[libreoffice-users] Calc: Hedley's adventures trying to embed graphics stably with cell character anchors

All:

Tom reminded me that I have previously posted about the problems of
graphics in Calc. If anybody is interested in reading this long boring
history, here it is. This saga will now be posted in bugzilla.

Regards,
Hedley


Hedley Finger <hedley.finger@gmail.com>  17 December 201410:16 (10 hours
ago)

to Tom, rfithen, users
All:
​
> Why not stay with the advantages of LibreOffice instead of trying to make
> it as hideous as MS Office!!?

​Can MS Office be more hideous than this?

I decided to make a small database of bicycle spare parts in Calc, in which
I would include a photo of each part as it's easier to scan a printout for
a picture than look up words.

Copying a graphic file from Gimp, etc. (or even another cell) and pasting
into a cell produces these results:

   - the anchor may be in the selected cell, or it could be to the sheet,
   or in the cell above, or the cell to the left
   - the cell must not only be selected (heavy border) but in direct
   text-entry mode to have any hope of pasting into the cell, otherwise the
   graphic will be anchored to the sheet for sure.

​You can change the anchor so that the graphic is equivalent to a
character, with these results:

   - if you hide the column in which the graphic character is located, the
   graphic is still visible, but it should be hidden like all the other text
   characters in that column. In fact, they are not only not hidden but they
   obscure the contents of the neighbouring visible (= non-hidden) cells
   - the same goes for hiding rows
   - if you resize the cell, the graphic overlaps into neighbouring cells,
   unlike what would happen if it were a real text character or string, which
   gets masked off at the borders.​

​The database file is located in the same folder as the graphic files. This
is important because the graphics are imported by reference, i.e. the
graphics are loaded when the Calc file is opened. Except some aren't but
are randomly not loaded.​

​I was the point of submitting a bug report when I lost all the content and
didn't have the motivation to redo it all.​ Time to copy this email into a
new bug report.

Regards,
Hedley

P.S.
Ubuntu 14.04 LTS Trusty Tahr
LibreOffice 4.2.7.2 (420m0(Build:2))


Hedley Finger <hedley.finger@gmail.com>
29 Aug

to LibreOffice
LibreOffice Calc, Version: 4.2.4.2, Build ID: 420m0(Build:2)
Ubuntu 14.04.01 LTS, Tardy Tahr

Has anyone ever successfully ...

   - embedded graphics in cells
   - imported graphics as links in cells
   - resized them
   - saved, closed, and reopened the spreadsheet

... and have the graphics still anchored in their original cells (not the
cell above or to the side, or to the sheet), and have them stay at the same
resize?​

Because I haven't and it really sh*ts me!

Any suggestions? I am trying to keep a spreadsheet of bicycle parts with
pictures, pricing, etc. and having little success.

Regards,
Hedley


Hedley Finger <hedley.finger@gmail.com>
12 Mar 2014

to LibreOffice
I have created a spreadsheet as a rudimentary parts database.

One column is devoted to photographs of each part. If I copy a graphic from
Windows Preview or other graphics program, select  cell, and then paste
into it, the anchor of the graphic is to the cell one left and one up from
the target cell, i.e. the diagonal cell.

If I select a cell and import a graphic file into it, the top LH corner of
the graphic coincides with that of the cell. I then resize the graphic to
fit it. But the graphic is anchored to the page not the selected cell, so I
have to right-click the selected graphic and choose Anchor > To Cell.

If a cell is selected, is it too much to expect that an imported or pasted
graphic will be anchored to the cell? Does anybody know how to make the
graphic anchor to the target cell without further fiddling?

From time to time I select one or more rows to paste into another tab in
the spreadsheet to make a purchase order or an invoice. Because the row and
column boundaries in the new grid are evenly spaced, the graphics distort
and become vertically elongated. Typically the anchor also moves to the
cell diagonally upper and left of the home cell too. Or the anchor moves to
the cell above or below.

After experimenting with resizing the row and column boundaries of a cell
containing a graphic, it appears that a graphic squashes along one axis
when the size of that dimension becomes less than the dimension of the
graphic. Is there some setting that allows a graphic to stay anchored to
its home cell and remain at its size while the row and cell dimensions are
fixed up?

Why can't graphics resize proportionally when the cell dimensions change?
Why can't anchors stay in one place? If you wanted to move an anchor, you
could click on the graphic to make the anchor visible, then drag the anchor
to where you wanted it to go.

Has anyone else suffered this behaviour? It's hard to believe graphics
positioning in mature software could continue to be this bad.

Regards,
Hedley

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