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List:       koffice-devel
Subject:    Re: Spreadsheet formulas, was: Running OO.o macros in other KOffice?
From:       Ariya Hidayat <ariya () kde ! org>
Date:       2005-06-02 8:06:58
Message-ID: 429EBE22.80106 () kde ! org
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> You are absolutely right, sorry, I had not realized this: may I ask
> again the same questions about _this_ issue:
> 
> Where is this documented? Examples? Specs?

Last time I checked OASIS does not specify standard formula names yet.
The best way is to start is then from Microsoft Excel documentation
(since we don't have the source code :-)

> Which kind of work must be done?

List all function names in English.
Document what each function does, how are the parameters, etc.
Create test cases (e.g. Excel file which shows the uses of a function,
along with expected result in standard and corner cases).

Note 1: Excel allows localized function name, e.g. SUM in German version
becomes SUMME. This must be investigated as well for translation purpose
(otherwise the translation might not be sync with Excel version in that
particular language). IMHO this is minor issue and can be tackled later on.

Note 2: Some functions are defined as "add in", Excel needs external
module to run this function. Even though there are 3rd party add-in
modules, I think we can first concentrate on standard/builtin add-in
provided by Microsoft Office (e.g. Analysis Toolpak).

> Could any part of the OO.o codebase be imported to add this?
> Is it possible license wise, to use it into a GPL program?

KSpread is LGPL, not GPL. So yes, OO.o code from  Calc module may (not
necessarily always can) be imported. In the past Lukas has done this
with some statistical functions.

> Which other technologies does it depend on? Java, anything else?

Java is not needed, unless in OO.o some functions are implemented using
external module/plug-in/add-in in Java.

> In general, what is the relevant KOffice documentation to read, for a
> developer willing to help with this?

For user documentation, nothing is available on this.
Try with the source-code (of KSpread) and post questions here.

> Do you need any other kind of help: documentation, user-contributed
> OO.o spreadsheets to test, anything?

For documentation, in the past I have proposed to generate the DocBook
section containing help with all functions, this can be automatically
created from the corresponding XML help files which are used from
KSpread. However, although this is useful if being printed (as some kind
of reference, I know that manual for Excel, Lotus 1-2-3, and Quattro Pro
always includes such section), it does enlarge the size of the
documentation and was not favorable at that time.

As with test cases, I prefer if we use Excel as we need to be as
compatible as possible with Excel, not OO.o. Thus, we need also to use
Excel files (XLS format) to store the test. I would try my best to
ensure that such test files can be imported properly.

Best regards,

--
Ariya Hidayat


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