Re: off-list Re: [libreoffice-users] Merge cell problem LO3.3.2.2

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-->Tom,
When it was originally installed all that was correct in theWriting Aids window. All the 
dictionaries that come with the program were in the top Window, and I had "English USA" selected, 
Check spelling as you type was ticked, and the ABC thing had been done. I check this every time I 
do a new install because I had a problem with it after one install, several times ago.
Like I said, everything was working just fine - it was "spell checking" as I typed, etc. Then after 
a while, it seemed like I had done quite a bit of writing without any red squiggly lines appearing, 
so I went to check everything in "Writing Aids" and there isn't ANYTHING there. NOTHING in the top 
box I can even choose from. I went through the install process to Add Components (or whatever that 
option says) and everything is back again. I really don't understand how a part of a program can 
just disappear like that???
Roxy


Hi :)
I don't understand why there is such problem with installing LO on your system.
I don't think that many other people are having the same problem but it sounds
like a nightmare and needs to be sorted out somehow.Perhaps post a bug-report
about it?
http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/BugReport
As Planas and Stephan said in the other thread the spell-check default is a bit
strange.You need to do
Tools - Options - "Language Settings" - "Writing Aids"
Top box needs to have some dictionaries and in the bottom box tick the top
option "Check spelling as you type" and also make sure the toolbar button is
pressed, the ABC with a red-wriggle under it.
I'm fairly certain all these things were already done by default in my install
of LibreOffice 3.3.2 in Ubuntu 10.04 (from the PPAs) so it's a bit weird that it
doesn't seem to be the default in Windows at the moment.
The spell-checker issue is a classic problem with a modular systems.The
advantage is that components can be swapped for other versions, eg take out the
English(US) and replace with French, or added or taken out completely.So, each
of us end-up with a tailored yet streamlined product.
The problem is that choosing "the default" is tricky.Each of us have different
ideas about which "is obviously the right way".NOT having a dictionary
installed and spell-checker on by default seems a stupid gaff to me and you but
a lot of people have learned to mis-trust the spell-checkers in Word and
emailing programs because they keep switching language back to US.If people
are on a Win2000 or netbook machine with tiny hard-drive space then they
probably want as little as possible.One persons "bloat" is another persons
"vitally crucial functionality".
Regards from
Tom :)
----- Original Message ----
From: Roxy Robinsonrocmar62@ranchwireless.com
To: users@global.libreoffice.org
Sent: Sun, 12 June, 2011 19:14:48
Subject: Re: off-listRe: [libreoffice-users] Merge cell problem LO3.3.2.2


Yes, it is weird. I'm doing just exactly what the Help says to do to accomplish
this. Both for merging and un-merging.
I saw in another posting someone had aproblem with their Spellchecker
"disappearing". I have had this problem twicesince moving from OO to LO.
Spellchecker was working and then all of sudden Inoticed, no matter what I was
entering, I wasn't getting ANY red squiggly lines.So would intentionally
misspell a word, and no red squiggly line. Go check mysettings in "writing
aids", and I don't show ANY dictionaries available. I'musing what is supposed
to be the default ones installed with the program. Haveto reinstall it. So,
what's making it disappear????
I have also had an"install" problem with the last 2 "production ready"
installers. To begin with,my download program has a place to enter to MD5 to
check the download. After thedownload is complete, you enter the MD5, hit
enter and if you download is good ared check appears next to the download. It
always shows OK. Then at a pointwhere the install is at end of doing its
thing, it freezes - it stops. You can'tclose it, but it also freezes CPU usage
at 50%. I open Process Explorer and theinstaller "bin" file is using 50% CPU.
It will stay there as long as I amwilling to leave it and the only way to stop
this whole thing is by killing thebin file process. Then I get my computer
back. After all is said and done, itappears the install is complete. I have
done this multiple times, and the samething happens every time. I've used a
new download and nothing changes. Another"mystery"????
Roxy




Hi :)


I don't know the answer.It's a weird problem that shouldn't be happening.
We
have had a fewproblems like that in 3.4.0 but it's odd to have a problemin
3.3.2.




Normally when you merge cells it takes the contents ofjust 1 of those cells.
If more than 1 of the cells have contents then theprogram has difficulty
choosing which contents to combine or not or excludeor how to combine.The
results can be unpredictable.Excel usedto just throw up an error message
similar to the one where you try to pastecontents into a cell that already
contains something.




If Calc'sbehaviour was predictable in previous releases then perhaps
re-installing LOor even better, just renaming the profile, might be enough
to
fix theproblem.I was hoping that someone who know specifically Calcwould
answer but a few people seem to have been thrown by the lists change of
address
on Friday.


Regards from
Tom :)




-----Original Message ----
From: Roxy Robinsonrocmar62@ranchwireless.com
To: Tom Daviestomdavies04@yahoo.co.uk
Sent: Sun, 12 June, 2011 16:46:30
Subject: Re: off-listRe:[libreoffice-users] Merge cell problem LO3.3.2.2


When I did aprevious list, just for my class, I used the merge cells
function
withoutany problems whatsoever. That was over a year ago, so that
spreadsheet
was probably developed using OO, not LO. So, that makes mewonder if there
is
something lacking, or a bug in LO that is causingthis. I still have that
older
spreadsheet, and can open it in LO, andeverything is still just like it
should
be, with the cells merged. Isthere a default setting in the options
somewhere
that is differentbetween the 2 - OOLO? Or, is this a bug? It seems to me
that onceyou have told cells to merge, they should stay merged untilyou
"un-merge" them. What's going on here??????? I thought this list wasfor
answers????
Roxy




Hi :
I'm notsure why the merge-cells wasn'tworking.When i was runninga
similar
list i found combining cells madethe list veryunwieldy.Invariably i
would
then need to sort thespreadsheet some unexpected way and that would be
impossible.Bykeeping each element separate in the table it keepsyour
list
flexible.




I agree about 11pt beingthe smallest and manypeople recommend 12pt for
accessibilityissues.




With the databaseprogram it should bepossible to create a special query
that
fills a row withasingle result.That would help get 1955 into a
field/column
in allrows/records.Later you could add another class and set thequery
to
look-up whether the field already has an entry and ifempty would put in
the
new
value.




Most people have real trouble grasping databaseprograms.The 4
different
components; tables, queries, forms andreports with onlythe tables
containing
the real data is difficult tounderstand.It's quite different from
Word/Writer
where thedata thatyou see is where it appears to be.In queries, forms
and
records thedata is not really there, it's only in the table.It's a bit
like
html wherepictures are not embedded into thedocument and have to be kept
in
a
goodplace that the htmlpage can see.




Regards from
Tom:)




----- Original Message----
From: RoxyRobinsonrocmar62@ranchwireless.com
To: Tom Daviestomdavies04@yahoo.co.uk
Sent: Sun, 12 June, 2011 2:58:23
Subject: Re: off-listRe:[libreoffice-users] Merge cell problem
LO3.3.2.2


Mine is set upon legal sized paper, landscape mode, so that I cankeep
the
fontsize up close to 11. When you're between 65 and75 years old, it
helps
to
have aprintout as large aspossible. If you can't read it youmight as
well
nothaveit. The CD handout is a good idea, but Iwould say about 30%
of
this
group don'tuse computers - don't evenwant to look at one. Seems odd to
me,
but then I'vebeenplayingwith them since the Coleco Adam. And then
there
are
quite a fewthat have computers, a nice internet connection, anemail
address
andthey don'tknow what to do withit. Its mostly for when their
grandkids
come. You stillhave to "snail mail" them or call them onthe phone.
So, tokeep it fromprinting just one or 2 columns onanother page,
and
where
everyone can read it,I have to stickwithlegal sized (8.5 X 14) paper.
I did start playingwithBase.Figured out how to give it access to my
spreadsheet, but couldn'tdoanything with the "table" function,but did
a
"query" and Ithink I would haveto change myspreadsheet some to get
the
info
inproperly. Myspreadsheet isdone by "class year", with the year in
the
first
cell of the row above whereeach classstarts. I think fromwhat I saw I
would
have to add acolumn,probably column 1 with theyear in each row of
that
column, designating eachperson's classyear. Then I also havedeceased
class
members listed at the endofeachclass. That listing has the person's
name,
and if available,theirdeathdate. I believe, to get this info properly
transferred Iwould have to put eachdeceased person back intheir
"proper"
alphabetical order, but not sure aboutthedeath date -where to put it.
So, I will continue to playwith thistransfer toBase and see what I
can
learn. ButI still don't understand why the"merge cells" won't hold in
my
spreadsheet???
Roxy




Hi:)
I haveattached thespreadsheet.I did a lotof formatting and
formulas
on
the
2nd sheet.Hopefully it should be possible to open bothspreadsheets
at
the
same time and then right-click on the tab you wanttomoveinto the
other
spreadsheet/workbook.


I used "Tools -Options -Calc" to set formulas tobe more compatible
with
Excel
which makes themlooklike this
=IF(TableData!E9","TableData!F9","TableData!G9",
"TableData!H9".
"=",
,
,.","",TableData!E9", "TableData!F9","TableData!G9",
"TableData!H9".
")


If the ! have changed to . then it's goneback to Calcformat in which
case
the
compatibility setting probablydoesn'tmatter as each programshould
convert
it
correctly.




After movingthe sheet into the rightspreadsheet/workbook you might
need
to
do
searchreplace tochange "TableData" to "Sheet1".Hopefullythat
should
have
an
interestingresult.Check the last few thoughbecause imight not
have
copied
all the formulas far enoughdown.


I changed thepage set-up to A4 rather than letterbut it should still
fit
on
letter sizedpaper andswitched tolandscape and the font-size to quite
small,
10pt ithink.It was the only way to get email addresses onthe same
page
as
thepersons name.




It occurred to me that it might beanexcellent opportunity to hand the
address-list out onCd/Dvd/usb-stick thisyear so that people getthe
electronic
versions of the list and also get theLibreOffice installers.It might
work
out
cheapereasier!WebMaster at Kracked Press might have good ideas
about
it
if
you want toexplore thatroute.I am not surewhich would work out best


it's
up to you.


Sorry i didn'texplore the Base methods.I justgot a bit carried
away
playing
with Calc :)
Thanks andregards from
Tom:)




----- OriginalMessage----
From: RoxyRobinsonrocmar62@ranchwireless.com
To: Tom Daviestomdavies04@yahoo.co.uk
Sent: Sat, 11 June, 2011 21:48:49
Subject: Re:off-listRe:[libreoffice-users] Merge cellproblem
LO3.3.2.2


Tom,
I've attached a file that has 5 rows of data. All of themareMIA's
with
address, etc, info that no longer hasanythingto do with any ofthem.
The
way
my current spreadsheetis set up is like line 3. The LASTnameis the
last
name
as people would have known themby in high school.For females, that
would
be
maiden names (why its in parentheses). ThereasonI was doingthe
merge
on
names
is because it would takeoutalmostthe width of one column by merging
those
3.
Thiswould allow all theinformation to beprinted on one legal sized
page
-
width, and stillretain the 11 point font size (allows foreasier
reading
by
this agingcrowd). Its saved in xls format -I'm probablythe only one
in
this
groupthat usesLO.And probably only one of a handful that uses a
spreadsheet
ofany kind. My smaller "class"directories generally fit onone
letter
size
pageand I convert those to pdf to send out.
Thisbig one Ihave until10/2012 to get right so it can be printed
out
and
distributed at thereunion.
Roxy


Hi:)
Can youcreate a copy ofthe spreadsheet,perhaps adding
"rocmar-2011-06-11"
to
the end of thefilename andafterwardsjustchange the data in that
to
give
me
about 4 or 5lines offakeddata.I might have time to create a
mock-up
and
you
might even be abletogetthat to read the rightdata, or just use
it
for
ideas.


Regardsfrom
Tom :)




-----OriginalMessage----
From:Roxy Robinsonrocmar62@ranchwireless.com
To: users@global.libreoffice.org
Sent: Sat, 11 June, 2011 18:59:53
Subject:Re:[libreoffice-users]Merge cell problemLO3.3.2.2


Tom,
Thanks for yoursuggestions- I guess I will have to trythat
since
I'm
not
gettingwhatI want with what I'mdoing.
Thisis "off" thesubject issue,but I come from avery small
town.
My
high
school class - 1961 -wasthefirst to got over 50. We had 60 in
the
class,
55
who"walked" on graduationnight. Theother5 finished in summer
school.
The
classescontinued to growafter that,though Idon't think they
ever
went
over
100; and areprobablyrunning around 70-75 now, ifnot less.
I justfinished organizing myclass's50th reunion andam now
putting
together
a reunion for the classes of1955-1964.Thetotal number of
students
during
thatperiod is, according to myspreadsheet,500. I daresay, I
knew,
and
rememberabout 490 ofthose,along with quite a fewothers from
the
classes
before andafter. We wereall like onebig family - youusually
knew
whole
families because youknewsomeone inyour class, or within 2or 3
years
of
your
class. Your classmates were, essentially,yourgroupoffriends.
Anyway, everyclass in thisgroup has, in someformat,a database
of
their
classmates and theirinformation. Eachclasshas a few that have
gone
"missing
in action", but we are allworking together to findeveryone. This
will
be
the
4th, I think,combined reunion likethisover the past 50years,
and
this
combineddatabaseissomething that got started after the first
one.
But,
it
has
not been updated since thelast reunion in 1997. Everyclassmate -
there
are
a
fewexceptions - hasgiven there info to freelyshare with
everyone.
And
everyone at this reunion will receivea copy ofthisspreadsheet
I'm
working
on.
Roxy


Hi:)


I didsomething similaronce.It's easiertokeepthe data
intact,
in
the
3
separate columns for data entry and forsorting the listsinto
alphabetical
order and stuff but thenusea2ndworksheet (2nd tab at the
bottom)
to
use
formulas to add the 3namestogether. eg
A2 =Sheet1.A2" "Sheet1.B2" "Sheet1.C2
You might haverenamed the worksheet tabs so justswap the new
name
for
"Sheet1"
but stillmake surethere isa dot . after itand before the
cell
address.


Thereareissueswith "Data Protection" and respectingpeople's
right
to
privacy
but if they have given you theiraddressesandknowthat it's
for
sharing
with
the wholeclass then thatsort-of impliesthatthey havegiven
you
permission.
I'mnotsure wheter it's legally enough butit probably gives you
a
good
position.
Good luckandregards from
Tom:)




----- OriginalMessage ----
From: Roxy Robinsonrocmar62@ranchwireless.com
To: users@global.libreoffice.org
Sent: Sat, 11 June, 2011 15:51:55
Subject:[libreoffice-users] Mergecell problemLO3.3.2.2


I have a 15page spreadsheet ofclassmateaddresses, phone
numbers,
email,
etc.
I "manipulate" thisinformation inseveraldifferentways to
give
my
classmates
different kinds of"directories". Anyway,their names arein
the
first
3
columns.Thisparticular spreadsheet is going to include ALL the
information
on
eachperson,will be printed on legalsizedpaper inlandscape
format,
so
I
need
alittle more roomto containeverything on the width ofthe
page.
So(SEVERAL TIMES) I have mergedthe cells in thefirst3
columns.
This
containstheparts oftheir names, and allows me toconserve
enough
room
to
get
everything on the width of thepage.Butevery time Iclose LO,
and
then
come
back toworkon thisspreadsheet,the cells are no longer
"merged".
They
will
not stay merged. Ihaven'tgotten all the waythrough the
spreadsheet
-
at
one
time - to mergethecells. Would the "un-merged" cells that are
left
in
the
3
columnskeepthe onesabovethem from stayingmerged, or am I
doing
something
wrong? Ijust don't understand - timeaftertime - I mergethem,
come
back
and
they are no longmerged??????????
Roxy


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