Apache OpenOffice (AOO) Bugzilla – Issue 35907
absolute value bar in wrong place: "abs {...} ^2"
Last modified: 2013-08-07 14:54:45 UTC
The following code will not place the absolute value bar (right hand one) before the power - it reverses them. P_s = sum_n int_{(n-1) times %pi times f_s + (f_s - f_m)} ^ {(n-1) times % pi times f_s + (f_s + f_m)} abs{ sinc^2(f) times S(f) } ^2 df
confirming. I would expect the bar to appear before the ^2 as well. Workaround: put the abs{} statement in paranthesis as well, i.e. make it read { abs {...} } ^2 or insert an empty argument before the ^2, e.g. make it read abs {...} {} ^2 (use either of those depending on where you want the 2 to be positioned - I'd prefer the first one)
To reproduce, you can take a simpler expression like "abs {5}^2" while "abs {5}=5" works as expected (e.g. the "abs 5" is accepted as left argument to the equal sign, this is inconsistent.
Set target to OOo 2.0
Set to target OOoLater due to lack of resources.
This happens to formulae as simple as abs{x}^2 , which is the same as abs x^2 . These 2 formulae have to give the same result because braces are used in OOo just to regroup terms. This can be considered as a convention: power having priority over abs. One can add brackets to get any desired order: {abs x}^2 . To my mind, the real problem appears for abs(x)^2 or fact(3)^2 or any function followed by a power because the results here differ from the mathematical convention. The problem is that OOo interprets all kinds of parentheses, braces, brakets and line couples the same way, not acknowledging the special mathemtical meaning of parentheses to give arguments to a function. This should be corrected soon, if OpenOffice doesn't want to discourage formula editor users. At least, it should be documented BEFORE OOo 2.0 release.