Is there anyway to save/load different views of a spreadsheet such that various combinations of columns are shown/hidden - like different views on a database table?
It can take quite a bit of time to create a convenient view of a large spreadsheet and it would be very useful to be able to save and load different views such that a user could select and apply from a list of user created views.
No.
But you can create additional sheets in a Calc document of which everyone provides a view you want. These sheets will get their data from the first one and may select any number of columns in any order of these columns desired like a table created by a SELECT Field3, Field1, … FROM Sheet1 statement using a database. More complicated, but also possible (in simple cases with some restrictions) is implementing WHERE and ORDER BY queries and some others.
The crux with such fake database applications is on the one hand the inefficiency (by time and by storage usage as well), on the other hand the lack of a lot of functionality a database simply comes with and which you will have to implement on your own with inappropriate means using spreadsheets for the purpose.
If you actually need database functionality you should use a database system.
Hi
For the needs: “preparing views to display/hide columns” you can use Data Group & Outline as in this example Init.ods
Clicking on a number at the top of the column shrinks the structure of that element. Clicking on + or - shrinks/expands the element.
To group: Select the columns (rows), and then run the command Data Group. The Subtotal function also uses the plan as explained in Chapter 9 Data Analysis of the documentation.
Regards