Re: [office-formula] YEARFRAC again

[Eike Rathke <erack@sun.com>]

Hi Andreas,

On Friday, 2007-01-26 13:50:34 -0700, Andreas J. Guelzow wrote:

> > 1. Documents exported to Excel using the new semantics don't work there
> >    and at its best generate an error. Ok, nothing strange, maybe users
> >    can live with it.
> > 
> > 2. Much worse, if Excel defined the same number with a different meaning
> >    ex/imported documents silently work different. Most certainly nothing
> >    users would like to live with.
> >    
> > We can prevent both by not defining new basis numbers.
> 
> Well, no, this does not prevent conflict. Applications will (and in
> other areas already have) define behaviours and functions that go beyond
> what one can do in Excel. So there is a potential for conflict. Avoiding
> any specification for items not defined by Excel just means that we add
> conflicts between other applications.
> 
> Since Excel does not support ODF we can in fact address the Excel
> compatibility when we open Excel files

That's easier said than done. While it works for single value arguments,
you can't remap an argument's value in an import filter if the argument
is calculated.

> so that is not a good reason to
> invite compatibility issues between applications such as Gnumeric.
> OpenOffice.org and KSpread!

Did any of these applications add a new basis number definition for
YEARFRAC so far? Is there a need for it?

  Eike

-- 
Automatic string conversions considered dangerous. They are the GOTO statements
of spreadsheets.  --Robert Weir on the OpenDocument formula subcommittee's list.