Simplify cell merging?

[misterspeedy]

Considering some changes which would "demote" cell merging behaviour to a CellProperty, e.g.

#r "nuget: ClosedXML"
#r "../FsExcel/bin/Debug/netstandard2.1/FsExcel.dll"
let savePath = "/temp"

open System
open FsExcel 
open ClosedXML.Excel

[
    Cell [ 
        String "Hello" 
        Merge(3, 4)
        VerticalAlignment Middle
    ]
]
|> Render.AsFile (System.IO.Path.Combine(savePath, "LocalDemo.xlsx"))

This has a few advantages:

• simplifies the expression of ranges, which has got quite complicated
• may mean that we don't have to have a separate concept of merged cell borders. (Current implementation puts borders around all populated cells, whether merged or not.)
• might simplify the code and documentation generally.

[misterspeedy]

Some things to consider:

• Should we allow negative row/col counts?
• Need to range check so we don't go off any of the edges
• Where do we leave the 'current' cell after a merge?
• Do we leave, deprecate or remove the existing cell merging functionality?
• Borders (color and width) will probably need special treatment - i.e. branching code in the Border and BorderColor handling depending on whether we are creating a merged cell.

[misterspeedy]

Proposed tutorial content:

Merging Cells

You can merge cells using the Merge(colCount, rowCount) property. This will cause the cell you are populating to become a merged cell, covering the specified number of rows and columns.

Merged cells can have content (using String, Integer etc.). They can be styled with VerticalAlignment, HorizontalAlignment, FontEmphasis and so on. They can also have borders using Border and BorderColor. The specified border will be added to the edges of the merged area.

Note that after using Merge you may need some combination Go NewRow, Go (RightBy n) and Go (Indent n) invocations. This is so content for further cells is added outside merged area. Adding content without doing this won't cause an error, but the content may not be visible.

open System
open FsExcel 
open ClosedXML.Excel

[
    Cell [ String "Ordinary cell above" ]
    Go NewRow
    Cell [ 
        String "Merged cell 3 cols x 4 rows" 
        Merge(3, 4)
        VerticalAlignment Middle
        HorizontalAlignment Center
        FontEmphasis Bold
        FontEmphasis Italic
        Border (Border.All XLBorderStyleValues.Thick)
        BorderColor (BorderColor.All ClosedXML.Excel.XLColor.Red)
    ]
    Go (Indent 4)
    for i in 0..3 do
        Cell [ String $"Ordinary cell {i}" ]
        Go NewRow
    Go (Indent 1)
    Cell [ String "Ordinary cell below" ] 
]
|> Render.AsFile (System.IO.Path.Combine(savePath, "MergedCells.xlsx"))

[misterspeedy]

@emigajda As cell merging was your valuable addition originally, I'd value your thoughts on this proposal. Either here or privately on LinkedIn or gmail (kit dot eason) as preferred. Thanks!