iWork Numbers 2.0.5

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iWork Numbers 2.0.5

Postby RexinMinn » Wed Oct 26, 2011 9:36 am

Here we go again.
Numbers isn't doing what it should.
I have a spreadsheet with roughly 20 headings recorded within a row.
I wish to replicate the row of 20 headings.
I highlight the row, and attempt to copy/paste, but it won't copy/paste.
I need this to work.
Do I need to install a new Numbers program?
It seems extremely odd that the copy/paste function would not work.
I DO NOT WANT TO HIGHLIGHT EACH CELL AND COPY IT THAT WAY. NO WAY.

Also, if I could be guaranteed of at least a reply each time I write in with a problem, even if it's just to say, "OK, I think I understand your problem but I can't give you an answer right now," I would pay.

Thanks,
Rex
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Re: iWork Numbers 2.0.5

Postby Barry » Fri Nov 11, 2011 1:46 am

RexinMinn wrote:Here we go again.
Numbers isn't doing what it should.
I have a spreadsheet with roughly 20 headings recorded within a row.
I wish to replicate the row of 20 headings.
I highlight the row, and attempt to copy/paste, but it won't copy/paste.

I DO NOT WANT TO HIGHLIGHT EACH CELL AND COPY IT THAT WAY. NO WAY.


What row are the headings in? Is it a Header Row or a regular row?

What happens when you have selected the row and press command-C? Does the Edit menu flash?

What happens when you have selected the row and then click the Edit menu? Are Copy and Cut black or grey? Can you select either of them?

Is there any change in these behaviours if you select column C instead of selecting the row?

Is there any change in the behaviours if you select cells Bn to Dn (where n is the row containing the 20 headers)?

No solution in sight, but these details might provide a clue or two to what's going on.

Regards,
Barry
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Re: iWork Numbers 2.0.5

Postby RexinMinn » Sun Nov 20, 2011 10:23 pm

In order to deal with this problem, along with other issues I've been encountering since I installed the latest version of Numbers last June, I ordered and installed yet another new version of iWork. It almost didn't happen: we needed to spend a half-hour with tech support on the phone to figure out why the software was installing but not functioning. Turns out there were "P-files" which were left over from a previous version of iWork which were prohibiting the new iWork from over-riding the old software. Now I can copy and paste the way I wanted to before, but I can't add column of numbers. It just lists "0" when I try to make a sum. Wish I knew what was going on here. It's enough to make me want to abandon my Mac when I can't even perform such simple functions. This is really getting old. Macs were supposed to be good machines, and they may be very good, but for me the software has been headache after headache.
RexinMinn
 
Posts: 44
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2009 8:09 am
Location: Mpls Area

Re: iWork Numbers 2.0.5

Postby Barry » Thu Nov 24, 2011 3:03 am

RexinMinn wrote:I can't add column of numbers. It just lists "0" when I try to make a sum.


Sounds like you may have the cells containing the 'numbers' formatted as Text.
Select the cells, open the Inspector, select the Cell Format inspector ( "42" ), then choose Number from the pop-up menu in the Inspector dialogue.

Regards,
Barry
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Re: iWork Numbers 2.0.5

Postby RexinMinn » Thu Nov 24, 2011 11:20 am

Thanks, Barry.

I figured out my problem with using the "sum" function after talking with my wife about it, and realized how simple the problem was.

I was doing what you said to do, but only for a select grouping of values in the column.
I do not like that this program is so restrictive in this way. I realized that I needed to select the entire column before converting to "numbers" via the inspector.

In Appleworks, Spreadsheet was much more user friendly. The tech people need to find out what people liked about Spreadsheet in AW and apply it to Numbers. They've made using the spreadsheet software MUCH LESS user-friendly, and that's NOT what I expect from Apple.

Thanks again,

Rex
RexinMinn
 
Posts: 44
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2009 8:09 am
Location: Mpls Area

Re: iWork Numbers 2.0.5

Postby Barry » Fri Nov 25, 2011 3:55 am

RexinMinn wrote:I was doing what you said to do, but only for a select grouping of values in the column.
I do not like that this program is so restrictive in this way. I realized that I needed to select the entire column before converting to "numbers" via the inspector.


Not sure why you had to select the entire column, as I'm not looking over your shoulder, and can't see what you're changing or what you need to change. Numbers is much like any Mac application (or Windows application, for that matter) in following the basic pattern: Select something, then apply a change to it. Only what is selected will be changed.

At least Numbers, unlike AppleWorks, gives us the opportunity to format a cell to treat its contents as Text (without having to use the workaround tricks necessary to do this in AW). Try typing this library card number into an AW spreadsheet cell: 21234001085965

In Numbers, all that's necessary to have it display correctly (as a string of digits) is to format the cell as Text. AppleWorks doesn't support formatting a cell to do that.

It is possible to enter a number into an AppleWorks SS cell in a way that causes AppleWorks to treat it as Text. If you do so, you'll find that for SUM() in AppleWorks any text string has a numeric value of zero, just as it does in Numbers.

In Appleworks, Spreadsheet was much more user friendly. The tech people need to find out what people liked about Spreadsheet in AW and apply it to Numbers. They've made using the spreadsheet software MUCH LESS user-friendly, and that's NOT what I expect from Apple.


Sometimes "more user-friendly" is just another way of saying "what I'm used to." You might be surprised by the number of long-time MS Excel users who find Excel 'much more user-friendly'' than either Numbers or AppleWorks. It's certainly not a sentiment I share, but I don't use Excel all that much. For someone who uses it on a daily basis, there are undoubtedly things that muscle memory alone will make seem 'more friendly' than trying to do essentially the same thing on a different platform.

As to "The tech people need to find out...," why not tell them? If you have specific behaviours you'd like to see incorporated into Numbers, a user-to-user forum like this one isn't the place to do it. Talk to Apple. Numbers, like most other current Apple software makes it easy to do that.

Under Mac OS X, every application has an Application menu. It's the one next to the blue Apple logo, and has the name of the active application. Click on the Numbers menu in Numbers and you'll see an item named "Provide Numbers Feedback." Select that, and you'll be taken to a Feedback form. Anything posted there goes directly to Apple, where it does get read. You won't get any direct response to most feedback, but judging from the changes between numbers '08 and Numbers '09, Apple does pay attention to the feedback, and does incorporate some of the suggested changes in future versions of the software.

Regards,
Barry
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Posts: 1390
Joined: Mon Sep 30, 2002 12:54 am
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