Copying Spreadsheet Columns

[springer5]

Hi

I have tried searching for this but couldn't find anything specific so....

I'm trying to copy an entire column of data from one column to another in the spreadsheet app.

Here's what I'm doing...

- tap on the header of the column containing the data
- press shift, copy
- tap on the header of an empty column
- press shift, paste
- I then get a menu item with all the data values in the column I'm trying to copy (shown as a horizontal list)
- I press Enter
- I then get a choice of what format of data to paste
- My data is number values so I select 'Values' and press Enter

Nothing happens.

I should point out that this is using the emulator on my PC.

I've checked the help menu and it seems to suggest doing exactly what I've just described.

Am I missing something?

Appreciate any help.

Thanks

[Joe Horn]

(07-09-2015 10:01 AM)springer5 Wrote:  I'm trying to copy an entire column of data from one column to another in the spreadsheet app.

Here's what I'm doing...

- tap on the header of the column containing the data
- press shift, copy ...

Copy the actual cell range, not the column header. One way to do this is to press and hold the top cell until a bullet appears in the [Select] button. Then draq your finger (or mouse) to the bottom cell. Then Copy, click on the top target cell, and Paste.

[roadrunner]

Tap on the top cell where you want to paste the data,
tap select (select key should change to sel dot) and hit down arrow to select the number of cell you want to paste
then hit shift paste, select your data from the list and tap values

that worked for me

Road

[springer5]

Hi Joe

Thanks for replying.

Thanks for pointing out the 'block cell' selection method. I have tried that and it seems to work ok, but I had hoped to be able to select an entire column form the column header as this is what (I think?) the help files say we should be able to do.

There are times when this is preferable to block selecting just cells, for example when the column contains a lot of data and it's much more convenient to just copy and paste the whole column without scrolling around the screen trying to get a hundred or more items via block select.

I was really just trying to understand why I can't select from column headings given that the instructions say I should be able to.

Can you do this Joe? If you can't either then the instructions are just BS and I'll know not to bother, but if you can and it's just me who can't then either I'm doing something wrong, or there's a problem with my setup.

Thanks again for replying

[springer5]

Thanks for your reply Roadrunner and for trying to help.

I can select that way but the instructions state you can select a column or row by tapping the header in each case. If you look a at the 'Navigation and Selection' section of the onboard help files it states....

"....you can also select an entire column - by tapping the column letter - and select an entire row (by tapping the row number. You can also select the entire spreadsheet: just tap on the unnumbered cell at the top -left corner of the spreadsheet (it has the HP logo on it)."

None of that works for me. Does it work for you?

Thanks

[roadrunner]

Springer5,

Tapping on a column header and hitting copy does seem to copy that column.

Then when I tried tapping on a column header, and then shift/paste/1/value, nothing happened for me either.

Road

[springer5]

Thanks again for having ago at that. at least now I know it's nothing specifically wrong at my end. I think the instructions are just incorrect and that it simply doesn't do what it claims to.

Anyway, at least, as you've said, it's pretty easy to select groups of cells by just specifying first and last cell in a range. So it's not the end of the world but it's nice to know I'm not losing the plot

Makes you wonder if the people who write these help files have ever actually used the thing doesn't it !!

Thanks again. I can stop scratching my head now

[bobkrohn]

(07-09-2015 04:35 PM)springer5 Wrote:  Makes you wonder if the people who write these help files have ever actually used the thing doesn't it

Exactly. Glad you said it.
I have to be careful so I don't get yelled at by management.

[Thomas_Sch]

(07-09-2015 04:35 PM)springer5 Wrote:  Thanks again for having ago at that. at least now I know it's nothing specifically wrong at my end. I think the instructions are just incorrect and that it simply doesn't do what it claims to.

Anyway, at least, as you've said, it's pretty easy to select groups of cells by just specifying first and last cell in a range. So it's not the end of the world but it's nice to know I'm not losing the plot

Makes you wonder if the people who write these help files have ever actually used the thing doesn't it !!

Thanks again. I can stop scratching my head now

It's not exactly what you are asking for, but sometimes it is easier to copy on the "command line" rather den selecting cells or groups of cells.
If you want to copy the contents from column B to column D,
enter D1:=B1:B9999 in the spreadsheet app.
You can also modify this command, if you want to copy the formula, or alle information.
copy only formula: D1(1):=B1:B9999(1)

[springer5]

(07-09-2015 09:54 PM)bobkrohn Wrote:  

(07-09-2015 04:35 PM)springer5 Wrote:  Makes you wonder if the people who write these help files have ever actually used the thing doesn't it

Exactly. Glad you said it.
I have to be careful so I don't get yelled at by management.

Thanks Thomas. I haven't got started on the command line yet but that will be my next stage so that advice sounds pretty cool. I'll give it a try. Cheers

[cyrille de brébisson]

Hello,

1) Yes, the person writing the documentation has used the calculator :-) but he does not always write the doc when the programming is complete, sometimes he has only incomplete things in his hands at that time

2) you can select a row/column by clicking on the header... for a given definition of "select". Remember that Prime lets you enter a formula for the row/column (which you can not do in excel). For some reason, this got written down in the manual as "selecting" a row or column.

3) It is true that there is no ways at this point in time to select a full row/column the way you do it in excel. Maybe a special case where 'selection' of a row/column when there is no data in the row/column header would work? to be tried...

4) command line is indeed the best way to handle that. C:C:=B:B (Col:Col is the syntax for an entire column, in the case of a named column, you can just use the column name).

Cyrille

[springer5]

cyrille de brébisson datbuteline='1436766436' Wrote:  Hello,

1) Yes, the person writing the documentation has used the calculator :-) but he does not always write the doc when the programming is complete, sometimes he has only incomplete things in his hands at that time

Hi Cyrille

I can see that must make it a little difficult for the person writing the help files if the calc isn't finished at the time. It isn't surprising things don't always match up with the final product.

I suppose HP have their reasons (schedules?) but from the outside it seems like a recipe for disaster running a business that way (as the existence of this thread has proven). Logically it would seem better sense to finish making something then explain to everyone how it works. That's not the fault of the person writing the help files of course, just HP working 'backwards'.

If they're going to insist on working in that way it might be worth them incorporating a 'final revision of documentation now that it is actualy finished' stage to their work flow in order to improve their customers' experience of their products.

Thanks very much for explaining the background to how the select procedure was intended to work and how to use it. I appreciate you clarifying things

[cyrille de brébisson]

Hello,

Well, we DO have an "incorporate now that it's finish" stage. Usually, it matches up with the next release of the software... so what most people see is that the documentation lacks behind the SW by a release or so.

Most people, given the choice, would you rather have the software as soon as it's completed with a draft documentation or wait ~6 month to have the software and doc in sync :-) (Note that having the SW AND the completed doc immediately is not part of the choices here! :-)

Cyrille

[springer5]

(07-14-2015 04:38 AM)cyrille de brébisson Wrote:  Hello,

Well, we DO have an "incorandporate now that it's finish" stage. Usually, it matches up with the next release of the software... so what most people see is that the documentation lacks behind the SW by a release or so.

Most people, given the choice, would you rather have the software as soon as it's completed with a draft documentation or wait ~6 month to have the software and doc in sync :-) (Note that having the SW AND the completed doc immediately is not part of the choices here! :-)

Cyrille

OK. So what you're saying here is that the next update will have the feature?

Either way there's a serious mismatch between HPs 2 departments. Looking at the newer Android emulator, it has some features missing (eg it doesn't have the draw feature in the functions app, it has no compatibility with the connectivity kit etc) and yet these are discussed in the android emulators help files. I can only imagine that the simple operation of deleting a couplr of paragraphs of text prior to release was not done. Instead, the physical calculator instructions were just copied over without any amendment.

It probably would have taken about 10 mins to delete those few paragraphs. There's no excuse for it other than sloppy coordination between departments or, worse, laziness.

I'm not having a go at you. I'm just laying out the facts as I see them.

[StephenG1CMZ]

Actually there are several reasons not to rush to delete those paragraphs:

from the developers point of view:
1 you might be deleting something you implement in a later version and have to retype.
2 you then have two documents and for most edits both must be edited, doubling the work.

From the users point of view:
If you are using the emulator whilst waiting for access to the real hardware, you might wish to sturdy how to use the calculator - and so need the description of connectivity.

Of course, a page indicating which features apply to the emulator would help.

For what it is worth, some documentation out there is much less useful than HP's -
Some others could more accurately be referred to as specifiction than specification.

[springer5]

(07-14-2015 09:46 AM)StephenG1CMZ Wrote:  Actually there are several reasons not to rush to delete those paragraphs:

from the developers point of view:
1 you might be deleting something you implement in a later version and have to retype.
2 you then have two documents and for most edits both must be edited, doubling the work.

From the users point of view:
If you are using the emulator whilst waiting for access to the real hardware, you might wish to sturdy how to use the calculator - and so need the description of connectivity.

Of course, a page indicating which features apply to the emulator would help.

For what it is worth, some documentation out there is much less useful than HP's -
Some others could more accurately be referred to as specifiction than specification.

OK. So now we're saying that the convenience for the developer takes priority over the frustration of his customer?

I've now heard the reasons for not bothering to update the instructions more thoroughly, now here are some reasons for doing so. ...

1. The customer may actually want to rely on the help files to get to the truth about what works and what doesn't in the product he's payed for.

2. The customer may not want to spend his time on forums trying to interpret misinformation

3. The developer may want to provide the customer with a better product, which good help is a part of.

4. The customer may actually purchase the product based on what he reads in the manual beforehand and then find that the product doesn't do what the developer is claiming, which I would have thought is highly dubious legally, or should be.

Given that without the customer the developers would be out of a job I would think that they should be the priority surely?

[springer5]

(07-14-2015 09:46 AM)StephenG1CMZ Wrote:  Actually there are several reasons not to rush to delete those paragraphs:

from the developers point of view:
1 you might be deleting something you implement in a later version and have to retype.
2 you then have two documents and for most edits both must be edited, doubling the work.

Also, to answer the two specific points above, using your numbering..

1 in the case example I've given (android emulator) you don't have to 'retype' anything, you just delete it, and if many months, or even years later (the main calc is already developed over 2 plus years now), or even if at all, you decide to add the feature you just copy/paste it back in from either the main calc docs or more sensibly, a master copy. This is basic, simple work.

Software such as GitHub and other equivalents are specifically designed to help developers manage these 'multiple version' situations. This can very easily include documentation as well as code.

2 yes, you will end up with two docs. That's because you've got 2 products!!!
Each with slightly different features to the other. The help files should reflect that. So there SHOULD be more work. You're increasing what you're selling and making more money as a result.

In most other products the manual will clearly state differences between models at the very least (in the way you pointed out yourself), or will be individual to each product, depending on how significant the differences are.
It must be at least as much 'hassle' for them as HP could claim, but they know it's all part of providing a good product.

The HP developers are simply 'copping out' of finishing the manuals properly. Haven't heard anything so far that indicates otherwise.

The software business in particular is notorious for this shoddy attitude compared with almost any other 'manufacturing' industry, and the reasons provided to defend it here, have, ironically, only served to confirm it.

[informach]

Hi!:

You can copy if select (Sel.) and press the first file or column and goto, the end. Then Shift+Copy. Next step you you go to file or column to copy and press Shift+Paste ({Value, Formula ... })

Best Regards.

[cyrille de brébisson]

Hello,

We did not think about changing the documentation for Android, good catch, thank you!

Cyrille

[springer5]

(07-15-2015 04:49 AM)cyrille de brébisson Wrote:  Hello,

We did not think about changing the documentation for Android, good catch, thank you!

Cyrille

OK. So will you please be correcting the Android documentation now that you've realised the oversight, so that future purchasers won't have to be confused as I have been?

Please confirm if this will be given the benefit of separate documentation, or at least have comments added to the existing doc wherever things are different.

Or alternatively can you confirm, as you have indicated normally happens anyway, that the next release of the Android update will catch up with the documentation and provide the missing features?

One or the other.

Thanks