Bug 78539

Summary: default action for autocomplete
Product: LibreOffice Reporter: Krish <krish.pillai>
Component: CalcAssignee: Not Assigned <libreoffice-bugs>
Status: RESOLVED WORKSFORME    
Severity: normal CC: cno, miguelangelrv
Priority: medium    
Version: 4.2.3.3 release   
Hardware: Other   
OS: Linux (All)   
Whiteboard:
Crash report or crash signature: Regression By:

Description Krish 2014-05-10 18:31:42 UTC
When user types in values into a box in Calc, the autocomplete feature inserts proposed text without user acknowledgement. This makes it very error prone esepcially if the user is not watching the screen continously. Any input proposed by the software should require user acknowledgement such as tab or left arrow to be accepted. The current implementation assumes that the user wants proposed text without any form of acknowledgement. This is incorrect.

Example:
User type in "A+" and Enter key. Action: "A+" is entered into box.
USer moves to next box and types in "A" and Enter. Action: Calc inserts "+" as proposed text and by default accepts it. The software behaves inconsistently for the same input.
The proper action should be to hit "A" and then a Tab or a left arrow to accept any proposed text (+ in the above case) followed by Enter.
Comment 1 m_a_riosv 2014-05-10 20:47:26 UTC
Hi Krish, thanks for reporting.

I think it is controlled by Menu/Tools/Cells content/Autoinput option.
Does it resolved, disabling it?
Comment 2 Krish 2014-05-10 21:27:14 UTC
(In reply to comment #1)
> Hi Krish, thanks for reporting.
> 
> I think it is controlled by Menu/Tools/Cells content/Autoinput option.
> Does it resolved, disabling it?

(In reply to comment #1)
> Hi Krish, thanks for reporting.
> 
> I think it is controlled by Menu/Tools/Cells content/Autoinput option.
> Does it resolved, disabling it?

Thanks for responding so quickly. Disabling autoinput will turn off the feature, which is not what I was looking for. The autoinput suggestion should not be injected without user approval. While the user is typing, the highlighted postfix supplied by the autoinput feature is only tentative, and should not be committed when user hits a return. If the user is not watching the screen, it will result in incorrect data entry. Highlighted text should not be automatically added to the text without user approval, which is usually done by having the user tab or move the cursor over to EOL. For example if you are using any other application such as eclipse, the proposed auto-completion is accepted only if the user moves the cursor over the highlighted proposed text to the end of the line.
Data entry errors in spreadsheets can be hard to detect and the user interface should not make it more error prone, in my opinion.
For exmaple, if I wanted the auto-completion feature, and were entering grades, then entering a sequence such as the following with autoinout feature enabled makes it harder -
Tom   B+
Dick  B
Harry B-
I would want the autocompletion to feature, but I don;t want it inserting stuff into the spreadsheet without me acknowledging it.
Thanks so much.
Comment 3 m_a_riosv 2014-05-11 01:45:35 UTC
Autoinput help:
https://help.libreoffice.org/Calc/AutoInput

Even it was possible to do a better selection with Autocompletion, how user can know it is the right "If the user is not watching the screen".

"if the user moves the cursor over the highlighted proposed text to the end of the line", forgive me but doesn't seems a very quick method, and needs user's attention.

Perhaps Menu/Data/Validity - Criteria - Cell range it's a better tool for what you want.

In any case if you want an enhancement, change the importance from normal to enhancement and explain exactly what you want. But remember that if it is going to change the actual workflow of the people, won't be easy get the change.
Comment 4 Krish 2014-05-11 02:34:23 UTC
(In reply to comment #3)
> Autoinput help:
> https://help.libreoffice.org/Calc/AutoInput
> 
> Even it was possible to do a better selection with Autocompletion, how user
> can know it is the right "If the user is not watching the screen".
> 
If the user types in "XY" and hits return without watching the screen then the user expects "XY" to go into the spreadsheet, and not "XYZABD" or whatever else  is predicted by Calc. 
The deal is this- the postfix supplied by autocomplete is only a prediction. It should not go into the spreadsheet unless the user acknowledges it through some sort of keyboard input. Typically it is accepted by the user moving the cursor to the EOL.
If autoinput as used in Calc is different from autocomplete as it is implemented in almost all other application, you should at least leave it unselected as the default state. That way people can turn it on if they want it and not end up having wrong data in their spreadsheet. Wrong data in spreadsheets can do a lot more damage than an aggressive spellchecker putting junk words into your document.

If it still doesn't make sense I'd be glad to close this off and repoen it as an enhancement. But I do think it is a flawed User interface design.
Comment 5 m_a_riosv 2014-05-11 02:49:20 UTC
First it's not closed, it's unconfirmed, you need to find someone else that is agree with you, to changes the Status as new.
You can directly change the Importance from normal to enhancement. Go to the top of the page, change it, and click Save Changes.

A simple [Ctrl+Z] take back the Autoinput selection.
So [Ctrl+Z] + [Enter] introduce what the user has typed

"But I do think it is a flawed User interface design."
Maybe for you but not for others. We all think that our issues are the most important of the world, and they are, but usually only for us.
Comment 6 Krish 2014-05-11 03:30:18 UTC
(In reply to comment #5)
> First it's not closed, it's unconfirmed, you need to find someone else that
> is agree with you, to changes the Status as new.
> You can directly change the Importance from normal to enhancement. Go to the
> top of the page, change it, and click Save Changes.
> 
> A simple [Ctrl+Z] take back the Autoinput selection.
> So [Ctrl+Z] + [Enter] introduce what the user has typed
> 
> "But I do think it is a flawed User interface design."
> Maybe for you but not for others. We all think that our issues are the most
> important of the world, and they are, but usually only for us.

Thats okay. I teach this stuff for a living. I will just go back to using Excel.