I had a scary moment when I thought that gnumeric was parsing dates such as "2008-12-22" by replacing the *contents* of the cell instead of just changing its presentation.

My fears were unconfirmed as I discovered that this was not actually the case, but rather a behavior consistency usability bug on the way the information is conveyed to the user.

To the average user, the gtk entry that allows you to edit the cell actually is a trap: it shows you 2008-déc-22 (making you believe that it has changed the raw data), but when you actually focus it, it shows 2008-12-22. The problem/confusion comes from the fact that the presentation is shown in an editing field, until clicked.

I don't mind if the cell in the sheet shows the "human" version, BUT the "data entry field" below the toolbars should not use the "presentation version", it should always show "raw data", at all times.

Why would that make things better? Because it would be more consistent with the general workflow. Think of it this way: the entry below the toolbars is used for revealing (and editing) formulas. Users would expect that this field represents the raw contents/mechanics of a cell, not wysiwyg.

Let's take, for example, a cell where the contents are "=month(A1)". If I select (but don't edit) that cell, the cell itself stays with the value "12" until I actually enter edit mode. However, the entry below the toolbars shows the actual formula *at all times*. This is the expected behavior. However, that expected behavior does not happen with:
- dates
- rounded numbers
- times
- ?

It should be consistent and always show the formula, even if the cell has just been selected (and the user has not entered "edit mode" yet).