[Libreoffice-ux-advise] [Bug 93318] Buttons on extreme left of Tab bar

[bugzilla-daemon at bugs.documentfoundation.org]

https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=93318

--- Comment #2 from Alex <alex6361 at postedmail.net> ---
I did not intend any offense in the enhancement I submitted!  Please note that
I said "please" before each request, and meant it genuinely!  However, I stand
behind the opinion I expressed that scarce resources had been applied to the
wrong priorities in this case.  I have been a heavy user of spreadsheets for
over 30 years, the last 20 of which have been with the use of Excel 5.0 and its
VBA - now over 20 years old. In spite of that, Excel 5 still does things that
Calc doesn't do, and I would continue using it except I fear that at some point
it will cease to work with a new OS.  Hence, I'm trying to migrate complex
workbooks and hundreds of lines of VBA from Excel 5.0 to Calc.  It hasn't been
easy.

Thanks for including the link to the new features in version 5 - I had not seen
it.  I actually only went to version 5 two days ago when I learned that it
fixed a deficiency/bug regarding Named Ranges for entire rows or columns that
had caused me to previously write a macro which fixed what Calc destroyed every
time a new row or column was added to a sheet with such NamedRanges.  I'm
frustrated by the slow pace with which Calc is getting even with where MS was
20 years ago, but I understand that it is largely thanks to the kindness and
generosity of so many volunteers that it is even as good as it is.  I'm
grateful for that, and am trying to be patient while the backlog of
deficiencies is dealt with!  

User Interfaces are an important part of working with any program, and Calc and
the Basic IDE, in particular, have ample opportunities awaiting improvements. 
The link in your response included a lengthy discussion about what to add to or
remove from the standard toolbars.  What is done there is of no concern or use
to me, because I always make my own customized toolbars.  I also can and do
customize the menu bars.  But, as far as I last knew, I cannot customize the
context (right-mouse-button) menu (as I can in Excel) to add a very much missed
Excel option to insert a previously copied cell range (i.e., inserting the
required number of new rows/columns and pasting the clipboard's content to that
area) unless I write a macro to do it.  When I looked into the possibilities of
doing just that, I found the whole technique of programmatically examining what
is on the clipboard so daunting that I tabled it for another day when I had a
lot of time to further investigate.  I mention this only as just one example of
a User Interface enhancement that would, at least for me, truly add value.  
There are many more.

I really fail to comprehend the reasons for the changes I "vented" about in the
original submittal. If you have scores of sheets in a workbook, the utility of
going quickly to the beginning or end of that tab sequence is used frequently. 
Requiring two hands (Ctrl + mouse-click) should never be a requirement for any
request (an alternate short-cut maybe, but never required).  If those two
button controls were removed to make way for another ability to add a new
sheet, then the trade-off was flawed.  How difficult is it to right-click
anywhere on the tab bar to pop-up a window giving you the option of saying how
many new sheets you want, where to put them, and what name to call them?  How
many times do people add sheets in the first place, nor not want to give them a
name besides "Sheet_" when they do?  If there are users craving such a button,
then I wouldn't want to deny them that wish; but, not if a required  tradeoff
is the loss of the "First Sheet" and "Last Sheet" buttons.   If you keep the
new sheets button, then at least place it at the other end of the tab bar,
where it won't get confused with the scroll buttons and clicked accidentally.  
Please note that if I could fix this myself for my own desires, I would, but as
far as I know, I can't customize the tab bar controls to add back what someone
else decided was superfluous and removed.

I'm sorry if the tone of this addendum is also unwelcome, but please understand
that I have been spending an enormous amount of time and effort trying to work
around Calc's relative deficiencies and slower performance, and having a
feature I use frequently taken away while so many real opportunities to add
value remain in queue, is not something I welcome!  Any developers who have
time on their hands should go tackle the Basic IDE User Interface!  It's barely
adequate to enable the creation of Basic macros, dialogs and the testing
thereof, and certainly not anything you'd want to spend much time having to
use.  But, on the positive side, I will say it's a lot better than where it was
5 years ago when I first took a look at it and decided it wasn't yet ready for
real use.  So, progress does happen!  But, the removal of the "First-" and
"Last-Sheet" controls was not progress!

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