Bug 131322 - Line styles (under "text box and shape") do not allow for multiple parallel lines
Summary: Line styles (under "text box and shape") do not allow for multiple parallel l...
Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 126649
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Writer (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
6.3.5.2 release
Hardware: All All
: medium enhancement
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords: needsUXEval
Depends on:
Blocks: Textbox Shapes
  Show dependency treegraph
 
Reported: 2020-03-13 07:09 UTC by Mike Weilgart
Modified: 2020-03-16 08:41 UTC (History)
3 users (show)

See Also:
Crash report or crash signature:


Attachments
Screenshot showing InDesign line styles (190.49 KB, image/png)
2020-03-13 07:28 UTC, Mike Weilgart
Details

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Description Mike Weilgart 2020-03-13 07:09:39 UTC
Description:
Under "Format" -> "Text Box and Shape" -> "Line" -> "Line Styles" -> "Line style", the options are all of the form of dots and dashes in various sequences.  There are no options allowing for two or three parallel lines of varying relative width, nor can such styles be created through the current interface.

In comparison, under "Format" -> "Page" -> "Borders" -> "Line" -> "Style", there *are* some options for styles that include multiple parallel lines of different relative widths.  (They are fixed options and don't allow for three parallel lines, but at least it is possible to have two.)

There should be the option for multiple parallel lines (I would say up to three) of varying relative widths to be chosen as line styles for the borders of text boxes and shapes.

For my particular use case, I want to make a rectangular page border with rounded corners consisting of three parallel lines: thick, thin, thick.  The page borders options don't allow for rounded corners (and also only allow two parallel lines), so I thought I could do it with a shape object moved into the background, but since there aren't any parallel line options for shape objects this can't be done.

Steps to Reproduce:
0. Create a new LibreOffice Writer document.
1. Choose "Insert" -> "Shape" -> "Basic" -> "Rectangle, Rounded".
2. Choose "Format" -> "Text Box and Shape" -> "Line".
3. Click "Line Styles".
4. Click the "Line style" drop down and read the list of available line styles.
5. Click "Add" and enter a name for a new line style.
6. Observe the controls/options available for defining the new line style.

Actual Results:
In step 4, all available line styles take up the width of the line.  There are no styles for two or three parallel lines.

In step 6, there are no controls allowing creation of line styles consisting of two or three parallel lines.

Expected Results:
I expected to find (and am requesting to have added as a feature enhancement) line styles similar to those in InDesign: thin-thin, thin-thick, thick-thin, thick-thick, thin-thin-thin, thin-thin-thick, thin-thick-thin, thin-thick-thick, thick-thin-thin, thick-thin-thick, thick-thick-thin, thick-thick-thick.

If these did not already exist, I was expecting to have some way to create line styles such as these.

(It would be a bonus if the relative width or spacing of the lines could be adjusted, but that's really not very important.  Even InDesign doesn't have that capability, just a lengthy pre-programmed list of available styles similar to what I've listed above.)


Reproducible: Always


User Profile Reset: No



Additional Info:
Alternatively (or in addition), the page border feature could be extended to allow for rounded corners, but I think the enhancement I've described would be more flexible.  The page border feature still doesn't have the option to have three parallel lines, which would be necessary for the specific outcome I'm trying to create.
Comment 1 Mike Weilgart 2020-03-13 07:28:10 UTC
Created attachment 158662 [details]
Screenshot showing InDesign line styles

Here is a screenshot showing the line style dropdown menu from InDesign, which includes the effect I am going for (Thick - Thin - Thick) as well as several others.

Note that dashed lines are handled separately from all the other styles; when "Dashed" is chosen, the options then appear which let the user adjust the length and sequence of the dashes.  (The point being that Adobe didn't find it necessary to allow the "Thick - Thin - Thick" line to *also* be a dashed line, and I don't think it's necessary either.)
Comment 2 Dieter 2020-03-15 07:44:52 UTC
Mike, if you add keyword "needsUXEval" you should add libreoffice-ux-advise@lists.freedesktop.org (I did it for you)

Although I don't think that writer should copy InDesign (because writer is a progrm for text), it's wothr to think about the option for multiple lines.

See also discussion about line styles in bug 126649
Comment 3 Heiko Tietze 2020-03-16 08:41:47 UTC
We are restricted to the ODF definition. And lines are simple - as needed for an office suite. You can solve your problem with a couple of shapes, but I admit it's not convenient.

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 126649 ***