#1

Hello,

The default function of paste seems to have changed and I find this change to be for the worse. I have noted the following changes:

  • Paste uses the formatting of the cell being pasted to, not the formatting of the cell being copied. There is no option to choose the copied cells formatting, which was previously possible. Before if you wanted to copy without formatting, you would use paste special.
  • Attempting to use Paste Special brings up the Paste Special dialogue but it shows the Source as ‘Unknown Source’ and the only Selection is ‘Unformatted text’
  • Pasting more than one cell brings up the Text Import dialogue. Again there is no option to copy formatting and frankly it seems unnecessary compared to the previous function of simply performing the paste.
    [Update] I have also noted that this changes the characters to the text format (which is a terrible default setting imo) unless you select “Detect Special Characters”. Then it will copy with the characters in the correct format but the cells format is not copied and no formulas are copied.
  • Paste will not copy to a cell where there is already content. There is not even an option to copy over the existing content.
    [Update] This I can not seem to replicate all the time but even if it does copy into a cell with content, the other issues still apply.
  • Merged cells get a special note because now you can not even copy an empty merged cell range. Now each cell range to be merged must be done individually or a macro recorded. This is very annoying if, for example, you wish to format a table within which two columns are merged throughout. Copying the merged cell range was previously a simply task, now it is onerous to the point of impracticality.

The default funtion of copy and paste has been consistent since I started using OpenOffice back at version 1. Why it has changed with the implementation of LibreOffice is beyond me. Pasting is a primary function of a spreadsheet and this change does not seem to improve functionality.
With that said, I suppose the question is simple: Why has the default function of copy and paste been altered and when will it be restored to the standard function?

If there is reason for this change and I am simply not up to scratch with how to now use copy paste, where is this documented? I have found no note of this change to the default behaviour anywhere in the help files or on this website.

[Update] As stated in my belated reply to the comment, these issues are noted within a spreadsheet without any external sources or destinations. I am also curious if these problems are being encountered by anyone else. I ask because these issues are making my use of Calc very difficult and previously simple tasks now take much longer. If no one else is having the same problems then I must conclude it is something to do with my system or install of the suite. In which case I have alternate steps I can take to try and resolve these issues.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can clear these issues up. I am certain I can not be the only user finding these changes problematic.

Sincerely,

Zorba.

#2

What is the source and destination of the copy / paste operation(s) of which you speak? It would appear you are talking about copying from a HTML source (e.g., web page) and pasting into Calc. Quite different from copy/paste between documents e.g., Calc / Writer.

#3

Sorry about late reply. The issue occurs with copy paste of cells in the same spreadsheet. No external sources or destinations. Considering the loss of function I have observed, I am surprised this does not appear to be a more common problem.

#4

Sorry, but I run LO 3.4.6 on mac OSX 10.7 and LO 3.5.2 on Ubuntu Linux 10.4 and everything works fine. I cannot reproduce any of the behaviours you are describing.

#5

Thanks, that’s good to know. I run on Win7 64. I tried repairing the install and it began to work but not consistently, Have just reinstalled and it appears to be working correctly now. Will confirm after a few days testing before updating officially. Hopefully it was simply a weird install error!

#6

Maybe your profile is corrupted.
See more about profile: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/UserProfile

#7

I am also having an issue with pasting in LibreOffice on MAC OSX 10.7 with LO 3.5.2.2. It seems that whenever I copy from within a cell in CALC, it adds a carriage return to the end of the string. I.E. Click on cell containing asdfghjk, highlight cell contents “asdf”, command + C, then in TextEdit, Command + V, Command + V…it doesn’t paste as asdfasdf it pastes as:

asdf

asdf

(except together with no extra line in between…formatting on this forum is funky)
For the issue you are having, I am able to use regular paste within a spreadsheet document and it retains its cell properties. I did notice however, that when I opened an excel file in LibreOffice and copied from it into a new ods sheet that it lost its formatting.

If I used “Paste Special…” and checked Paste ALL it seemed to resolve the issue. It’s still a little frustrating and tedious when you are copying a bunch of individual cells.

As far as all the issues you are having, I am not able to replicate any of them. Are you using protected documents or files loaded from a different file format, or did you try this on a brand new sheet?

You can also try installing the 32 bit version instead, maybe the 64bit build is off…

#8

Hell yes!! How to get paste to ‘LOSE’ baroque/unusual individual-clipboard item formatting and instead adhere/demurr/submit to formatting set for the target spreadsheet?? I’ll happily trade places with you. I spend half my time trying to ‘undo’ paste-buffer formatting and restore consistent fonts, sizes, colors across the cells of my spreadsheet. I don’t care whether some web page used white bold text on a pink background!! If anyone can clue me in here… e-mail BlipBertMon
at GMail… >>off soapbox<<

#9

BlipBertMon, you should try Ctrl+Shift+V, Paste Special and uncheck “Formatting”.

#10

Experience the same problem: sheet copy small vertical range of cell with formula to paste on the same sheet in the same column and its reports “Unknown Source” and offers “Unformatted Text.” However, the pasting occasionally does work as expected. But there’s clearly a random bug at work.

#11

Yes, I agree with original post. It is broken and exhibits random behaviour. Most (if not all) of the problem with Paste and Paste Special happen when you try to Paste into multiple cells. Sometimes you get the Text Import dialogue, sometimes you get the Paste Special dialogue with source “unknown source”.

The very basic spreadsheet operation of copying the contents of a single cell and pasting it into multiple cells seems to be impossible! Try this:

Copy a single cell;
select a range of cells and try to Paste;

Up pops a dialogue called Text Import (why?!), you press OK and nothing happens.

It is braindead and practically unusable as a spreadsheet.

#12

As a reference I was googling “libreoffice copy to column with different format” and I found this post.

Context: OpenSuse in German
Programs:
LibreOffice 3.5:build-403
Kwrite Version 4.8.5 (4.8.5) “release 2”

What: Trying to copy from kwrite a column of dates into a date type pre-formatted column of librecalc.

Problem: Using default options caused Librecalc to insert cells in string format, instead of the date format I had set up previously to pasting.

Solution: In the dialog of paste, go to Fields (or “Felden” in German) and select the “US-Englisch” option instead of “Standard”. Then the cells are input and formatted accordingly.

Ej. input “raw” date: 2012-12-16
Librecalc’s pre-Formatted cells now recognize this input as: “12/16/12”

Previously it only pasted “2012-12-16” and I was unable to change that format until I performed the afore mentioned procedure.

HTH

#13

As a reference I was googling “libreoffice copy to column with different format” and I found this post.

Context: OpenSuse in German
Programs:
LibreOffice 3.5:build-403
Kwrite Version 4.8.5 (4.8.5) “release 2”

What: Trying to copy from kwrite a column of dates into a date type pre-formatted column of librecalc.

Problem: Using default options caused Librecalc to insert cells in string format, instead of the date format I had set up previously to pasting.

Solution: In the dialog of paste, go to Fields (or “Felden” in German) and select the “US-Englisch” option instead of “Standard”. Then the cells are input and formatted accordingly.

Ej. input “raw” date: 2012-12-16
Librecalc’s pre-Formatted cells now recognize this input as: “12/16/12”

Previously it only pasted “2012-12-16” and I was unable to change that format until I performed the afore mentioned procedure.

HTH

#14

Confirmed to be a problem on Win7 64bit v 3.6.4.3.

All cut-and-paste looses formatting, including from within the same Writer document. Ctrl+Shift+V only shows unformatted text as option.

Anyone know where the bug tracker is? Anyone have troubleshooting instructions or fixes

#15

@DrKC – Here’s the link to file a bug.

Please post a link to any bugs you file in a comment below using the format “fdo#123456”.

#16

Looks like the problem may be fixed…

@Zorba writes (May 1 '12):

I run on Win7 64. I tried repairing the install and it began to work but not consistently, Have just reinstalled and it appears to be working correctly now. Will confirm after a few days testing before updating officially. Hopefully it was simply a weird install error!

If you’re still experiencing issues:

If installing the latest release doesn’t seem to fix this problem, please file a bug and provide a list of steps that can reproduce it. The QA team will be happy to help you track down this issue!

Please post a link to any bugs you file in a comment below using the format “fdo#123456”.

Thanks!

#17

Pasting more than one cell brings up the Text Import dialogue

This is definitely not fixed as of LibreOffice 4.1.0.4 410m0(Build:4) on Debian Wheezy.

It is easy to reproduce.
select a line by clicking the line number.
Copy it
Try to paste it by clicking another line number. It does not work. (once upon a time …)
Copy the line again.
Paste into the first cell of a line. THAT works.
Now select a column of first cells and Paste into them. You get the Text Import dialog!

#18

Bug 69774 - EDITING: Pasting more than one cell brings up the Text Import dialogue

fdo#69774

#19

I’ve got cells formatted as ‘Text’.

When I paste into them from an HTML table of text, LibreOffice changes the cell formatting to ‘Number’.

I have to manually go in to cell formatting to change them back to text.

Version: 4.2.8.2
Build ID: 420m0(Build:2)

#20