[libreoffice-users] Re: New User: Three Questions

Am 20.07.2011 07:16, Dennis E. Hamilton wrote:
> It seems that OpenOffice.org and LibreOffice Calc will infer the type
of a cell from the type of the formula result if no other type 
information is provided.
As far as I know, that is how results like 01:15 instead of 01.25 show 
up when the formula produces a date-time type of value.  If you want 
something different, it is necessary to over-ride the type by specifying 
the format you want.
>   - Dennis

It is _always_ in days rather than hours. Therefore 01:15 (1h 15m) is 
_always_ 0.05208 (of a day) rather than 1.25 (of an hour). You multiply 
days by 24 to get a number in unit hours: =0.05208*24 gives 1.25.
Of course we can also enter the text value 01:15 which is a sequence of 
4 digits with a colon and no numeric value at all. In 99% of all cases 
numeric strings are plain wrong and a pain in the ass.

If your cell is "unformatted" (number format "General"), then the 
resulting number format is _one_particular_ format for date, time, 
percent, currency etc. depending on the locale context and how you typed 
a numeric expression into a cell. When a formula returns a number in an 
"unformatted" cell, the number format is somewhat uncertain. If it looks 
strange just apply the number format you expect to see. This never 
changes the value. It just modifies the appearance of a number.

I use a default template with a set of cell styles for my most wanted 
number formats and text layouts. Using styles I can format huge and 
complex spreadsheets within a minute. In formulas you can use 
=<some_time_calculation>+STYLE("MyTime") which applies a whole set of 
formatting attributes on the fly.

[Tutorial] Ten concepts that every Calc user should know:
http://user.services.openoffice.org/en/forum/viewtopic.php?f=75&t=39529


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