[libreoffice-users] Re: Using and Formatting Logical Functions in Calc

Am 29.06.2012 10:49, webmaster-Kracked_P_P wrote:
> Is there a place where users can "drop off" a description on how to do
> something that is not explained in the current documentation? The
> current docs are "guides" and not "how-to" books.  For me, "how-to"
> books are more example driven where there are 100's of examples on how
> to do specific "things".  Then there is the detailed reference books.
> Look at Python books.  You get a basic guide book, a thicker "how-to"
> book, and a thick resource book explaining in detail all the built in
> functions in the various resource libraries.  You cannot expect our doc
> people to create a "guide" that does all three at the same time.

Being an interactive programming language for non-programmers, 
spreadsheets are generic tools for no particular pupose which is why 
there are no how-tos.
You need a how-to when you want to learn how to build a wooden house. 
Nobody needs how-tos on the use of hammer, the nails, the saw etc. For 
the tools you need references about appropriate combinations of woods, 
nails and hammers and may be how to mount the correct blades on the saw etc.

Any how-tos will be ignored anyway. Nothing prevents people from using 
spradsheets in the exact same manner as paper spreadsheets that used to 
be pinned to office walls in the 70ies.
August2012.xls with 31 sheets (one for each day of month) a cross table 
with vertical days and horizontal items. Anything beyond mere data entry 
is impossible to do with this layout.

This is the single most helpful how-to to solve most of today's 
spreadsheet problems without a single formula:
> http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Documentation/OOo3_User_Guides/Calc_Guide/DataPilot

The problem with that solution is that nobody is willing to organize 
data in databases nor sheet lists resembling a normalized database 
table. This is a far too simple machine readable data layout when you 
wasted so much time with all the formatting options and cell merging.

Another "must read" on spreadsheets in general:
> http://www.burns-stat.com/pages/Tutor/spreadsheet_addiction.html



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