Description: Unable to import word lines containing style separator. Lines break into two in Writer, making paragraphs incompatible and meaning incomprehensible Steps to Reproduce: 1.Type say 3 lines in Word e.g (Heading 1) Apple (style separator, Normal style) shall mean a piece of fruit 2. repeat for say 3 lines 3. Open saved Word document in Writer Actual Results: 3 lines Word docx format breaks up into 6 lines odf format rendering 3 paragraphs into 6 (as would be for contracts etc.) Expected Results: odf should return 3 lines same as docx Reproducible: Always User Profile Reset: No Additional Info: Require formulation of equivalent to Word same line style separator so that docx format can be saved to odf with no breaking apart of sentences or paragraphs
Thank you for reporting the bug. It seems you're using an old version of LibreOffice. Could you please try to reproduce it with the latest version of LibreOffice from https://www.libreoffice.org/download/libreoffice-fresh/ ? I have set the bug's status to 'NEEDINFO'. Please change it back to 'UNCONFIRMED' if the bug is still present in the latest version. Change to RESOLVED WORKSFORME, if the problem went away.
Tested on LO v6.4.3.1(x64) and still unable to import word lines containing style separator. Lines break into two in Writer, making paragraphs incompatible and meaning incomprehensible
Please attach an example document (coming from MS Word, not touched by LibreOffice). Set to NEEDINFO. Change back to UNCONFIRMED after you have provided the document. Please also mention the version of MS Office you used.
Created attachment 162196 [details] Word document to be saved in ODT format with equal no. lines Attached is original Word document that cannot be replicated in Writer. Need is for a style separator equivalent in Word. Article 1 is typical in legal documents with paragraphs normally being 1-3 lines for say 15 to 30 separate definitions. In contracts the use of the style separator enables lines to be held together tightly. Further, the abbreviated definition headings are retains in PDF versions, making full use of the PDF bookmarks index without cluttering whole lines of text into each PDF bookmark. Article 2 for usage reference (multiple style separators used, but only first entry in a given paragraph appears in the navigation pane)
Created attachment 162207 [details] PDF exported from MSO 2013
Thanks for the reference. I see you already reported this 2 years ago in bug 122159 Looks like this is a bit of an obscure feature as this article says MS doesn't include any help content for it: https://office-watch.com/2016/style-separators-in-word/
Word style separators are perhaps the key feature lacking in Libreoffice that prevents widespread Law office/legislator usage of LO Writer. I translate patents and other documents for US Federal court (+ other jurisdictions) and first came aware of the use of style separators to minimize navigation pane content to essential content (instructions from judge's clerk). Basically it means only the essential part of a heading can now be indexed in the navigation pane/pdf bookmarks (converted from word). There is extensive discussion of style separators in the Microsoft community demonstrating the important - not obscure - role of this function: e.g. •Formatting issue with style separator when combined with equations and automatic numbering (Office 2013) Nov 19, 2015 https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/formatting-issue-with-style-separator-when/e32e9e4e-5edd-4103-88a8-9cdf65a94458 •Updating TOC breaks style separators (Ctrl+Alt+Enter) Jun 17, 2020 https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/updating-toc-breaks-style-separators-ctrlaltenter/a248dd2e-31e0-47de-8874-22bf1473849e •Run-in sidehead in TOC Nov 10, 2013 https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/run-in-sidehead-in-toc/0c1b77e3-4c3c-4324-8277-e8f4f51d37d7 ◧ As for discussion of use in university thesis writing of style separators as an example: "Creating an Inline Heading" mentioning that the APA style defines a level-three heading as being indented in italic on the same line as the first sentence in the paragraph. https://wordribbon.tips.net/T012723_Creating_an_Inline_Heading.html So the issue is VERY IMPORTANT as it is a programming omission that renders Writer unusable in perhaps all complex document preparation. If the task is too difficult pls advise so we know whether this key feature can finally be included or not.
This is an ongoing issue that has been reported in at least two separate bug report and the developers have responded once with "ways to accomplish this without developing an actual style separator" (my description) and, in this bug report, "Looks like this is a bit of an obscure feature as this article says MS doesn't include any help content for it." In the case of both bug reports with which I am familiar, the users were trying to compose legal documents that have very specific formatting requirements. I have also had this requirement when I was composing Contract documents, and I can insure the developers that the suggested workarounds (they hate that word) are not acceptable to the attorneys. That is one reason why we were forced to use MS Word, because it has a built-in Style Separator. And I can assure the developers that if this is an "obscure" feature for most users, it is not a trivial or obsolete feature and it is not obscure for those whose work requires it. It it was trivial and unnecessary, MS would not have included it in Microsoft 365 Word, and they would have by now removed it from the desktop version of Word. If the devs simply don't want to be bothered with something that is critical to some small (but significant) portion of users and potential users, just say so; however, the tone of this and other discussions on this topic is one seems to me to be a bit too incredulous and dismissive on the dev side. If there is no appetite for ever addressing this issue with the one acceptable solution—to develop a built-in Style Separator that mimics the outcome of the MS Style Separator—please spare us any more effort on our part making the request, providing the rationale, and sending example file. Thanks for all that you do, and thanks for listening. LO is a great product, much better than MS Word in most respects, but not an option for those people who work with legal documents, unfortunately.
This is similar to the request for "inline heading", see bug 46023, bug 48459, bug 153904 and bug 160087.
László Németh committed a patch related to this issue. It has been pushed to "master": https://git.libreoffice.org/core/commit/56588663a0fddc005c12afaa7d3f8874d036875f tdf#131728 sw inline heading: fix DOCX paragraph layout interoperability It will be available in 25.2.0. The patch should be included in the daily builds available at https://dev-builds.libreoffice.org/daily/ in the next 24-48 hours. More information about daily builds can be found at: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Testing_Daily_Builds Affected users are encouraged to test the fix and report feedback.
Fixed layout for the reported test document. New issues will be filed for the clean-up (e.g. for different paragraph margins of the heading and the following paragraph) and follow-up (adding DOCX export). @brucehatfield@gmail.com and all: thanks for the bug report and feedback!
Commit description: tdf#131728 sw inline heading: fix DOCX paragraph layout interoperability Fix layout of paragraph – which contains two paragraph styles – by importing OOXML style separator using a text frame. Inline headings – where there is no paragraph break after the heading, i.e. it's followed by the normal paragraph content – specified by w:specVanish in OOXML, i.e. a special paragraph with hidden paragraph mark. These headings were loaded as normal, separated paragraphs, breaking the paragraph layout with their paragraph breaks. Map inline headings to inline ODF text frames to keep paragraph layout. The frame contains the original inline paragraph, still keeping ODF ToC and PDF bookmark support.
Created attachment 197156 [details] Frame-inserted paragraph approach destroys document Inserting into a frame of the paragraph, after which paragraph_style should be different, is only a workaround for document viewing. There should be implementation of the same/similar concept as style separator in MS Office Word: The CTRL+ALT+Enter function in word creates a pilcrow with a dotted box around it. https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/formatting-issue-with-style-separator-when/e32e9e4e-5edd-4103-88a8-9cdf65a94458 https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/ctrlaltenter-function-in-word-2010/3d3f2583-f56a-4aaf-8e38-267c5723eedc https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/updating-toc-breaks-style-separators-ctrlaltenter/a248dd2e-31e0-47de-8874-22bf1473849e commit 56588663a0fddc005c12afaa7d3f8874d036875f This commit is not yet a solution to the interoperability issue with the style separator. Having inserted improper "basic-paragraph" instead of actual style-separator is less harmful than present behavior, which destroys formatting after reopening. This behavior should not be released, or a real style-separator should be implemented. Used software (1), (4): Microsoft® Word dla Microsoft 365 MSO (wersja 2409 kompilacji 16.0.18025.20160) 64-bit (2), (5): Version: 7.6.5.2 (X86_64) / LibreOffice Community Build ID: 38d5f62f85355c192ef5f1dd47c5c0c0c6d6598b CPU threads: 4; OS: Windows 10.0 Build 22621; UI render: Skia/Vulkan; VCL: win Locale: pl-PL (pl_PL); UI: en-US Calc: CL threaded (3), (6): Version: 25.2.0.0.alpha0+ (X86_64) / LibreOffice Community Build ID: 224fae69b224d28a1664c48117e77265ed67a136 CPU threads: 4; OS: Windows 11 X86_64 (10.0 build 22621); UI render: Skia/Vulkan; VCL: win Locale: pl-PL (pl_PL); UI: pl-PL Calc: CL threaded
Created attachment 197157 [details] Word format separator.docx Result of commit 56588663a0fddc005c12afaa7d3f8874d036875f 1) In LO save "Word format separator.docx" as DOCX. 2) Reopen. Result: → Appears an empty frame with width of paragraph length, then after this frame text of a separated paragraph overlaps the preceding paragraph. → Each next occurrence of frame shifts text to the right (as if using a tabulator).
(In reply to Piotr Osada from comment #14) > Created attachment 197157 [details] > Word format separator.docx > > Result of commit 56588663a0fddc005c12afaa7d3f8874d036875f > > 1) In LO save "Word format separator.docx" as DOCX. > 2) Reopen. > > Result: > → Appears an empty frame with width of paragraph length, then after this > frame text of a separated paragraph overlaps the preceding paragraph. > → Each next occurrence of frame shifts text to the right (as if using a > tabulator). ODT does not show such "tabulated result".
(In reply to László Németh from comment #11) > Fixed layout for the reported test document. New issues will be filed for > the clean-up (e.g. for different paragraph margins of the heading and the > following paragraph) and follow-up (adding DOCX export). > > @brucehatfield@gmail.com and all: thanks for the bug report and feedback! Piotr: please be more careful and read what László wrote.
László Németh committed a patch related to this issue. It has been pushed to "master": https://git.libreoffice.org/core/commit/d87cf67f8f3346a1e380383917a3a4552fd9248e tdf#131728 sw inline heading: fix missing/broken DOCX export It will be available in 25.2.0. The patch should be included in the daily builds available at https://dev-builds.libreoffice.org/daily/ in the next 24-48 hours. More information about daily builds can be found at: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Testing_Daily_Builds Affected users are encouraged to test the fix and report feedback.
Full commit description of the export fix: tdf#131728 sw inline heading: fix missing/broken DOCX export Fix layout interoperability during DOCX round-trip by grab- bagging w:p/w:pPr/w:rPr/w:specVanish, i.e. the style separators. Note: use FrameInteropGrabBag to select the text frames, which are inline headings, exporting only their text content (a single paragraph), and use also ParaInteropGrabBag to export w:specVanish. Note: specVanish lost completely originally, converting inline headings to normal paragraphs. After commit 56588663a0fddc005c12afaa7d3f8874d036875f, text frames (the workaround for inline heading/ToC/bookmark support) were exported instead of plain paragraphs, which were broken at least in LibreOffice. Follow-up to commit 56588663a0fddc005c12afaa7d3f8874d036875f "tdf#131728 sw inline heading: fix DOCX paragraph layout interoperability".
@Piotr Osada: the DOCX export is already fixed, but there are a few other problems yet: 1) the order of the PDF bookmarks doesn't follow the ToC order, 2) no easy access to create inline headings in Writer. These are the next topics to add to the recent implementation. Thanks for your feedback!
László Németh committed a patch related to this issue. It has been pushed to "master": https://git.libreoffice.org/core/commit/49765a9e7be41d4908729ff7d838755276b244cb tdf#48459 tdf#131728 sw inline heading: new frame style: fix DOCX export It will be available in 25.2.0. The patch should be included in the daily builds available at https://dev-builds.libreoffice.org/daily/ in the next 24-48 hours. More information about daily builds can be found at: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Testing_Daily_Builds Affected users are encouraged to test the fix and report feedback.
Note: see fixed PDF bookmark generation in Bug 95239 for the DOCX import.
Note: see fixed XHTML export in Bug 163874 for the DOCX import.
Note: see fixed HTML export in Bug 163873 for the DOCX import. (The previous fix was about the XSLT XHTML filter.)