Apache OpenOffice (AOO) Bugzilla – Issue 44079
need a way to automatically arrange more windows for the same document
Last modified: 2013-08-07 15:12:27 UTC
On MS Excel, when I need to view two different sheets from the same document, I can select then menu option Window/new window and then Window/Arrange. This way, in a couple of clicks, I'm able to display more windows which doesn't overlap each other. On OOo Calc, to get the same result, I need to manually resize the windows. Moreover, on Excel the two sub-windows share the same buttons bar and formula bar, while on Calc each window has is own bars, thus hiding buttons in the right.
One for the requirements team
*** Issue 52854 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue. ***
This requested feature has not been implemented yet. Meanwhile, many forums or help pages give the recommendation to manually arrange OOo windows using the OS window manager. This recommendation, however, offers no solution to the waste of system resources (by opening several instances) and to the waste of screen space (by showing the same buttons bars etc. for each instance). In the end this lead ad absurdum when - as in my intended application - 4 or more sheets are to be displayed simultaneously (e.g. four quadrants). A window arrangement enhancement in OOo would be greatly appreciated for Calc, and probably also for Writer.
Fully agreed with letmo
This is a feature I'm also missing in Calc. But I think OOo Calc should not just copy the Window/Arrange function from MS Excel. Instead OOo Calc should go a step further and try make it more intuitive and easier for a user to work with multiple spreadsheet files. My idea would be to create for every opened spreadsheet file some sort of layer known from painting tools. Then something similar, but perhaps more flexible, to the Window/Split function could be used to split the screen and arrange (with as much freedom as possible) the different layers (i.e. spreadsheet files). In my opinion, there should be no difference for the user in working with one single spreadsheet or with multiple different files. I need this feature, because I often have to analyze and compare very similar sheets containing financial figures from different quarters. Therefore it would be very helpful for me to make working with different sheets as easy, intuitive and fast as possible. If the layer feature is implemented, I could think of additional features making the process of comparing data easier: - "Synchronized scrolling": When activated all opened spreadsheets follow the cell cursor movement / scrolling in one of the sheets. - Easy to use formulas across layers: Here I think of formulas making it easier to work with some similar spreadsheet files and one blank sheet. Perhaps some sort of carbon copy function with displays the value of a cell of one selected layer in the blank sheet or making it easy to use function (like sum or max, min) across the same cells (respectively the cells lying above in the different layers, when one layer was offset compared to the rest) of different layers.