Cells inside cells in #calc spreadsheets and #writer tables?

[rokejulianlockhart]

I want to be able to have multiple values within a cell, whose delimitation should be hidden, lest it be incorrectly perceived to be punctuation. No alternative is suitable.

I can think of two methods. The first is cells inside cells. This would be ideal, because the visual representation of multiple objects would be consistent with the rest of the table/spreadsheet.

However, in the absence of that being possible currently, a list would serve me well. In this regard, Numbered/Bulleted list in a cell in Calc is too old to be useful now.

Is either strategy possible (yet)?

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Such representation is easy in more textual contexts, such as an array in a .py file. However, usage of that syntax causes problems with consistency, since that necessitates punctuational string delimitation in a document format that doesn’t require it:

["Dates", "Times"]

looks silly in a cell:

Untitled 1.ods (6.5 KB)
Untitled 1.odt (12.5 KB)

[LeroyG]

Not sure if I understood your question.
In Writer, you can use tab stops and tabs within a cell:

Or insert a table within a cell (border color set only to evidence the inner table):

See also E' possibile inserire una tabulazione in una cella di calc? - #2 by gaber.

[ajlittoz]

What is exactly your purpose? In the end, do you want to have a text document containing some tabular data? Will this tabular data be the basis for computation (which is the goal of a spreadsheet)?
If you use Calc only to lay out your data (not to compute new values), you uselessly complicate your life. Do everything in Writer as it provides more formatting possibilities with more power.
Each cell is a sub-document in its own right. This means you can store in it paragraphs, lists, …, even tables. You can give the illusion of cells withins cells (or more exactly tables within tables) by drawing borders adequately.

In Writer, you can easily enter a list without separator in a cell: hit Enter after each item. Cell size will grow automatically. You end up with several paragraphs in the cell (this is an example of a cell “sub-document”).

[karolus]

You are on the wrong track, inside a python-module ["Dates", "Times"] compiles to a list-object, outside python its nothing but the String »["Dates", "Times"]«

[rokejulianlockhart]

Cells inside cells in #calc spreadsheets and #writer tables? - #2 by LeroyG

@LeroyG, although #Writer provides that flexibility, none of that content is consumable elsewhere, from what I know, so it’s not of much use to me. That’s why I’d prefer a solution for #Calc, since I can embed a #Calc view in a #Writer document.

[rokejulianlockhart]

@ajlittoz

If you use Calc only to lay out your data (not to compute new values), you uselessly complicate your life. Do everything in Writer as it provides more formatting possibilities with more power.

I don’t want any formatting, @ajlittoz. I just want to store the data in an externally consumable/parsable manner.

@ajlittoz

Each cell is a sub-document in its own right. This means you can store in it paragraphs, lists, …, event tables. You can give the illusion of cells within cells (or more exactly tables within tables) by drawing borders adequately.

Do you refer to #Calc here? I’m unaware of how to create cells in a cell in #Calc — it’s the crux of this question, after all.

[ajlittoz]

@rokejulianlockhart

Do you refer to #Calc here?

No, Writer.

@rokejulianlockhart

how to create cells in a cell in #Calc

You can’t do that but you can give the illusion of doing it. Instead of having 2 cells: one for the name of the data and one for the multi-value, use as many cells as necessary to store the values.

Say name or definition is in A1 and values in B2:F2, then columns B to F will be reserved for values across your whole spreadsheet, i.e. any other usage will start in column G.
If you need several names for “definition”, use the same trick: definition names in column A:C, values in D:H.
Remember also a Calc file can contain several sheet. So, If you consider that arranging your “dictionary” with reserved rows and columns create visual discomfort and may disturb data entry or understanding of displayed data, put the "dictionary into a separate sheet (in the same file) and reference adequately the data in yoour formulas.