[Libreoffice-bugs] [Bug 127007] New: Editable field "Data range:" associated with the context menu of any Chart wall treats its list separator badly: Confusion.

[bugzilla-daemon at bugs.documentfoundation.org]

https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=127007

            Bug ID: 127007
           Summary: Editable field "Data range:" associated with the
                    context menu of any Chart wall treats its list
                    separator badly: Confusion.
           Product: LibreOffice
           Version: 6.3.0.2 rc
          Hardware: All
                OS: All
            Status: UNCONFIRMED
          Severity: normal
          Priority: medium
         Component: Calc
          Assignee: libreoffice-bugs at lists.freedesktop.org
          Reporter: jag at psilosoph.de

(I did not yet check which historical versions of Calc did this first. Most
likely the behaviour was introduced together with the "option setting
dependence"
of the separator to be displayed in function parameter lists. The default
separator there depends on the locale.)

Context:
The second station of the Chart wizard and the context menu of any Chart wall
(item "Data Ranges...") give access to an editable field labelled "Data
range:".
The field should accept a list of AbsoluteName of SheetCellRange (where the
sheet name may be entered without the "$" but will always be interpreted as
absolute).

Observation concerning Chart:
This field wrongly and EXCLUSIVELY uses and ACCEPTS only the separator defined
under 
>Tools>Options>LibreOffice Calc>Formula>section "Separators">label "Function:" 
which is to be used as the list separator in parameter lists when a formula is
displayed. 

Using that separator also for the display of lists of AbsoluteName of
SheetCellRange may be acceptable regarding the general mess made of anything in
Office software, though it is bad and helps users to misunderstand things even
more. But... 

Observation concerning Formula:
For the input / editing of formulae, however, the semicolon is still accepted
AND THIS BEHAVIOUR SHOULD PERSIST eternally.

EXPECTED behaviour concerning CHART:
The default list separator of LibreOffice Calc which is the semicolon should at
least always be ACCEPTED during input/editing the DataRanges of a Chart.

Please note:
The DataRanges of a chart aren't a parameter list at all, and the popular
nonsense-sheetnames are now anyway allowed to contain any of the usual
separators (",", ";", ".") in word positions. No reason to prefer a localised /
personalised separator. Those who don't understand the context should cease to
directly edit DataRanges. 
CURRENTLY the mentioned separator setting only refuses to accept the arithmetic
operators. IT ACCEPTS even the COLON and the AMPERSAND e.g! Very funny effects!
Suggestion: Shitcan that option! The related code cannot be made "intelligent"
on the fly.

Addendum:
The very bad idea to use the comma as the list separator also for lists which
may contain constant numbers written with a decimal separator was introduced
without serious considerations when the first "languages" for writing
human-readable programs were created (mid 1950es at IBM) in an English-only
environment. Because the scene was completely professional then, everybody knew
about the limitations and accepted a syntax implementing habits based on usage
in English as a matter of fact in the field, and even the more thoroughly
designed ALGOL family took on the bad model. StarOffice also did it for its
BASIC later, but was clever enough to NOT do it for Calc. 
Nowadays people without any specific education ar encouraged to sometimes act
as "programmers", writing Calc formulae e.g. Will there be remedy concerning
the separator mess?

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