[Libreoffice-ux-advise] [Bug 117672] Make default column type 'Text' when importing CSVs, or warn of data modification

https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=117672

V Stuart Foote <vstuart.foote@utsa.edu> changed:

           What    |Removed                     |Added
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
           Keywords|                            |needsUXEval
             Status|UNCONFIRMED                 |NEW
                 CC|                            |erack@redhat.com,
                   |                            |libreoffice@kohei.us,
                   |                            |libreoffice-ux-advise@lists
                   |                            |.freedesktop.org,
                   |                            |vstuart.foote@utsa.edu
           See Also|                            |https://bugs.documentfounda
                   |                            |tion.org/show_bug.cgi?id=11
                   |                            |4249
     Ever confirmed|0                           |1
                 OS|Linux (All)                 |All

--- Comment #2 from V Stuart Foote <vstuart.foote@utsa.edu> ---
While LibreOffice can import CSV into and export CSV from Calc it is not
intended to be a .CSV editor. Round trip of a CSV (any delimited or fixed width
format) through Calc has no obligation to retain text strings in their original
format once imported--expecting such is abusive use of a spreadsheet where
formulas and cell styling and conditional formatting is involved.

Text editors, e.g. ViM, Notepad++, or even emacs are all infinitely more
functional for "editing" delimited text files.

Meaning having to manually set all of the resulting columns to Text on import
is reasonable (it is a single click to select from the preview and then apply
TEXT from droplist). But users should then understand the marginal results
they'll get--both with Calc as a text "editor" or in working with now malformed
data as a spreadsheet.

Set them if one likes, but Text as a _default_ for columns of the Text Import
dialog is not appropriate to use of a spreadsheet. Simply NO!

I guess we could maybe provide a Tools -> Options -> LO Calc panel for the Text
Import dialog and a cook up a control to toggle default from STANDARD to TEXT,
and hold setting per user profile. But I still think that fosters user abuse of
Calc spreadsheets.

Otherwise, with default STANDARD filter import, you can also hold a long
numeric string (e.g. your serial numbers) as TEXT by prepending an apostrophe
to it prior to import, i.e. part of preparing your data for import.

IMHO => WONTFIX

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