I sent the message below to the users list. The moderator replied that I
should raise the issues on this list.
>>>>>>>>
In a recent "Macro's in Libre Calc" thread, Andrew Douglas Pitonyak, an
expert on macros, wrote:
"Be certain to only do what you really need to do using a macro, and
then let things such as formulas do the rest of the work."
Good advice, which I would like to take further. It is frustrating, as a
user, not to be able to use formulas to do things that a macro could do.
I'd like to propose as a (long-term) design aim:
"Enrich the functionality of Calc to enable formulas and similar to do
what currently needs a macro. Use experience gained to influence the
OpenFormula specification."
As a simple example, take REPLACE
REPLACE("Text"; Position; Length; "NewText")
My spreadsheets would be greatly simplified if Text and NewText could be
regular expressions. Currently, either I have to use macros, or use
SEARCH, which does support regular expressions, and code the NewText
regular expression myself. It's frustrating as the code to do what I
want is in the Edit -> Find & Replace... dialog. Note that the enhanced
REPLACE would be OpenFormula compliant.
Another example is character editing within a cell: I realise that this
is more demanding technically.
I seek feedback, advice and, I hope, support. In particular:
1. Are there design aims, or similar, in LibreOffice? If so, who owns
them: does the Engineering Steering Committee have a role here?
2. Should we progress the strategic aspects first? Or should I
propose tactical enhancements such as the one to REPLACE above?
3. How should I push this forward, whether tactically or strategically?
David Lynch
>>>>>>>>>
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