At 13:07 04/09/2018 -0500, Melissa Bartman wrote:
I just created a file with ten worksheets for a new job. I need the
new sheet to merge the first three columns but when I try to do that
I get a message that says, "Should the contents of the hidden cells
be moved into the first cell?"
When you merge cells, one or more cells become hidden. If you merge,
say, A1 and B1, the visible merged cell is A1 and cell B1 is now
hidden. OpenOffice is helpfully offering to combine the existing
contents of the original cells into the one merged cell. If you
accept the offer, it will even add spaces between the separate text items.
And it doesn't matter if I say yes or no to the message. I get one
wide column.
I'm not sure what you are trying to do here - or even what you think
you are trying to do. If you select the first three columns and then
use Merge Cells, you are merging all the cells in all the rows in
those three columns into *one* cell. So yes: you will see one wide
column with only one row. If that is not what you want, you are not
using the right facility.
Text is gone.
No, it hasn't. Your second screenshot clearly shows - in the Input
Line - the assembled text in your single merged cell. The only reason
that you cannot see it in the cell is that by default text is placed
at the bottom of a cell, so it will appear level with the very last
row in the spreadsheet; that's row 1048576! If your format your
merged cell to have vertical text alignment of "Top", you will see the text.
I tried formatting the column Top Right justified and then I see
only the top word. The rest disappears
That will be because on that occasion you chose "No" in answer to
"Should the contents of the hidden cells be moved into the first cell?".
It took me three weeks to create the sheets and it would be
devastating if the file has been corrupted in some way.
There is no corruption evident. In any case, surely you keep back-up
copies on some external device of anything that took you that long to create?
Now what exactly is it that you are trying to do?
o You say it is a new sheet, which suggests that it is empty. What,
then, is your perceived use in merging empty columns? The usefulness
of merging cells is when you merge cells in some rows but not.
o Do you just need a column wider than normal? You can easily drag
column boundaries or set individual column widths.
o Do you mean that you already have text in the first three columns
(unlike your screenshot) and that you wish to merge that text? In
that case, the only way to merge three cells in each row is to merge
the relevant cells in each row *separately*. In this case, it would
be much easier just to concatenate your existing text. For example, enter
=A1&B1&C1
or possibly
=A1&" "&B1&" "&C1
into D1 and fill it down column D. Now that you have your merged
text, you can copy it back to column A (or wherever) if you prefer.
You will need to use Paste Special... instead of ordinary Paste and
to ensure that "Paste all" and Formulae are *not* ticked in the Paste
Special dialogue.
I trust this helps.
Brian Barker
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