Revision as of 22:03, 5 August 2009

Multi-range copy and paste

Abstract

This feature extends Calc's current copy and paste functionality, to allow copying of a set of multiple non-contiguous ranges. When pasted, all copied data get consolidated into a single range either horizontally or vertically. There are some restrictions when ranges are being copied, in order to ensure that the pasted range become a rectangular range.

References

Contacts

Detailed Specification

When copying

When copying a set of non-contiguous ranges, the ranges must either

• have the same row range i.e. identical begin/end row pair, or
• have the same column range i.e. identical begin/end column pair.

If neither of these conditions is met, an error message will appear, and nothing gets copied to the clipboard.

The following additional restrictions apply when copying:

• Only coping of non-contiguous ranges is allowed. Cutting is not allowed.
• It copies cells that are either filtered or hidden.

Example of copying ranges with identical column range

Example of copying ranges with identical row range

When pasting

When pasting, the non-contiguous ranges copied to the clipboard get consolidated into a single range before being pasted to the destination. How the ranges get consolidated depends on whether the ranges have identical column range (row-wise separation), or they have identical row range (column-wise separation). For row-wise separation, ranges join by removing empty rows between the copied ranges, while for column-wise separation, ranges join by removing empty columns in-between them.

In case the copied ranges have formulas, the normal paste action (Edit - Paste) pastes their formula values, not the formulas. However, you can still paste formulas by Edit - Paste Special.

Unlike the single-range paste, multi-range paste disregards any highlighted selection and resets selection to that of the pasted range; it does not repeat the data across the highlighted region like the single-range paste does.

Example of pasting ranges with identical column range

Example of pasting ranges with identical row range

Migration

N/A

Configuration

N/A

File Format

N/A

Open Issues

• When pasting ranges transposed, any drawing objects inside the copied ranges disappear after the paste. This doesn't happen during single-range paste.
• When pasted multiple ranges to another application, only the first range is pasted.