https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=166683
Bug ID: 166683
Summary: Conditional formatting, Styles: A way to define only
partial set of cell settings is required
Product: LibreOffice
Version: unspecified
Hardware: All
OS: All
Status: UNCONFIRMED
Severity: enhancement
Priority: medium
Component: Calc
Assignee: [email protected]
Reporter: [email protected]
Blocks: 87351, 107332
In Calc, conditional formatting applies cell styles, which each define a
*complete* set of cell properties. That means, that you can't create a
conditional formatting that only changes a certain aspect of formatting in an
existing cell, and keeps the rest, like "make font color red, but keep number
format as set to the cell by its own cell style / direct formatting". This is
consistent and has its logic; but it (1) created confusion, and (2) what's more
problematic, is inflexible and provokes style proliferation, and conditional
format proliferation, affecting manageability. There already had been a change
trying to meet users' expectations un bug 93300 - calusing its own set of
problems, and reverted in bug 117715. The problem is real, with many bug
reports (See Also has some of them), and Ask questions.
Consider a sheet with some columns, where each column may have different
formatting: some columns can contain text, some dates, some numbers in
different formats (percent, currency, etc.). If a user wants to apply a
conditional formatting to the table, such as to highlight the whole row using
red background, when some column value meets a condition - they can't just use
a single style for all the columns - they will have to create separate "red
background for dates", "red background for text", "red background for
currency"... styles, each of them would have the red background, but own number
format. Then, these different cell formats, which would need to be applied to
respective columns when that condition is met, will require the respective
number of *separate* condition formattings defined - each for own cell range.
This is already a burden to create all them; but consider a task when you
decide to change the condition, or decide to change some formatting of a
column, or a color of highlighting. All of them would now require to make
changes to multiple places instead of one - basically ruining the styled
approach benefits ("make the change in a single place, have it everywhere").
Changing the CF condition requires to change all the fragmented CFs. Changing
color of highlighting requires to change it in all styles (one could argue,
that you can create a base style for all such styles, and do the change there;
but here is a problem: which style should be the base? Basing the CF style on
the "normal" cell style of the same type can be another option; and a base CF
style just shifts the problem elsewhere - see the following). Changing a column
formatting, when your CF styles aren't based on the respective "normal" style,
will require to change both normal and CF style (and there's no way to
experiment using direct formatting in this scheme)...
So we need a way to define a *partial set* of setting to apply using CF rules.
Possibly that needs to be a new type of style?
Referenced Bugs:
https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=87351
[Bug 87351] [META] Conditional formatting bugs and enhancements
https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=107332
[Bug 107332] [META] Calc cell and page styles bugs and enhancements
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