https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=158736
Bug ID: 158736
Summary: database feature to catch up to MS office 97
Product: LibreOffice
Version: 3.3.0 release
Hardware: All
OS: All
Status: UNCONFIRMED
Severity: enhancement
Priority: medium
Component: Base
Assignee: [email protected]
Reporter: [email protected]
Description:
A feature in MS Access that would be very useful in Base is the ability to
easily write back to the database after using spreadsheet features (numerical
analysis) on the data. MS Access all the way back to 97, would let you
paste-link spreadsheets as tables in the database. Not just import a copy of
the spreadsheet as a table, a linked data source, meaning every time you open
the linked table, it has the latest data that is in the spreadsheet.
Then the GUI for queries, that included UPDATE and INSERT queries (letting you
drag and drop fields to write to), would let you write the numbers from the
spreadsheet into the database. You would run the UPDATE from the linked
spreadsheet to the fields in the database tables.
Currently this may be possible with SQL commands and code, but it would be
difficult for most users. Without the GUI assist, commands typed in are very
error prone. Few people will be comfortable writing command line type commands
to a database. Most users of an office package are not database administrators.
The database is the best way to store data. The spreadsheet is the best way to
work with numbers. You need an easy way to get the improved numbers back into
the database. Make the two programs work together, not just easy one way import
from Base to Calc.
The use case is numerical models that do not fit into the 2D sheet, or even the
3D sheets. Big models that need a database.
Actual Results:
None, not easily possible - hence new feature.
Expected Results:
Start with data in Base, import to Calc, use functions to improve the data
(maybe optimise), then write back or append data back into Base.
Reproducible: Always
User Profile Reset: No
Additional Info:
MS Access had a lot of features easily run from drop down dialog boxes. It made
automating data manipulation easier just like the function interface in the
spreadsheets makes entering the syntax of correctly formatted functions easier.
You could run a long sequence of commands one after the other. You could link a
button on a form to do it all with one press.
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