Move rows with the keyboard in Calc

Question

How might one move a row to a different location with the keyboard? I have found this guide for the mouse but due to disability I have trouble using the mouse for this.

Note that I am not looking to 'sort manually' and using an extra 'sort ordinal' column is not a viable workaround. I am aware of Calc's excellent sorting abilities though.

Answer 1

I'm not sure if there's a way to "move" rows using the keyboard, but using c&p and inserting/deleting rows using the keyboard should offer the same functionality:

• navigate to the first (leftmost) cell of the row to move;
• hit SHIFT+SPACE to select the entire row;
• hit CTRL+C to copy the row;
• hit CTRL+- to delete the current row;
• navigate to the target row;
• hit ALT+I to open the Insert menu;
• hit R to insert a new row (the current row will get shifted downwards);
• hit CTRL+V to paste the row to its new place.

Since cut&paste operations are sometimes quite annoying, you may create a simple macro for cutting cells and another one to paste them, moving existing content down.

Here's a very simple code to "move" selected cells:

Option Explicit

Sub CopyAndCut
    ' ---------------------------------------------------------
    ' define variables
    Dim document   as object
    Dim dispatcher as Object
    Dim oSelections As Object
    ' ---------------------------------------------------------
    ' get access to the document and selections (if any)
    document    = ThisComponent.CurrentController.Frame
    oSelections = ThisComponent.getCurrentSelection()
    If IsNull(oSelections) Then Exit Sub        
    ' ---------------------------------------------------------
    dispatcher = createUnoService("com.sun.star.frame.DispatchHelper")
    dispatcher.executeDispatch(document, ".uno:Copy", "", 0, Array())
    dispatcher.executeDispatch(document, ".uno:Cut", "", 0, Array())
    ' -------------------------------------------------------------
    ' Check the width of the selection - if 1024 columns, we assume
    ' the complete row was selected and should get deleted
    If 1024 = oSelections.Columns.getCount() Then
        dispatcher.executeDispatch(document, ".uno:DeleteRows", "", 0, Array())
    End If
End Sub

Sub InsertWithMoveDown
    ' ---------------------------------------------------------
    ' define variables
    Dim document   as object
    Dim dispatcher as object
    ' ---------------------------------------------------------
    ' get access to the document
    document   = ThisComponent.CurrentController.Frame
    dispatcher = createUnoService("com.sun.star.frame.DispatchHelper")
    ' ---------------------------------------------------------
    ' Paste contents with "Move Down" option
    Dim args1(5) as New com.sun.star.beans.PropertyValue
    args1(0).Name = "Flags"
    args1(0).Value = "A"
    args1(1).Name = "FormulaCommand"
    args1(1).Value = 0
    args1(2).Name = "SkipEmptyCells"
    args1(2).Value = false
    args1(3).Name = "Transpose"
    args1(3).Value = false
    args1(4).Name = "AsLink"
    args1(4).Value = false
    args1(5).Name = "MoveMode"
    args1(5).Value = 0
    dispatcher.executeDispatch(document, ".uno:InsertContents", "", 0, args1())
End Sub

Sub InsertWithMoveRight
    ' ---------------------------------------------------------
    ' define variables
    Dim document   as object
    Dim dispatcher as object
    ' ---------------------------------------------------------
    ' get access to the document
    document   = ThisComponent.CurrentController.Frame
    dispatcher = createUnoService("com.sun.star.frame.DispatchHelper")
    ' ---------------------------------------------------------
    ' Paste contents with "Move Right" option
    Dim args1(5) as New com.sun.star.beans.PropertyValue
    args1(0).Name = "Flags"
    args1(0).Value = "A"
    args1(1).Name = "FormulaCommand"
    args1(1).Value = 0
    args1(2).Name = "SkipEmptyCells"
    args1(2).Value = false
    args1(3).Name = "Transpose"
    args1(3).Value = false
    args1(4).Name = "AsLink"
    args1(4).Value = false
    args1(5).Name = "MoveMode"
    args1(5).Value = 1
    dispatcher.executeDispatch(document, ".uno:InsertContents", "", 0, args1())
End Sub

After copying the code to your user library, just assign CopyAndCut to, e.g., Alt+C, InsertWithMoveDown to, e.g., Alt+V, and InsertWithMoveRight to, e.g., Alt+R (all these shortcuts are empty by default).

Now, you can select cells or rows using mouse or keyboard, cut them using Alt+C, move to the target cell, and paste them using Alt+V or Alt+R.

Answer 2

To move a row in Open Office Calc:

1. Select the cell in column A of the row to be moved.
2. Hit Shift-Space to highlight the entire row.
3. Press and hold the ALT key.
4. Drag the row (thick black line appears) up or down to the desired location.
5. If your work looks correct, click the Save icon in the toolbar.
6. Otherwise, ALT-Z to undo.

If you want to over-write and destroy the target location, do not hold the ALT key down. Just click on the highlighted row and drag to it's new location. The data at the target location will be destroyed and replaced with the data of the row being moved.