35acfb6d8f7551fe565ca4badaa CPU threads: 8; OS: Linux 5.15; UI render: default; VCL: gtk3 Locale: en-AU (en_AU.UTF-8); UI: en-US Calc: threaded -- You are receiving this mail because: You are the assignee for the bug.
