Gnumeric · Workbook documentation · Beginner

Review Workbook Properties Before Handoff in Gnumeric

Give a synthetic workbook a clear document title and description, distinguish properties from cell comments, and verify a revised copy without claiming complete sanitization.

Gnumeric 1.12.62 document-property source review; independent fixture checks; native verification pending · Editorial standards

A workbook can have a filename, a title written in a cell and a separate title stored in Document Properties. They serve different purposes and can disagree. This exercise makes that disagreement visible, then corrects a revised practice copy before handoff.

Scope: Gnumeric 1.12.62 GTK desktop source, English controls, reviewed 21 October 2026. The manual’s Document Summary section only identifies metadata in general; the precise fields and editing behavior below come from the dialog and implementation. No native dialog, persistence or export test was run. This is not a privacy audit or a claim that a workbook is safe to share after editing these fields.

Create an unmistakably synthetic report

Start a new sheet named Report and enter:

Cell	Entry
A1	Practice supply report
A2 / B2	Revision / `1`
A4:B4	Item / Amount
A5 / B5	Paper / `120`
A6 / B6	Labels / `80`
A7 / B7	Folders / `50`
A9 / B9	Total / `=SUM(B5:B7)`
A11	Synthetic exercise; not an actual purchase record.

Expected B9 is 250. Save as practice-supply-r1.gnumeric in a practice folder. Do not use personal names, real organizations, contact details or genuine financial information in this exercise.

Open document properties, not view properties

Choose File → Document Properties and select Description in the dialog’s page list. Do not use View Properties, which concerns workbook display rather than this descriptive metadata.

Enter the following values. If the new file already contains an automatically supplied Author value, replace it in this practice copy with the fictional label below; do not assume new documents always start with empty metadata.

Field	Practice value
Title:	Practice supply report — revision 1
Subject:	Three synthetic supply amounts
Author:	Practice team
Category:	Training
Comments:	Revision 1. Three items; expected total 250. Synthetic data only.

The dialog also provides Manager and Company fields, but they are not needed. Inspect them rather than inventing a real identity for the exercise.

After editing each field, move focus to another field with Tab or a click. In particular, move focus out of Comments by clicking Title before closing. The reviewed implementation connects these edits to focus-out events, and the dialog has Close, not an OK/Cancel pair. Do not treat Close as a cancellation or assume every change is deferred until closing.

Close the dialog, reopen it and read back all five values. Correct any mismatch and repeat this read-back. Then save the workbook. Closing a properties dialog and saving the file are distinct steps.

Compare the three descriptions of the file

Check these separately:

The open filename is practice-supply-r1.gnumeric.
The worksheet says Practice supply report, revision 1, and total 250.
Description contains the revision-1 title, the synthetic-data note and expected total 250.

Changing the document Title does not rename the file or edit A1. The title field’s source tooltip explicitly distinguishes it from the filename. Likewise, the document Comments field is not a comment attached to B9. Use cell comments and links when an explanation belongs beside a particular input.

Document descriptions are not formulas. A matching total in Comments is a check you maintain, not a live link to B9. The author name is descriptive text, not proof of identity or an authenticated approval.

Revise a copy and expose stale metadata

Choose File → Save As and create practice-supply-r2.gnumeric, leaving the revision-1 file intact. Check the new filename before editing.

Change B2 to 2 and B7 from 50 to 70. B9 should become 270, since 120 + 80 + 70 = 270. Open Document Properties again. Inspect whether Title and Comments still describe revision 1 and total 250. Do not assume Save As or a cell edit updates those descriptions.

Update Title to Practice supply report — revision 2 and Comments to Revision 2. Folders changed from 50 to 70; expected total 270. Synthetic data only. Move focus out of the final edited field, close, reopen and verify the new wording. Save.

Close the file and reopen the exact revision-2 file. Confirm filename, worksheet revision, formula result and description together. Then open revision 1 separately and check that it still has revision 1, Folders 50, total 250 and its original description. These are acceptance tests to perform in your installed build, not completed native checks for this article.

Practice removing one descriptive field

Work in another disposable copy. Open Description, clear only the fictional Author value, move focus to Title and close. Reopen the dialog and check that Author is blank while Title, Category and Comments remain as intended. Save, close and reopen the file once more to test persistence.

The reviewed source treats an empty unlinked string property as a request to remove that particular metadata property. This does not establish removal of every author-related field, filesystem owner, application-generated property or other identifying content. A later save or another application may handle metadata differently. Do not generalize a blank Author box into a sanitized-file claim.

For recovery, enter Practice team again, move focus out, read back and save. There is no need to clear all workbook properties to correct one practice field.

Handoff preflight and troubleshooting

Old title after editing: move focus out of the edited field, reopen the dialog and verify the value before saving. Check that you opened the intended revision file.
Filename did not change: editing Title is not Rename or Save As. Use Save As for a new copy.
Comments still say 250 after B9 changes: correct the narrative manually or remove the embedded total; the field is not a formula.
A1 did not change: document metadata and worksheet content are separate. Update both intentionally when the report name changes.
Need to inspect another format: save a separate copy, reopen that exact output and review both content and properties. Native-format instructions do not certify XLSX, ODS or PDF metadata behavior.

Before an actual handoff, inspect the relevant sheets, formulas, comments, links and embedded objects as well as document properties. Hidden content still belongs to the workbook. This lesson has not performed that broader review, removed all private information, changed access permissions or sent the file anywhere.

Official references and limits

Document Summary, upstream manual 1.12: brief introduction to descriptive metadata, not a complete field guide.
Official Gnumeric 1.12.62 source: src/GNOME_Gnumeric-gtk.xml and src/wbc-gtk-actions.c establish File → Document Properties; src/dialogs/doc-meta-data.ui establishes Description fields and Close; src/dialogs/dialog-doc-metadata.c establishes focus-out handlers and individual string-property removal. These are implementation facts, not observed GUI or reopen results.