Bug 71225 - EDITING: AREAS function input error.
Summary: EDITING: AREAS function input error.
Status: NEW
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Calc (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
Inherited From OOo
Hardware: Other Windows (All)
: medium normal
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
Whiteboard: BSA
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks: Function-Wizard
  Show dependency tree / graph
 
Reported: 2013-11-04 16:39 UTC by John Smith
Modified: 2023-09-01 07:15 UTC (History)
2 users (show)

See Also:
Crash report or crash signature:

Attachments
An ODT document, illustrating with screenshots, the situation described. (33.12 KB, application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text)
2013-11-04 16:39 UTC, John Smith 		Details
Screenshot wizard (25.31 KB, image/png)
2013-11-05 14:53 UTC, m_a_riosv 		Details
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Description John Smith 2013-11-04 16:39:24 UTC 
Created attachment 88622 [details]
An ODT document, illustrating with screenshots, the situation described.

Problem description: 
When inputting ranges into the reference input parameter box by drag and select,any prior entries are messed up.
Steps to reproduce:
1. Open an instance of Calc and open the Function Wizard.
2. Double-click the AREAS function and then select a range.
3. Enter a valid separator and click and drag to select another range.

Current behavior:
Clicking and dragging to select a range once one range has been selected causes the previous selection(s) to mess up.
Expected behavior:
That selections by click and drag would correctly add to those already made.

The explanatory text in the Function Wizard indicates it is optional to have multiple ranges selected. Should multiple not be the default if you are counting areas?
              
Operating System: Windows XP
Version: 4.1.3.2 rc
Comment 1 m_a_riosv 2013-11-05 00:55:30 UTC 
Hi John,
there is needed to use separator between range, usually the semicolon ";", but maybe in your locale is the comma.

Selecting a range, enter semicolon, select a new range, works for me.
Comment 2 John Smith 2013-11-05 11:20:20 UTC 
(In reply to comment #1)
> Hi John,
> there is needed to use separator between range, usually the semicolon ";",
> but maybe in your locale is the comma.
> 
> Selecting a range, enter semicolon, select a new range, works for me.

Hi
Yes, I have tried using the semicolon, the comma, and the tilde. You will see from Note 1 of the attached document that this was done. Whatever separator was used, the result was the same.
I use a default installation of Calc with no customization and the locale is US-English. As stated, the problem is with click-and-drag to select a range after the first range is selected.
Comment 3 John Smith 2013-11-05 12:41:17 UTC 
I've just confirmed the same results (the error)using LibO ver 4.0.5.2 using Windows 7.
Comment 4 John Smith 2013-11-05 12:43:22 UTC 
(In reply to comment #3)
> I've just confirmed the same results (the error)using LibO ver 4.0.5.2 using
> Windows 7.

I should have added that the locale for this was set to UK-English
Comment 5 m_a_riosv 2013-11-05 14:53:32 UTC 
Created attachment 88702 [details]
Screenshot wizard

Semicolon is accepted as separator but it is not converted in tilde "~" (help mention this), so the function gives an error as result.
I think this is the bug, entering directly the tilde "~" between ranges, works as expected. (In windows ~ = Alt+0126)
Comment 6 QA Administrators 2015-04-19 03:22:03 UTC Comment hidden (obsolete)
Comment 7 Eike Rathke 2016-06-10 15:06:49 UTC 
(In reply to m.a.riosv from comment #5)
> Semicolon is accepted as separator but it is not converted in tilde "~"
> (help mention this), so the function gives an error as result.
> I think this is the bug, entering directly the tilde "~" between ranges,
> works as expected. (In windows ~ = Alt+0126)

That's not a bug. The parameter separator (';' or ',' or whatever) is exactly that, it separates parameters. AREAS takes only one parameter though, hence one has to use the reference union / list operator '~'. Either that or for convenience for those accustomed to Excel behavior enclose a parameter separated list in additional parentheses, e.g. AREAS((range1,range2,range3)) which then is converted to AREAS((range1~range2~range3)). This is also mentioned in the help.

The bug here is that when selecting areas once having entered a separator or any operator, already existing input field content should not be overwritten (as it is not selected at that stage anymore) but the new selection appended to the input at the cursor position instead. This is not specific to the AREAS function, e.g. range1+range2 could be a valid argument for many functions (using operator '+' with two position dependent implicit intersections for example).
Comment 8 QA Administrators 2018-07-24 02:37:52 UTC Comment hidden (obsolete)
Comment 9 QA Administrators 2020-07-24 03:46:25 UTC Comment hidden (obsolete)
Comment 10 QA Administrators 2022-07-25 03:27:44 UTC Comment hidden (obsolete)
Comment 11 Kira Tubo 2023-08-26 01:49:33 UTC 
Still reproducible. Note that if you click on the Shrink button to minimize the Function Wizard, the user is able to select multiple ranges without issue. 

Version: 24.2.0.0.alpha0+ (X86_64) / LibreOffice Community
Build ID: e15bf7363adb20c77aee51e09b6f2604d741619b
CPU threads: 6; OS: Windows 10.0 Build 22621; UI render: Skia/Raster; VCL: win
Locale: en-US (en_US); UI: en-US
Calc: CL threaded
Comment 12 Kira Tubo 2023-09-01 07:15:34 UTC 
Also reproducible in v.3.3, so updating Version to "Inherited from OOo"