Create and Maintain a Chart in Collabora Online Calc

Build a column chart whose categories and values you can audit, then change and extend its source. A chart that looks attractive but reads the wrong cells has failed this exercise.

Before you start: version and deployment gate

Collabora Online Calc in an English desktop browser using the compact menu interface; documentary baseline is co-25.04 branch snapshot 3847fbcfe35a234544cf163ed9e004a3d197337c. Actual deployed build, dialogs, save behavior and native screenshots remain unverified.

This is a documentation-supported practice and acceptance recipe, not a report of a successful native run. Record the server build from Help → About, the storage host, browser and interface before proceeding. The pinned Online menu source and English command labels establish the compact-menu entry points below; they do not prove that every host exposes them or that the server implements every dialog field. Online’s compact menu is still a browser interface, not Collabora Office Classic. Do not substitute desktop instructions when a control is absent.

Use a new private, disposable ODS workbook that you are permitted to edit. Opening or creating it is a storage-host operation: this guide cannot name a universal Nextcloud, ownCloud or other host button. Do not practice in a shared production file. If you cannot identify the host file and edit permissions, stop. Finish each cell entry with Enter before invoking another operation.

Build the four-category source

Enter this table in Sheet1.A1:C5; enter numeric values as numbers, without currency symbols.

Row	A: Category	B: Actual	C: Target
1	Category	Actual	Target
2	Books	12	15
3	Games	18	15
4	Maps	9	12
5	Prints	21	18

In E2 enter =SUM(B2:B5) and in F2 enter =SUM(C2:C5). Expect 60 and 60. Do not include E:F or a total row in the chart source.

Create the chart and verify data roles

1. Select A1:C5 and choose Insert → Chart… in the compact menu. The Online chart-wizard browser test also establishes a tabbed Insert → Chart entry and navigation from Chart Type through Data Range to Data Series. Neither test has been executed for this guide.
2. In the deployed wizard, choose a plain, non-stacked Column chart. Verify that the source is $Sheet1.$A$1:$C$5, with series in columns, first row supplying series names and first column supplying categories. These exact field labels and choices require inspection in your server’s wizard; if missing, cancel and retain the fixture for review.
3. At the series step verify two series: Actual uses B2:B5 with name B1; Target uses C2:C5 with name C1. Category labels must be A2:A5. A third numeric series called Category, or four series called Books through Prints, indicates reversed roles.
4. If the wizard exposes titles, use Category performance, horizontal title Category, and vertical title Units. Keep the legend visible. Finish and click a worksheet cell outside the chart to leave chart editing.
5. Expected audit: Books 12/15, Games 18/15, Maps 9/12, Prints 21/18. Check the legend, category order and a zero-based value axis. Do not infer exact values from bar heights alone; compare them with the source table.

Change one value, then extend deliberately

Change B4 from 9 to 14. Only the Maps Actual bar should change; E2 becomes 65, F2 stays 60. If nothing changes, first commit the cell entry and ensure you are editing cells rather than a chart title. Inspect the chart’s source before rebuilding it.

Add A6:C6 as Cards, 6, 10. Update E2 to =SUM(B2:B6) and F2 to =SUM(C2:C6), expecting 71 and 70. Do not assume the chart has expanded. The actual Online route for editing an existing chart’s data range is an unresolved deployment check. If the activated chart provides a verified Data Ranges command, explicitly extend its range to $Sheet1.$A$1:$C$6 and confirm the five category labels and two series. Record the command you actually used.

If that command is unavailable, use this source-supported fallback in the disposable workbook: leave the original chart as a comparison, select A1:C6 and create a second chart through Insert → Chart…, repeating the same roles and titles. Place it away from the first chart and title it Category performance – expanded. Keep the original labeled as the four-category comparison rather than pretending it auto-expanded. The expanded chart must show Cards 6/10 and Maps 14/12. The old chart can legitimately still show only four categories.

Diagnose and record the final state

If a legend label becomes a number, check whether the header row was included and recognized. A blank category may be an extra source row. A bar representing 71 or 70 means a total was inadvertently included. For clipping, adjust the chart object’s size rather than altering source values. Missing edit controls can reflect chart-selection state, read-only access or deployment differences; do not apply desktop menus blindly.

The final acceptance ledger is five source categories, Actual total 71, Target total 70, Maps Actual 14 and Cards Actual/Target 6/10. Record whether the original chart was edited or a second chart was created, and compare the correct expanded chart after reopening. A source-range screenshot and final chart screenshot would be useful only when genuinely captured from that same workbook and build; none is supplied here.

Save the completed result and check it again

Before the final save, choose or confirm the workbook filename Category-chart-final.ods using a host-supported naming operation, or record the actual existing ODS filename if renaming is unavailable. Record that filename, its authorized host folder/location and stable file identity or URL locally; keep access tokens private. A filename alone does not identify a unique file. Commit the last cell edit. Use File → Save if your host exposes it, then wait for the host/editor’s acknowledged save state. Save can be hidden by the integration; an icon changing or a completed download alone does not establish persistence. Close only after acknowledgement, reopen the exact recorded host object from that location. Verify its filename and stable identity, then compare the stated final ledger before creating any reset copy. Record the observed values and any warning. A failed reopen check is a failed acceptance test.

Keep this completed workbook unchanged. For optional resets or alternate cases, make a separately named copy using a host-supported copy operation, confirm its independent identity, and re-enter the exact starting fixture there. Do not rely on Undo after reopening. This walkthrough has not been executed in Online; expected results, source inspection and independent arithmetic do not certify UI behavior or file preservation. No native screenshot is included because none was captured for this fixture.