Helping with the 7.0 Calc Guide

Hi Gordon,

I hope that you are okay.

During the coming days, I intend making some tidy-ups to the Calc Guide’s .ODT files, in preparation for the 7.0 update. This is probably a one-person job.

However, while I am doing these edits. there are a few related matters that somebody could address. As you have expressed an interest in continuing to help with the Calc Guide, maybe you would like to address some or all of these?
Somebody could create a 7.0 structure in the Calc Guide area of NextCloud. This will require the same folders as the 6.4 structure. It will also need a tracking spreadsheet like that used for 6.4, but with the various dates etc. deleted, ready to start afresh.Somebody could investigate the LO extension called “Code Highlighter” (https://extensions.libreoffice.org/en/extensions/show/code-highlighter) to see whether we can use it to improve the appearance of the macro code segments that appear in Chapters 12 and 13 of the Calc Guide. This extension was discussed and recommended in a recent Documentation Team meeting, but I have not had time to see what impacts it will have on our chapters.Reading the 7.0 Release Notes, you may have noticed that Calc 7.0 has two new functions, RAND.NV() and RANDBETWEEN.NV(). Although we do not need to discuss the gory detail of these two in the Calc Guide (covered in Help and, eventually, on the Calc Functions wiki), their very existence leads to asking “what is a volatile function?”. Therefore, I think we need to draft a new (short) section to be put into Chapter 7 (Using Formulas and Functions) of the Calc Guide to discuss the concept of a volatile function in Calc. (The word “volatile” does not appear in the 6.4 version). Somebody could have a go at drafting such a section in a standalone ODT file, to be entitled “Volatile functions”? Sources of background information include: • The Release Notes for 7.0 (https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/7.0#New_spreadsheet_functions) and maybe the discussions that took place in progressing the associated bug (127831).
         • ODF version 1.2 (http://docs.oasis-open.org/office/v1.2/OpenDocument-v1.2-part2.html) – see Section 3.5 “When recalculation occurs”.
         • The source code contains a function entitled “IsOpCodeVolatile” which determines whether a function called by a user is volatile or not. From this code I have gleaned that the volatile Calc functions are: RAND, RANDBETWEEN, NOW, TODAY, FORMULA, INFO, INDIRECT, and OFFSET.
         • The descriptions of the two new functions that have been included in the Help system at https://help.libreoffice.org/7.1/en-US/text/shared/05/new_help.html.

Let me know if you need any more information or help.

Regards,

Steve

I am creating the folder structure in NextCLoud. Does everybody
automatically get access to this, or does that take extra steps?

Gordon Bates
berrykevin321@gmaill.com
github.com/jdoes

Thanks Gordon.

Once you have created the folders and the tracking spreadsheet, you shouldn't need to take any extra steps for others to access them.

Regards,

Steve

Okay, got it finished!
Gordon Bates
berrykevin321@gmaill.com
github.com/jdoes

Thanks Gordon. I can see the files okay.

Steve