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Is there some way to get OpenOffice Calc to copy the real value stored/calculated in a cell. I realize it must still be text, but is there some way to get OpenOffice to copy a higher precision value than what is shown on the screen?

I need to paste the values into another program for testing but need a higher precision. So far I've been making the spreadsheet simply have a high number of decimals displayed, but then it is quite hard to read this sheet.

For example, if the cell is showing "1.23" that is a rounded number, when I copy I want a more precise number copied (the result of the calculation), like "1.23748236483". Preferably long enough to cover the native precision of the floating point.

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Are you sure the number is not stored/copied as the full thing? If you format the cell it should affect the displayed number only. Copy and paste the two decimal (displayerd) cell to another cell, then format the new cell to 6 decimal places and you should see it all. – BrianA Jun 9 '11 at 11:13
If you select all cells in a sheet, then Copy and Paste Special (with the Format box unchecked) into a new blank sheet, you will get the default format of 10 decimals. You can then copy and paste the relevant cells from the copied sheet into your other program. – W_Whalley Jun 9 '11 at 12:18
@BrianA, pasting to other programs always results in the displayed value being pasted. – edA-qa mort-ora-y Jun 9 '11 at 15:52
@W_Whalley, I'm aware of Paste Special, I'm looking for a more convenient way to do this (I have to do it a lot). – edA-qa mort-ora-y Jun 9 '11 at 15:53
@edA-qa mort-ora-y, one method is to duplicate a sheet with formulas linked to the first sheet, but whose cells have extended decimal formatting. Then copy from the duplicate sheet. Another method (if your sheet always has a fixed decimal display set by a cell style) is to select all cells and toggle between your cell style and the default style that has more decimals displayed. You can also write cell values to a file using a macro and get 15 decimals. – W_Whalley Jun 16 '11 at 15:26
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