GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 577768
Major non-locale currencies should be recognized in blank cells
Last modified: 2013-04-15 16:01:31 UTC
When I enter a mixed set of currencies, gnumeric formats the cells differently depending on what your locale is. For example, for me (with en_US set) entering "$500" is entered as a currency, but "£500" is entered as text. It would be good to recognize a fuller set of currency symbols as currencies/numbers. The attached doc highlights the problem. Random internet site with a list of currencies is here: http://www.xe.com/symbols.php
Created attachment 131939 [details] Test document
Ok, clearly the issue here is that the numbers on entry were not recognized as numbers. It could reasonably be argued that Euro, Dollar, Pound, and Yen (those with common non-alphabetical indication) should be recognized in a blank cell. I'll work on that. Note: once they are recognized as text, no amount of formatting/alignment/etc. is going to turn them into numbers. To do that, edit the cell and remove the non-numeric parts. Everything entered is interpreted when it is entered (and that is the only sane way to go). The best way to do entry of this kind of data is to first apply a currency format to the cell, then enter the value in it. At that point, there is no need to enter the currency symbol. This method has the benefit of giving you control over decimals too. I do not want to recognize (say) arbitrary three-letter currency codes in blank cells. It is going to clash with someone wanting "NAD 1" to be a string and not 1 Namibian Dollar. Entry into a cell already formatted for Namibian dollars is another matter -- it ought to work there.
This problem has been fixed in our software repository. The fix will go into the next software release. Thank you for your bug report.