[Libreoffice-ux-advise] [Bug 149356] Choose which adjacent column of a "double clicked" formula dictates the extent of the fill

[bugzilla-daemon at bugs.documentfoundation.org]

https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=149356

--- Comment #8 from Colin <that.man.colin at gmail.com> ---
(In reply to ady from comment #7)
> 
> FWIW, [CTRL]+DOUBLE_CLICK on the bottom-right corner is already used for
> filling (based on the left-side column, without modifying the initial value).
>
My initial suggestion is for the ability to differentiate the limiting column
which by default is the left column - not the content that is being filled.

It would be nice if the user could choose whether it is the left or right
column which in the absence of anything acting as a physical stop in the centre
column acts as the limiter at the bottom of its range.

The right column may be filled to the last row and therefore whatever is copied
from the centre column would be repeated to the last row.

The question of what is actually copied - the formulaic contents of the cell
being double-clicked or the unchanged contents of that cell is, I believe,
another issue.

> 
> Now, for the example presented in comment 0, there are several alternatives

I think the most elegant alternative for selecting an array is probably to just
type its coordinates into the address box so the array is fully selected for
the copy in hand - which involves first ascertaining the limits of the copy.
This is worth the extra effort if a source array say 8x8 is to be copied and
replicated 100 times but I am initially considering a single formula in a
single cell at the top of a column that I would like to replicate to the lowest
row defined by either its left or right neighbour

> 2. Re-arrange the columns as needed (there are several ways to do this, some
> more efficient than others.
>
This could be considered for creating an empty column by insertion to the right
of the limiting right neighbour column and then editing its top cell with the
formula, replicating with a double click and then moving the resulting selected
cells into the originally desired location - but it's still much more effort
then having the option to "double-click" copy to the extent of a chosen L or R
adjacent column.

> I am very much aware that shortcuts can improve efficiency. I wished there
> would be shortcuts in many cases for Calc usage that have been available in
> other spreadsheet tools for decades (making them far more efficient).
>
I couldn't agree more

> The question is whether adding a specific by-default shortcut for this case
> is wise.

Perhaps the procedure could be to detect that a column fill copy is actioned
and then having a simple pop-up asking whether it should be delimited left or
right. I believe the ability to select a column of text through the middle of a
Writer page "right click drag select" as per Word (now abandoned) was never a
feature of Writer anyway.

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