Difference between revisions of "Calc/Cell Edition Modes"

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(Selection Mode)
(Introduction)
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= Introduction =
 
= Introduction =
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Suggestions to improve the edition of formulas in Calc are regularly discussed in the [http://ux.openoffice.org/servlets/ProjectMailingListList User Experience mailing lists]. A recent example is the [[Calc/Drafts/Show_Formula_Syntax|“Show Formula Syntax in tip help”]] feature planed for the 3.1 release.
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Such discussions have proved to be difficult, because of the nature of interaction in Calc. One of the difficulties is that cell edition relies heavily on modes which are not clearly identified, similar from each other, differing only by subtle behaviors.
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This makes the “big picture” difficult to apprehend, with the risk to:
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* miss some improvement opportunities
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* break some interaction patterns
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* introduce coherence breaks
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Another issue — only indirectly related to the User Experience Team objectives — is that user documentation suffers from incompleteness.
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This page is thus an attempt to list and detail all the modes involved in cell edition, and finally to propose some improvement suggestions.
  
 
= The Modes =
 
= The Modes =

Revision as of 10:13, 26 January 2009

Introduction

Suggestions to improve the edition of formulas in Calc are regularly discussed in the User Experience mailing lists. A recent example is the “Show Formula Syntax in tip help” feature planed for the 3.1 release.

Such discussions have proved to be difficult, because of the nature of interaction in Calc. One of the difficulties is that cell edition relies heavily on modes which are not clearly identified, similar from each other, differing only by subtle behaviors.

This makes the “big picture” difficult to apprehend, with the risk to:

  • miss some improvement opportunities
  • break some interaction patterns
  • introduce coherence breaks

Another issue — only indirectly related to the User Experience Team objectives — is that user documentation suffers from incompleteness.

This page is thus an attempt to list and detail all the modes involved in cell edition, and finally to propose some improvement suggestions.

The Modes

Selection Mode

Default mode. Subtleties: "Formula Bar" may be hidden, and input line removed ; "Formula View" mode; Array formula.

Reference Input Mode

Entered upon: In Selection Mode, entering text beginning with an "=", "+" or "-".

References can then be selected with the keyboard (arrow keys and navigation keys) and mouse, and referenced cells get a colored background matching the color of the reference in the formula (in cell but not formula bar.)

Leaving the mode on:

  • Enter or Tab keys (validating the entry, back to Selection Mode)
  • Escape key (canceling, back to Selection Mode)
  • Click in the formula (in cell or in input line of the formula bar.) Entering Standard Edit Mode (with a bug because some referenced cells keep the colored border)

Edit Mode

References Edit Mode

Standard Edit Mode

Visualizing Referenced cells

See Also

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