Re: [orca-list] Calc - Selecting items in a dropdown

[Steve Holmes <steve holmes88 gmail com>]

I'm still quite new to the full interaction between OOo and Orca so I 
would probably start by filing a but against Orca and then as someone 
looks at it, we might decide to link it to a bug in Open Office.  Sorry 
I don't have more specific answers for you here.

If I were to try and take on this bug, I would have to try and examine 
the interaction between Calc and Orca to see if/what accessible 
information is being exposed that can help with this.  I just don't know 
any more details right now.

On 02/16/2011 09:32 AM, luciano de souza wrote:
> Steve,
>
> At the present moment, it's not possible to do anything. However, are
> there actions to become clearer the problem? I could create a ticket
> in Bugzilla. But I would like to define more precisely the issue.
>
> If this problem is due to a Calc or a Gnome behaviour, I should
> contact Calc developers in stead of Orca developers. I don't know if
> you are permanently in contact with then. If it's necessary to contact
> then to modify some aspect of Calc, I can do it, but I need to know
> what is the exact question I should make. Even though this process
> take an immesuarable time, it's necessary to start from anywhere.
>
> Well, I am asking to uyou, because I don't know how these interfaces work.
>
> Dropdowns are really important for me. In my area, nobody knows how to
> create a MS Access database. So we use Excel as database. To avoid non
> standard data, we largely use dropdown lists.
>
> Since I have installed Linux at home, I would manage Excel files with
> Calc. This is the origin of my need.
>
>
> 2011/2/15, Luciano de Souza<luchyanus gmail com>:
> > Few days ago, I sent this message. I came back from a triep. Therefore,
> > I can't have read the reply for this message. It's also possible my
> > question doesn't have a reply.
> >
> > What I really want is to be able to select a value in the dropdown
> > placed on the cells. Does someone imagine a manner to do it?
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Luciano de Souza
> >
> >
> > -------- Mensagem original --------
> > Assunto:        Calc - Selecting items in a dropdown
> > Data:   Sat, 05 Feb 2011 12:21:25 -0200
> > De:     Luciano de Souza<luchyanus gmail com>
> > Para:   orca-list gnome org
> >
> >
> >
> > Hi all,
> >
> >        At the workplace, I use Microsoft Excel and JAWS. At home, I use
> > Calc and Orca. It's important for me the same features are available
> > independent on the operational system or the screen reader. Since I can
> > save my files in Excel format, it seemed too simply to do what I do.
> > However, I found a difficult. In Calc, with Orca, I was not able to
> > select items in a dropdown placed over the cells.
> >
> > Attached to this message, you can find a sheet of example. Imagine you
> > are the boss and wish control the tasks assigned to your team. The table
> > in plan1 does exactly it. It's enough to fill date, task, responsible,
> > area and the status.
> >
> > But it's necessary to constrain the values typed on the cells. My boss
> > loves the autofilter. If anyone types values out of the standard, the
> > autofilter can't be used. If someone types "John" and another one types
> > "John Stuart", in spite of the fact they are the same people, Calc will
> > understand that they are different values, difficulting the filtering.
> >
> > To solve this problem, in our sheets, it's common to implement
> > validation. For example, if I know the names of people who can receive
> > tasks, we create a validity rule. At menu Data, we can select the option
> > "validity" and, in the tab criteria, we can define the limited list
> > among which a value will be selected. Over the cell, a dropdown is
> > placed. With mouse or keybord, we can select one of the values and if we
> > type a value out of the list, a error message is shown. It's really a
> > wonderful feature.
> >
> > The problem is: having created the dropdown, when I move the cursor into
> > a cell, Orca doesn't say anything about the presence of a dropdown. But
> > even if I know a dropdown exists, I could not select items directly.
> > It's necessary to call the context menu and select the option regarding
> > the selection of items in a dropdown. But even using this method, I can
> > control the selection of items. After pressing enter on this option, a
> > list is opend, but Orca doesn't say anything. If I use the arrows and
> > press enter, probabily I will assign a value to that cell, but it's not
> > possible to predict which value will be selected.
> >
> > Using JAWS, I can easily select the items. When I enter in the cell,
> > JAWS says "dropdown". So I know there is a dropdown over this cell. I
> > press ctrl+downarrow and with up and down arrow, I can select the items.
> > It would be wonderful if Orca behaves like that.
> >
> > There are dropdowns in cells of responsible, area and status columns. In
> > date column, there is also a validation. Dates before 01/01/2011 is not
> > allowed, but in this case, their there is no dropdowns.
> >
> > In the attached document, I filled values in two rows as a example. But,
> > since I could not select values in the dropdown, I typed the values that
> > I previously knew. Would someone know how to fill more rows selecting
> > responsibles, areas and status in the dropdown? Can Orca announce the
> > presence of dropdowns in a cell? What do you suggest?
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Luciano de Souza