I’m using the “Merge Cells” command in LibreCalc (LibreOffice 6.0.6.2). The dialog box opens with three choices; the default choice is “Keep the contents of the hidden cells,” but I want the default to be “Move the contents of the hidden cells into the first cell.” I haven’t been able to find documentation on this. Please note that I’m not a programmer; I’m running Ubuntu 16.04 LTS on an older desktop that, to my knowledge, exceeds the LibreOffice minimum system requirements.
Hello,
It would be highly unusual for any system to have a setting to allow a user to change the default value(s) within a dialog box. Dialogs are designed/coded with defaults typically determined by the most likely choice(s) a user will make.
To modify this you would have to dig in LO to first find then modify the actual dialog/code. Even then, once you upgrade to a new version, you’ll need to do that again.
I’m puzzled. When I used “Merge Cells” in Excel, there is no dialog box, and the result is the same as Calc’s “Move the contents of the hidden cells into the first cell.” For users who routinely need a particular result to save time and effort (like me), it would make a lot of sense to allow modification. Why do you say that it’s unusual, Ratslinger?
You may not have understood my answer. This of course has absolutely nothing to do with Excel. In LO the Merge function is done through a Dialog (cells with data). This dialog has three options. One is set to a default. My answer simple states it is ‘highly unusual for any system to have a setting to allow a user to change the default value(s) within a dialog box’. This means having another setting which chooses which of the three is actually the default. That is what you asked in you question.
I do not see any single command to Merge cells and keep the contents of the hidden cells or Merge cells and move the contents of the hidden cells into the first cell. Instead, it is a dialog with three choices.
If you would like to have this enhancement created, you can always submit a request using Bugzilla.
–No offense, Ratslinger, but I don’t understand why you added your second paragraph; I stated in the original post about the three options.
–I mentioned Excel for comparison; its default for merging cells is the action I need.
–And to the best of my knowledge, I did understand your answer, which is why I asked “Why do you say that it’s unusual?”
Do experts on this site agree that there is no option within LibreOffice (Calc in particular) to change the default button in any dialog box?
The second comment was that if a command did exist it could have been made into a context menu selection.
In my many decades, I do not recall seeing a program which has such an option to modify dialog defaults. That is not to say there isn’t one. This makes it highly unusual.
Thank you, Ratslinger, for the clarification. I think it would be quite useful for LO end-users to have the option to choose a default that reflects their needs. I’ll see about submitting a Bugzilla request.
There is no user-definable setting to define which of these buttons is the default. The dialog has existed from the very beginning, and had been enhanced in tdf#30456. The relevant commit describes the reason to have the default as it is now (just to keep the status quo, which was that the “No” was the default previously, and that behaved like current default). So, if you think that another option should be made the default, you should file a relevant enhancement request. By the way, using ArrowUp/ArrowDown in the dialog moves in strange direction, which may add to the usability issue here, which is a topic for another bugtracker issue.
Thanks very much, Mike. As I wrote below, I think it would be quite useful for LO end-users to have the option to choose a default that reflects their needs and streamlines their work processes. I’ll see about submitting an enhancement request.