Apache OpenOffice (AOO) Bugzilla – Issue 55178
Force Left To Right direction while editing formulas
Last modified: 2013-08-07 15:12:27 UTC
Calc supports input of text in Right To Left (RTL) languages. However input of formulas when the input mode is RTL, the formula is displayed incorrectly and confuses the user. Explanation: The display of RTL text requires re-ordering the visual layout of characters. There is a BiDi algorithm which determines the correct order, depending on the characters in the string. The logic is a bit complicated and this is not the place to go into all the details. When the user inputs normal text in RTL language, it is displayed correctly and logically by the cell editor. However, when in RTL input mode, formulas are displayed incorrectly. Formulas always begin with an equal sign (=), and contain Latin functions names, cell references, parentheses and commas. This causes the BiDi algorithm to display the formula in a completely messed order. It is virtually impossible to edit formulas in RTL edit mode. The correct behavior should be to always display and edit formulas in LTR mode, regardless of the direction of the sheet and regardless of the input mode. Actually, the editor line (above the sheet and below the toolbar) works exactly like that, and the in-cell editor should be the same. Of course the user should be able to switch input direction during editing, but the major direction of the input string should be forced to LTR. For those who may wonder how "other" spreadsheet programs work - "they" work as I suggest.
one for the requirements team
OpenOffice.org Issue Tracker - Feedback Request. The Issue you raised is currently assigned to 'Requirements' pending review, but has not been updated within the last 2+ years. Please consider re-testing with one of the latest versions of OOo, as the problem(s) may have already been addressed. Either use the recent stable version: http://download.openoffice.org/index.html or consider trying the new OOo 3 BETA (still in testing): http://download.openoffice.org/3.0beta/ Please report back the outcome so this Issue may be Closed or Progressed as necessary - otherwise it may be Resolved as Invalid in the future. You may also wish to search for (and note) any duplicates of this Issue that may have advanced further by checking the Issue Tracker: http://www.openoffice.org/issues/query.cgi Many thanks, Andrew Cleaning-up and Closing old Issues as part of: ~ The Grand Bug Squash, pre v3 ~ http://marketing.openoffice.org/3.0/announcementbeta.html
as long as no assignee for this issue has been found the issue can't be set to a specific release target, set again to office later.