Apache OpenOffice (AOO) Bugzilla – Issue 18294
Incorrect behaviour of conditional text, hidden text, and hidden paragraph fields
Last modified: 2013-08-07 14:41:21 UTC
I have created as a sample data source a small spreadsheet, consisting of two sheets, each containing 6 rows by 2 columns. This gives me two data source tables, each with 6 records of 2 columns. I have inserted this data as fields into a writer document, with each row of the spreadsheet on a separate line of the document. To the first 3 rows taken from each table, I have added conditional text, hidden text, and hidden paragraph fields based on the 1st column of the table, and to the last 3 rows taken from each table, I have added conditional text, hidden text, and hidden paragraph fields based on the 2nd column of the table. If I open the document, then press F9 to update all fields, the conditional text, hidden text, and hidden paragraph fields based on the 1st column of a table behave correctly, but those based on the second column behave as if the condition always evaluates to false. If I then select all rows of the 1st data source table and click on the "data to fields" button in the data source view, all the conditional text, hidden text, and hidden paragraph fields based on the 2nd data source table behave as if the condition always evaluates to false. Pressing F9 restores the original behaviour. If I then select all rows of the 2nd data source table and click on the "data to fields" button in the data source view, the conditional text, hidden text, and hidden paragraph fields based on the 1st data source table behave as if the condition always evaluates to false. Pressing F9 does not restore the original behaviour. If I then go back and select all rows of the 1st data source table and click on the "data to fields" button in the data source view, the conditional text, hidden text, and hidden paragraph fields based on the 2nd data source table behave as if the condition always evaluates to false, but this time pressing F9 does not restore the original behaviour. If I disconnect from the data source, then press F9, all the conditional text, hidden text, and hidden paragraph fields behave as if the condition always evaluates to false. So, to summarise, there are two (potentially related) bugs here - the conditional fields based on the second column of a table never work correctly, and conditional field evaluation is disrupted by updating the data source fields used by the evaluation. I also see this bug in OOo 1.0.2 running on Linux, although in that case pressing F9 can make fields evaluate to true when they should evaluate to false, and successive presses of F9 change the behaviour. This bug may be related to issue 15100, although that bug is reported as only present in OOo 1.1x, not in OOo 1.0.x.
Created attachment 8504 [details] Spreadsheet used as data source
Created attachment 8505 [details] Document demonstrating bug
Reassigned to ES
The problem here is the fact that the second column is numbers and not text. If you change the second column to read {one, two...} and update the hidden paragraphs then everything works as expected. The correct way of writing conditions for numbers is: ColumnB == 4 rather than ColumnB == "4" There is also a linked problem with fields with hyphens in their name, they require quotes around their name, e.g. not("E-Mail") is needed while not(E_Mail) works fine. I think there needs to have the help component updated, I'll try writing it this afternoon.
See issue 19454 for the proposed change to the Help text
OK, I agree that the first bug I refer to is my mistake. Unfortunately, this only came up as part of my effort to create a simple test case to demonstrate the second bug I refer to - which still exists when I change from numbers to words. To recap, if you update the fields from one data source table (using the "data to fields" button), it causes the conditional text, hidden text, and hidden paragraph fields based on another data source table to evaluate incorrectly. There is at least a workaround for this bug - if you exit OOo then restart, reload the document, and press F9, all fields evaluate correctly - until you next do an update from the data source.
Hi, please let developers set the target milestones after confirmation and evaluation of issues. Thanks, Stefan
Sorry, I didn't notice that the target milestone had been changed when I reopened the bug.
Please try using the latest OpenOffice 1.1.1 or maybe 1.1.2rc , you can download it from http://download.openoffice.org/1.1.1/index.html many bug fixes and enhancements since your version and 1.1.1 . If the problem still happend in 1.1.1 please report back. It maybe not yet solve your Issue, but it worth to try.
I went to the trouble of isolating this bug in a small test case and documenting it - is it too much to ask for someone else to test and confirm it? Anyway, I have just downloaded 1.1.2rc, and the bug is still present.
Hi martinwhitaker, you are right, it is a dissatisfactory situation that this issue still is unconfirmed after that long time. To get some progress for your problem, I will close this issue and ask you to reopen a new one. I promise that I will check and - if possible - confirm the bug immediately (for that please set me CC for your new issue, so that I will get information. I have 3 reasons to close this issue: 1. I have too less knowledge concerning all that special text formatting to confirm or to disprove your results with the actual testcase (and no other one seems to be interested to confirm your results). 2. Here has to be too much discussion without any result and some hints that there was a mistake in your testcase. 3. We are discussing more than 1 problem here in the issue. For the new issue please heed: 1. only 1 formatting problem (only "hidden text", not also "hidden paragraph") in each issue. Please create a new testkit (based on the one you attached here) which considers the workaround hints. Please give a very detailled step by step instruction, so that even I will understand it ;-) Not: "Do your own tests and you will see that that does not work proper ..." but: "Hidden Text 1 contains the condition '...A1=="xyz"'. Because ...A1 is not "xyz", the text will not be hidden. Change ...A1 to "xyz" save both files and reopen 'document'. " And so on, so that a philistine like me will be able to reproduce all your results, because I only have to follow your instructions keystroke by keystroke. I hope you will agree with my proposal - so we will get a result, soon. CU Rainer
I agree with your analyze of this issue. Let's start from the begining: precisly and concisly!