Bug 157089 - Support mixed column/row references like in Google Sheets like =SUM(A1:3)
Summary: Support mixed column/row references like in Google Sheets like =SUM(A1:3)
Status: UNCONFIRMED
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: needsDevAdvice
: 159397 (view as bug list)
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2023-09-04 15:06 UTC by aydsys
Modified: 2024-08-20 06:00 UTC (History)
7 users (show)

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Description aydsys 2023-09-04 15:06:04 UTC
Description:
Hello. Without exaggeration it was shocking to me to find that this feature is not in Calcs. But because this feature seems to me essential i don't think it was missed but rather there is reason not to support it and im curious about the reason. 

So in Google Sheets, the product i started my spreadsheet experience with, once i wanted to  include in my array all cells from columns A, B, C and all rows beginning from 4 and down. Intuitively i tried "A4:C", and it worked. I did not read about it anywhere, it just makes sense. Then i was, mildly put, surprised to find this does not work in LibreOffice Calcs. I was like, there is no way. Out of curiosity i tried this in other products, WPS Office, OnlyOffice, even MS Office. It didn't work. Ok, at this point there has to be a reason, can someone please explain why? btw i tried this a while ago so maybe it is now supported by some of the products. Thank you. 

Steps to Reproduce:
1.ranges like "a3:a", "a1:4"

Actual Results:
not working

Expected Results:
should be supported


Reproducible: Always


User Profile Reset: No

Additional Info:
No other information
Comment 1 m_a_riosv 2023-09-04 20:54:08 UTC
And what that ranges it's expected should be?
Comment 2 aydsys 2023-09-04 23:53:14 UTC
"a3:a" - cells of column "A" beginning from row "3" and below.
"a1:4" - all cells of rows from "1" to "4"
Comment 3 QA Administrators 2023-09-05 03:13:40 UTC Comment hidden (obsolete)
Comment 4 m_a_riosv 2023-09-05 11:35:48 UTC
Sorry, but doing a test, it is not how Google sheets saves as ods/xlsx file.
"a3:a" -> =SUM(A3:A1000)
"a1:4" -> =SUM(A1:Z4)
Comment 5 Stéphane Guillou (stragu) 2023-09-18 22:12:21 UTC
I couldn't find a similar enhancement request.
I can see the appeal of this convenience feature, given that we already can use references of the type A:C and 3:5, so why not mix them, but I'd like to hear from the XU/Design team and Eike. Has this been requested before? I think such a range definition is pretty unambiguous.
Comment 6 Heiko Tietze 2023-09-19 09:17:26 UTC
My first thought was that this is not defined in ODF but it is

----
9.2.4 Column and Row Range Addresses
Column and row addresses are cell range addresses that reference entire rows or columns.

The syntax of a row address is the same as a cell address, except the alphabetic values that indicate the column are omitted.

The syntax of a column address is the same as a cell address, except the numeric values that indicate the row are omitted.
----

https://docs.oasis-open.org/office/v1.2/os/OpenDocument-v1.2-os-part1.html#__RefHeading__1415618_253892949

GSheet silently exports the formula "=sum(A1:3)" as "table:formula="of:=SUM([.A1:.Z3])" which is of course completely wrong (I guess the same is true for docx). Bottom line: be cautious with this type of range definition.
Comment 7 Heiko Tietze 2023-09-19 09:21:54 UTC
(In reply to Heiko Tietze from comment #6)
> ...which is of course completely wrong
Not completely wrong since GSheet has only A:Z columns, and after adding one the exported formula is A1:AA1.
Comment 8 Eike Rathke 2023-09-19 16:57:40 UTC
(In reply to Heiko Tietze from comment #6)
> My first thought was that this is not defined in ODF but it is
No, it is not.

> 9.2.4 Column and Row Range Addresses
> Column and row addresses are cell range addresses that reference entire rows
> or columns.
> 
> The syntax of a row address is the same as a cell address, except the
> alphabetic values that indicate the column are omitted.
> 
> The syntax of a column address is the same as a cell address, except the
> numeric values that indicate the row are omitted.
Note that definition is in the global schema definition. That definition to me is ambiguous and quite certainly did not want to say that one could mix the notations of cell range addresses and entire column or row range addresses. It likely is wrong worded and instead of
"a row address is the same as a cell address"
should read
"a row address is the same as a cell range address"
and then "except the alphabetic values that indicate the column are omitted" actually would make sense. Similar for column address.

The ODFF formula specification is very explicit about that, see
5.8 References
https://docs.oasis-open.org/office/OpenDocument/v1.3/os/part4-formula/OpenDocument-v1.3-os-part4-formula.html#References

The syntax says you can have either
SheetLocatorOrEmpty '.' Column ':' '.' Column
or
SheetLocatorOrEmpty '.' Row ':' '.' Row
but no mix of
SheetLocatorOrEmpty '.' Column Row ':' '.' Column
or any such construct.


So if at all this would be an UI only feature, which when entered resolves to the last row or column for the missing part. Note that an input of A:A3 wouldn't make sense and should resolve as A3:A and thus A3:A1048576, if not error.
Comment 9 ady 2023-09-20 02:07:57 UTC
(In reply to Eike Rathke from comment #8)

> Note that definition is in the global schema definition. That definition to
> me is ambiguous and quite certainly did not want to say that one could mix
> the notations of cell range addresses and entire column or row range
> addresses. It likely is wrong worded and instead of
> "a row address is the same as a cell address"
> should read
> "a row address is the same as a cell range address"
> and then "except the alphabetic values that indicate the column are omitted"
> actually would make sense. Similar for column address.

@Regina,
I guess that if the current wording needs a revision, then it would be wise to propose an improvement (be)for(e) the future ODF 1.4.
Comment 10 m_a_riosv 2024-01-27 23:25:58 UTC
*** Bug 159397 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***