[Solved] Drag and drop not working properly

[ToastHead]

I'm new to OO Calc and I'm finding it very frustrating indeed at the moment. In Excel I'm used to dragging and dropping to move cells' contents and it works fine. In Calc, however, I try to drag and drop but all it does it select the adjacent cells! No matter where I place the cursor on the cell in question, it just doesn't want to play ball. I even tried zooming in to the maximum so that I could be sure of hovering over the black cell border but this didn't work either. Once or twice by sheer fluke I've managed to move a cell, but 98 percent of the time it just doesn't work. Am I doing something wrong?

I'm using OO 3.2.0 on Ubuntu Linux 8.10

[ken johnson]

In Calc you don't click on the cell border, you click inside the cell.
One way...
Left click inside the cell then, while keeping the left mouse button down, drag the cursor outside the cell then back inside the cell then release the left mouse button. Now left click inside the cell again then, while keeping the mouse button pressed, drag the cursor to the destination cell. This time the cell moves with the cursor and the cursor's appearance changes telling you that the cell is being dragged.
Another way...
Left click inside the cell to select it. Release the mouse button. Hold down the Ctrl key while you left click inside the cell again. The cell becomes shaded. Release the Ctrl key and the mouse button. Now you can click inside the cell and drag it to the destination cell. While the cell is shaded it is dragable.
Only single cells are this tricky. With multi-cell selections you simply click inside any of the selected cells then drag.

Ken Johnson

[ToastHead]

Thank you Ken. That's most helpful and it works.

I hate to say it but I think the Calc method is clunky compared to the way Excel works, but I suppose this is something that isn't likely to change. Also, the Calc help file makes no mention of dragging and dropping working differently from Excel - it would have been useful if your advice had been in the help file.

[ArtIthaca]

What can be done to get this information into the HELP file? The steps needed to make single cell drag and drop work are not at all intuitive...they need to be explained.
Thanks

[ken johnson]

Since submitting that verbose post I've come to the realisation that for single-cell dragging it's as simple as...
1. Click to select
2. Shift+Click or Ctrl+Click to shade
3.Drag

Ken Johnson

[lazycritic]

I've also had this issue and it has been a major turn-off of Calc for me. Now that I've found this it's been a little helpful, but I still think Calc should just implement the Excel method of clicking on a decent border-sized area, especially for single cells.

Note: this appears to have been in the tracker since 2003 - see http://sc.openoffice.org/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=10865.

Vote it up if you want to see it changed!

[acknak]

Since submitting that verbose post I've come to the realisation that for single-cell dragging it's as simple as...

I typically abbreviate that to avoid the keyboard entirely:
1) Click in the cell and drag down one cell, then up one.
This leaves the starting cell highlighted.
2) Release, then click again and drag.

This method is harder to discover than Excel's--Excel's changing mouse cursor over the border is a big clue--but I find it easier to use. Clicking on that border isn't difficult, but it's always a distraction.

[lazycritic]

acknack - you would admit that Excel's is more efficient though, wouldn't you? It takes less in terms of pure motion. I can simply click the border and move, whereas with your method you have to click, move away, move back, click again, and then move again.

[acknak]

Less motion does not make it easier. A highlighted cell is a much easier--and therefore less distracting--target to click on.

We're splitting hairs now, I think--not to mention that what you're accustomed to is always "easier and more efficient" that something different.