Bug 118658 - Fill handle should be visible at the beginning of the row, when whole rows are selected
Summary: Fill handle should be visible at the beginning of the row, when whole rows ar...
Status: NEW
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Calc (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
Inherited From OOo
Hardware: x86-64 (AMD64) All
: medium normal
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks: AutoFill
  Show dependency treegraph
 
Reported: 2018-07-10 05:38 UTC by Tyr Antilles
Modified: 2025-10-20 05:15 UTC (History)
3 users (show)

See Also:
Crash report or crash signature:


Attachments
Screencast #1 (41.53 KB, image/gif)
2025-10-18 06:52 UTC, Heiko Tietze
Details
Screencast #2 (16.06 KB, image/gif)
2025-10-18 06:53 UTC, Heiko Tietze
Details
Screencast Microsoft Excel (43.76 KB, image/gif)
2025-10-19 13:37 UTC, Heiko Tietze
Details

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Description Tyr Antilles 2018-07-10 05:38:02 UTC
Description:
1. When selecting a group or rows or columns, there is no handle at the beginning of the row to drag them up or down.
2. Cursor border of the selected cell is always black, making it very hard to see on dark backgrounds and impossible to see on black background.

Here is a small video (600kb) that illustrates the problems:
https://1drv.ms/v/s!AqtI3rSJQnG_kjilzuN9ua02OE4q

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Select rows
2. Try to drag them down
3.

Actual Results:
There is no handle. The handle is only at the end of the table.

Expected Results:
Have point (handle) to drag the entire rows / columns at the beginning of the row.


Reproducible: Always


User Profile Reset: No



Additional Info:
The second problem is even more important. Selection cursor being black is very hard to see on dark backgrounds. Normally it should become white if the selected cell is dark so it can be easily spotted.
Comment 1 Susan Gessing 2018-07-10 21:02:34 UTC
I agree with the suggested changes, but isn't this "bug" more of an enhancement request?
Comment 2 Tyr Antilles 2018-07-11 02:53:11 UTC
No, because in older versions of LibreOffice I remember they were working correctly. Both actually.
Comment 3 Tyr Antilles 2018-07-11 13:02:32 UTC
These issues appear in LO v.6.1.0.1 RC1 as well, just as described above.
Comment 4 Buovjaga 2018-07-17 17:05:12 UTC
(In reply to Tyr Antilles from comment #2)
> No, because in older versions of LibreOffice I remember they were working
> correctly. Both actually.

I tried several older versions down to 3.3.0 and the fill handle was never visible when whole rows were selected.

Let's consult the UX team on how exactly the representation should change.

The black on black issue is reported as bug 108240
Comment 5 Tyr Antilles 2018-07-17 19:10:54 UTC
I tried too older LO versions and indeed the fill handle is always black on Win10. Still I am pretty sure I had it working correctly at some point in time with an older LO version, perhaps on Win XP or Win 7, or perhaps with some different display setup like different open GL or Direct X, not sure.
Comment 6 Heiko Tietze 2018-07-24 13:47:08 UTC
MS Excel shows the/antoher handle left of the first cell, also not a perfect solution since it has a very tiny hotspot. As a user I'd expect to be able to enlarge the column height at the leftmost static column but in case of a selection some means to increase everywhere. Drawback is that a (small) range selection wont work smoothly anymore with the enlarge-everywhere option together with the handle. So the question goes to the devs, what can we do?
Comment 7 QA Administrators 2019-10-13 02:33:35 UTC Comment hidden (obsolete)
Comment 8 Tyr Antilles 2019-10-14 05:02:11 UTC
Yes, both issues reported on the original post are still present in LO v.6.3.2.2.
Comment 9 QA Administrators 2021-10-14 03:47:10 UTC Comment hidden (obsolete)
Comment 10 Tyr Antilles 2021-10-15 17:48:59 UTC
I am using only LibreOffice as office suite, so I know it well. On the last version of LO at this time, LO v.7.2.2.2 x64, @2021.10.15 both issues are still here as reported on the original post.
Comment 11 QA Administrators 2023-10-16 03:15:04 UTC Comment hidden (obsolete)
Comment 12 QA Administrators 2025-10-16 03:12:17 UTC Comment hidden (obsolete)
Comment 13 Tyr Antilles 2025-10-18 06:21:33 UTC
Today on 2025.10.18, in LO 25.8.1.1 the first problem is still present: When selecting a group or rows or columns, there is no handle at the beginning of the row to drag them up or down. The Handle is only at the end of the sheet which is very very hard to reach since you need to scroll all the way to the end of the empty sheet.

The second problem with the cursor border is now beautifully solved. Now is very easy to see regardeless of the background color.
Comment 14 Heiko Tietze 2025-10-18 06:52:06 UTC
Created attachment 203407 [details]
Screencast #1

The handle at the bottom (small rectangle in the right corner) to extend the range looks good to me. As well the darker border when dragging is started.
Comment 15 Heiko Tietze 2025-10-18 06:53:29 UTC
Created attachment 203409 [details]
Screencast #2

The same on dark background. I don't see room for improvements here - or misunderstand the issue.

Version: 25.8.2.2 (X86_64) / LibreOffice Community
Build ID: 580(Build:2)
CPU threads: 32; OS: Linux 6.17; UI render: default; VCL: kf6 (cairo+xcb)
Locale: de-DE (en_US.UTF-8); UI: en-US
25.8.2-3
Calc: threaded
Comment 16 Tyr Antilles 2025-10-18 12:35:12 UTC
to Heiko Tietze.
Thank you for looking into this.

1. The handle at the bottom (small rectangle in the right corner) you are talking about is fine for a rectangle selection but it does not appear when you select entire rows -> actually it does, but only at the end of the sheet which is impractical.
Here is a new screenshot that illustrates the problem:
https://1drv.ms/i/c/bf714289b4de48ab/EQ9Ftq-qPqhLjzJ1yzZCcFkBcMyFWOmj3WL8KpTDupyTjw?e=r42Lph

2. The dark background problem was solved on the newer LO versions.
Comment 17 Heiko Tietze 2025-10-19 13:33:39 UTC
The rectangle around the focused cell is fine. You are apparently looking for indicator when dragging is possible. Why? As long you haven't started the drag operation it is just a selection.

If we are still talking about the rectangle, this is to extend the selected range. If you expect it everywhere, for example to select row A:C and you want D to be added, it requires some other position - which would be kind of random. Why not use the keyboard?
Comment 18 Heiko Tietze 2025-10-19 13:37:45 UTC
Created attachment 203437 [details]
Screencast Microsoft Excel

Replying to myself (also what I commented earlier): Excel moves the range handle from end of cell to the beginning. Could be an improvement for mouse afficionatos.
Comment 19 Tyr Antilles 2025-10-20 05:15:44 UTC
(In reply to Heiko Tietze from comment #18)
> Created attachment 203437 [details]

Yes. Exactly that. I found myself several times wanting to drag entire rows colored with different colors, or very long rows with data, but no handle at the beginning of the row.
If this is not so important, please close this threat. LibreOffice is already super awesome.  :)