Bug 134192 - hiding/showing columns by name
Summary: hiding/showing columns by name
Status: NEW
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Calc (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
Inherited From OOo
Hardware: All All
: medium enhancement
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks: Calc-Enhancements
  Show dependency treegraph
 
Reported: 2020-06-21 13:21 UTC by ffs
Modified: 2023-06-25 03:49 UTC (History)
5 users (show)

See Also:
Crash report or crash signature:


Attachments
Mockup to Show/Hide a range of cols/rows (25.67 KB, image/png)
2021-05-18 11:38 UTC, Heiko Tietze
Details

Note You need to log in before you can comment on or make changes to this bug.
Description ffs 2020-06-21 13:21:47 UTC
When working with large spreadsheets and because LO can't scroll by partial columns it's usual to hide many columns.  However, the current way to unhide columns is incredibly clunky so it would be nice to pull up a dialog that allowed rapid selection of colums to hide/unhide with tick boxes.

There might already be a feature like this but I've not found it.

Say I've got 200 columns to work with, the first 75 are hidden and I want to show columns 2 and 5 for a few seconds the current work flow (highlight columns, undie ctrl-click to deseclt the ones I want and to deselect column 76 which I still want then hide) is a PITA.
Comment 1 Timur 2020-06-23 17:23:06 UTC
Looks justified. Could work with Shift+Show, both for Columns and Rows, in a dialog similar to AutoFilter, All or selected.
Comment 2 Heiko Tietze 2020-06-24 08:04:10 UTC
A list with 200 checkboxes is also not handy. Thinking about a print-like multi-selection where you can specify something like "1,2-5,10". We could also provide more column related features like col width in this dialog. Is this feasible, Eike?
Comment 3 Heiko Tietze 2021-05-18 11:38:28 UTC
Created attachment 172122 [details]
Mockup to Show/Hide a range of cols/rows

The hidden rows or cols should be listed in the range field as known from the print dialog. The dialog would allow to do both, show and hide.
Comment 4 Jeffrey Alan Klute 2023-06-24 17:04:04 UTC
(In reply to ffs from comment #0)
> However, the current way to unhide columns is incredibly clunky
Spot-on! Well said!

(In reply to Heiko Tietze from comment #3)

I'm for this enhancement as proposed.

I work with a lot of sheets with hidden rows and columns and the existing tools for showing are troublesome in several areas. First a newbie has to wrap his brain around "select the rows/columns before and after the hidden ones." Then comes the hurdle "How to unhide row 1 or column 1?" The only way to do this that I've been able to discover is to select the entire sheet and Show Rows, but of course then you have to go back and hide any other rows that need to be hidden.

I will also say that this enhancement should work on multiple selected sheets, as Hide/Show do now. (Not just the current sheet but all selected sheets.)
Comment 5 ady 2023-06-24 20:47:39 UTC
(In reply to Jeffrey Alan Klute from comment #4)
> How to unhide row 1 or column 1?

FWIW...

1. Click within the Name box (the field located in the intersection between column headers and row headers).
2. In the Name box, introduce A1 [ENTER].
3. Menu format > Rows (or Columns) > Show.
Comment 6 Jeffrey Alan Klute 2023-06-25 03:49:39 UTC
(In reply to ady from comment #5)
> (In reply to Jeffrey Alan Klute from comment #4)
> > How to unhide row 1 or column 1?
> 
> FWIW...
> 
> 1. Click within the Name box (the field located in the intersection between
> column headers and row headers).
> 2. In the Name box, introduce A1 [ENTER].
> 3. Menu format > Rows (or Columns) > Show.

This is a worthwhile tip! Thanks! Not obvious, and not easily found in the help/faqs.

Also FWIW: I'm still for the enhancement as proposed by Heiko Teitze. A straightforward approach that doesn't require an experienced knowledge of spreadsheet secrets like this one.