Apache OpenOffice (AOO) Bugzilla – Issue 63381
1.x to 2.0 incompatibility in LOOKUP should be documented
Last modified: 2013-08-07 15:13:47 UTC
As described by multiple reporters in issue 58286, and by another in private email, the behavior of LOOKUP on unsorted data has changed between 1.x and 2.0. 1.x returns the expected result, even if the data is unsorted, while 2.0 returns nonsense. Since the documentation for LOOKUP has always required sorted data, the behavior of 2.0 is not a defect. However, for users who developed perfectly functioning spreadsheets with unsorted data using 1.x versions, the lack of compatibility in the undocumented behavior is experienced as a defect. This incompatibility should get documented somewhere, so that people porting spreadsheets to 2.0 can check to make sure their spreadsheets are using LOOKUP correctly.
To document the way lookup is working only helps to avoid the errors. However looking deeper in the problem it seems that the requirement of sorted data is a real weakness of OO Rel 2.X. Typically data is sorted in a logical way like employers name, share name, company name. OO requires that you sort all these data in a diffrent way e.g. employer No. Your datafiles will loose all the logical order just to satisfy the algorithm. The way OO 1,X works is much more user friendly and locical principia
Hi Mathias, please evaluate and target as needed. Frank
MMP>NN: Hi Niklas, I need more information on this issue. Can you please tell me if/what/why this has changed between OOo 1.1 and OOo 2.0?
cc me
See issue 2168.
I have just been biten by this issue. Why not add a warning about sort order in the function wizard?
I am no longer officially active on OOo. Please take over.