Calc/Features/Automatic decimal place adjustment

Automatic decimal place adjustment

Specification Status
Author	Kohei Yoshida
Last Change	See wiki history
Status	In progress in CWS koheiautodecimal

Abstract

Cells containing either numeric value or formula whose result is numeric are subject to automatic adjustment of decimal places based on the available column width. The automatic decimal place adjustment takes place only when their number format is General.

References

Reference Document	Check	Location (URL)
Issue ID (required)	available	Issue 26826 Issue 46511
Test case specification (required)	n/a

Contacts

Role	Name	E-Mail Address
Developer	Kohei Yoshida	kyoshida@novell.com
Quality Assurance	undetermined
Documentation	up for grabs!
User Experience	up for grabs!

Detailed Specification

Options dialog

In the Options dialog, the Calculate page will have a new check box labeled Limit decimals for general number format. When this check box is checked, you can specify the maximum number of decimal places allowed for cells with General number format. A value of 0 to 20 is allowed as the maximum number of decimal places.

When this check box is not checked, cells with General number format will use as many decimal places as the column width allows. By default, this option is not checked.

New check box to control automatic decimal adjustment behavior.

Adjusting decimal places by column width

When the number format for a cell is General and its displayed content is numeric, it is subject to automatic decimal place adjustment based on available column width. The adjustment is performed in the following fashion.

First, Calc tries to fit the displayed number within the cell width by reducing the number of decimal places. If the number doesn't fit even after all the decimal places have been exhausted, it then switches to scientific notation and continue adjusting decimal places in that notation. If the number still doesn't fit even with the scientific notation, it displays '###' in place of the original value.

When the value of the cell is less than 0.0001 (=1.0E-04), the value is displayed in scientific notation if

• the total number of characters to be displayed in decimal notation exceeds 11, even if the column is wide enough to display it without truncation, or
• the column is not wide enough to display the value without truncation.

(1) Optimal column width, with maximum number of significant digits shown, (2) adjusting by truncating decimals, (3) switching to scientific notation, (4) truncating decimals in the scientific notation, and (5) all adjustment options exhausted, displaying '###' as a last resort.

Migration

N/A

Configuration

The configuration option for automatic adjustment of decimal places for General number format is stored in the existing node Calc/Calculate/Other/DecimalPlaces. When the Limit decimals for general number format option is not set, the value of -1 is stored in this node, whereas when this option is set, the specified decimal places (which is a positive value) is stored in this node.

File Format

N/A

Open Issues

Not yet determined.