How to set decimal places for more than a few minutes?

[RobinZ]

I am repeatedly seeing the decimal places vanish. I want everything to have 2 decimal places so the numbers "flow" vertically and are in their right place. Why anyone would want
5
3.25
83
243.35
where they don't align is beyond comprehension. The decimal places should be in a vertical line so you can track your numbers more easily. I added decimal places in a second example but they were ignored by this system!

I format the entire page (so the whole page is highlighted, right click it, Format Cells, Number, then select the 2 decimal place example on the list to the right. Everything looks perfect. 3.00 is correct, not 3 or 3.0 or 3.000.

A few minutes later its back to lopping off the decimal places when there are no numbers to the right of the decimal place. Does this program have Amnesia? Could I be accidentally reseting it somehow?

Obviously I'm just starting in spreadsheets and find them a horrible headache, just incredibly unintuitive. The concept is so simple yet they make everything so needlessly complex, even the simplest things. No wonder so few people are really comfortable with them. The designers have absolutely ruined the learning experience. I wonder if Apple's spreadsheet program is easier for beginners? And how does OpenOffice compare to LibreOffice and Excel and Google Docs and other office type offerings from email providers like Zoho?

And is there any way of changing the font to a mono spaced one so columns of numbers are aligned? How could a forum dealing with spreadsheets miss that? Is it hiding here somewhere?

[RusselB]

Please attach a sample spreadsheet that shows the problem you are encountering.
There is a lot of information contained in a spreadsheet that might give us an answer that we can't get from the example you have posted.
To attach a sample see this tutorial

BTW: Formatting the entire spreadsheet like that is a bad idea.

As to comparisons, OpenOffice is not as up-to-date as LibreOffice is. In fact, LibreOffice is a fork of OpenOffice, which means that the code in both started the same and still has similarities.
For Excel take a look at Differences between Writer and MS Word files
While the tutorial is based on the differences between Writer and MS Word, similar differences apply to the differences between Calc and Excel
As to Google and other office type offerings, most (if not all) of them are cloud based and therefore require you to have an active internet access when using them. Neither OpenOffice or LibreOffice requires active internet access in order to use them,

I'm going to stop answering your questions here, and let you know that you have breached the rules of this forum, namely the rule of one question per topic.
Looking at you post I see 3 questions, two of which I have answered rather than forcing you to repost each question separately.

[FJCC]

I would say that at the level of use described in the original post, all spreadsheets are very similar.
I have never seen cell formatting change spontaneously. As suggested, posting an example file would be very helpful.

[FJCC]

By the way, the best way to set the formatting of all of the cells is to modify the default cell style. To do that, first select the menu item Format -> Styles & Formatting. A small dialog will appear that has two small icons near the top left. Click the leftmost icon to select Cell Styles. Right click on the Default style and select Modify. You can then select the number format on the Numbers tab and you can set the font on the Font tab. Courier New is a mono space font, if that is what you want.

[RobinZ]

BTW: Formatting the entire spreadsheet like that is a bad idea.

If one wants all the figures on the page to have the same number of decimal places wouldn't formatting it to do that be the way?

As to comparisons, OpenOffice is not as up-to-date as LibreOffice is. In fact, LibreOffice is a fork of OpenOffice, which means that the code in both started the same and still has similarities.

Actually I originally started with LibreOffice and had some issues and reinstalled it. Or tried to but it wouldn't install. Tried over and over completely removing all traces of it beforehand to be sure it was a clean install. Guess I should find out why. It was a real headache. Others have had the same problem. I'm using Win7 64bit. Everything else seems to install fine. It just didn't like me!

For Excel take a look at Differences between Writer and MS Word files

I tried Writer before and liked it. Its similar enough to Word that one can transition over without much trouble.

While the tutorial is based on the differences between Writer and MS Word, similar differences apply to the differences between Calc and Excel

If only Word summarized columns of numbers......

As to Google and other office type offerings, most (if not all) of them are cloud based and therefore require you to have an active internet access when using them. Neither OpenOffice or LibreOffice requires active internet access in order to use them,

Yes I realize that and that's not a problem as I'm almost always connected. I'm just curious if there are any spreadsheet programs that don't use formulas. just simple names for what it does.

I'm going to stop answering your questions here, and let you know that you have breached the rules of this forum, namely the rule of one question per topic.
Looking at you post I see 3 questions, two of which I have answered rather than forcing you to repost each question separately.

Ah I didn't realize that. I'll trim things in the future. No problem. I see your point. Otherwise points get discussed and they get buried in other forum titles and people find it hard to find them. Everything should be under its own heading. Spreadsheet logic!

[RusselB]

If one wants all the figures on the page to have the same number of decimal places wouldn't formatting it to do that be the way?

What if you also wanted dates in your spreadsheet? Dates are a very common type of number that you will find in a spreadsheet, especially something like a budget.
You would have to reformat the dates using a date format after formatting your entire spreadsheet using decimals (probably currency).

If only Word summarized columns of numbers......

Not sure about Word, but Writer has limited calculation capabilities and can interact with a spreadsheet.