GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 304920
insert: define range name not working
Last modified: 2005-05-21 05:26:57 UTC
Please describe the problem: On my installation of gnumeric the define name function under the insert menu/dialogue doen't work correctly in several ways. (1) Selecting Insert/names/define brings up a dialogue box but the "select" range button doesn't work. (2) Manually putting in a range of cells, e.g.: A12:B20 works. But subsequent row insertions invalidate the range name. For example defining named range, "dum" as A12:A13, and with 2 and 3 in cells A12 and A13 respectively, one can input the formula "=sum(dum)" in cell A5 and get the correct result of 5. However, after inserting a row above row 5 the formula in cell A5 changes to "=sum(#REF!)". That is, the range for name "dum" is not updated with the row insertion. This bug makes the use of named ranges just about useless. Steps to reproduce: 1. Eg. define range "dum" as A12:A13 using insert/names/define and the "Name" blank. (Also note that the "select range button" at the end of the "Expression" blank doesn't work.) 2. Put the numbers 2 and 3 into cells A12 and A13 respectively. 3. Put the formula "=sum(dum)" into cell A5. 4. Note that A5 calculates correctly as "5". 5. Use insert/rows above row 5. 6. Note that "#Ref" now appears in cell A5. 7. Note that formula in A5 has changed to "=sum(#Ref)". Actual results: Range associated with range name is not updated. Expected results: Range associated with name should update. Does this happen every time? Yes. Other information: Note that the "range select" button at the end of the "Expression" fill-in-the-blank-box doesn't work. I can only type in ranges manually.
I really made use of named ranges and data base functions in EXCEL, and would like to do same in Gnumeric. However if I can't define or create range names and have them update correctly as the spreadsheet shifts and changes then gnumeric will be just about useless to me. Please fix this. Keep up the good work. Toby
(1) Selecting Insert/names/define brings up a dialogue box but the "select" range button doesn't work. There is no "select" range button. There is an icon to the right of the entry field for the expression to indicate that when you have focused on the field (ie. by clicking in it), you can select a range on the spradsheet that will be entered in that entry field. So clicking on that icon doesn't have (and should not have) any effect. This is the same behaviour as in many other gnumeric dialogs, for example the analysis tools. (If this doesn't work for you please open a bug specifically for that.) (2) is a duplicate of 123649 *** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of 123649 ***