A column of numbers when selected and then the Auto SUM button clicked results
in SUM equations being assigned to all cells within the selected range.

i.e.

COLUMN A
1
2
3

Select A1 through A3 and click Auto SUM. The result is #REF! in every
cell--though the expected behavior would put the total of 6 in cell A4. In
larger spreadsheets with values above the current selection to be summed, those
values in the column above will find themselves integrated into the current sums
when each cell has a SUM equation erroneously added to it. Thus, even if Auto
SUM correctly yielded the correct sum of 6 in the above example, but Auto SUM
was again used on another set of numbers below...

COLUMN A
1
2
3
(6)

10
9
8
(should yield 27, but instead will add the sum from above into it's sum--even
though it's outside the selected range)

For the above we should have the following SUM equations in the cells:

COLUMN A
no formula
no formula
no formula
=SUM(A1:A3)
blank cell
no formula
no formula
no formula
=SUM(A6:A8)

INSTEAD we end up with the following (and herein occurs the problem):

COLUMN A
=SUM(A#REF!:A#REF!)
=SUM(A#REF!:A#REF!)
=SUM(A#REF!:A#REF!)
=SUM(A#REF!:A#REF!)
blank cell
=SUM(A#REF!:A#REF!)
=SUM(A#REF!:A#REF!)
=SUM(A#REF!:A#REF!)
=SUM(A#REF!:A#REF!)

Am I explaining the problem adequately? Essentially the Auto SUM button doesn't
work as advertised.

The Intelligent Auto SUM seems to work though--interestingly enough. By which I
mean that if you simply position the cursor beneath the group of numbers you
want to sum and click Auto SUM it will present the suggested range, and then
when Enter is pressed it will correctly sum the numbers. The expected behavior
is also obtained when the formula is typed in manually. 

However, for those users like my mother who just want something to work, the
work-arounds aren't an acceptable alternative. I've worked hard to sell her on
OpenOffice so I hope this can be fixed so her faith is maintained. :)

Thanks for your excellent work!