Bug 141400 - LO should remember settings of last user session
Summary: LO should remember settings of last user session
Status: NEW
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Writer (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
6.0.0.3 release
Hardware: x86-64 (AMD64) Windows (All)
: medium enhancement
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks: Dialog-Remember-Settings
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Reported: 2021-03-31 16:52 UTC by Christian Lehmann
Modified: 2022-08-02 09:32 UTC (History)
4 users (show)

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Crash report or crash signature:


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Description Christian Lehmann 2021-03-31 16:52:25 UTC
At close, Writer only remembers the setting of the document last closed. If one had three documents at the end of a session and opens them again next day, one has to remember which of them was the last one being closed in order to restore the setting for at least this one. The other documents will be opened with the same setting, so one has to rearrange them manually.
Given that there is, at any rate, a list of recent documents, Writer should remember at close, for each document: the position of the text cursor, the setting of the Navigator and the Styles sidebars, the size and the position of the document window; and it should restore these at FILEOPEN.
The status of the Find Bar, instead, should be 'closed'; currently, it is remembered.

I had suggested this enhancement long ago for an earlier version. Nothing has happened. Nor can I find that earlier report.
Comment 1 Mike Kaganski 2021-04-02 07:35:53 UTC
The last position of text cursor in documents is saved since OOo; this requires to have some data (user name) set up in LibreOffice Options: this allows *author* (the user with the name data matching that in the document) to see the cursor position (which is relevant for *author*), and all others to see the document from start (since for others, the last cursor position is irrelevant).

So this part of the request is already implemented, and if it doesn't work as intended for you, it would be a bug.
Comment 2 Christian Lehmann 2021-04-02 07:55:49 UTC
Mike, you are right for the cursor position. I just wanted to be complete when composing the list of things to be remembered.
Comment 3 Christian Lehmann 2021-04-21 08:49:13 UTC
Bugs related to this one: 41777, 67418.
Comment 4 Dieter 2022-03-08 15:52:26 UTC
(In reply to Christian Lehmann from comment #3)
> Bugs related to this one: 41777, 67418.

Windows size is bug 41777. So following settings remain from your original bug report:
- Setting of the Navigator
- Setting of the Styles Sidebar

Could you please specify your understanding of "setting"?

If style tab in sidebar is open when closing LO, it is present when reopening the document and displays style at cursor position. Same with navigator


=> NEEDINFO
Comment 5 Christian Lehmann 2022-03-08 16:34:56 UTC
Dieter, please follow these steps:

Make a file called 'test1', size its window to the leftmost third of your screen, save it and keep it open.

Make a file called 'test2', size its window to the mid third of your screen, open the Navigator, save the file and keep it open.

Make a file called 'test3', size its window to the right third of your screen, open the Styles bar, save the file and keep it open.

Remember these settings (as written here) and close the three files in the order of their names.

Open the files in any order, for instance in the order of their names, or in reverse order. Check the window position and the side bar visibility.

In my installation, none of the above settings is preserved, and in fact I have not been able to recognize any rationale in what LO Writer is doing in these respects. Thus, I cannot confirm your observations.
Comment 6 QA Administrators 2022-03-09 03:47:16 UTC Comment hidden (obsolete)
Comment 7 Dieter 2022-03-09 13:14:38 UTC
Tested with

Version: 7.3.1.2 (x64) / LibreOffice Community
Build ID: 9fff0292474d6d0bf5df787b512c71d9ac4bc98e
CPU threads: 4; OS: Windows 10.0 Build 19044; UI render: Skia/Raster; VCL: win
Locale: de-DE (de_DE); UI: en-GB
Calc: CL

Result
- All documents are opened in the left third of the screen (not expected)
- Not clear to which document navigator does belong (floating window)
- There is no document with open sidebar (and styles open)

=> NEW
Comment 8 Dieter 2022-03-09 13:15:51 UTC
Since it is an enhancement I add Design-Team for a double-check
Comment 9 Heiko Tietze 2022-03-11 10:19:18 UTC
What size should we use for new documents? Consider both cases, starting from the start center and using File > New.

What should happen when opening a document from within the application (File > Open). Do you expect the new window to jump to the last position of the document?
Comment 10 Heiko Tietze 2022-03-11 10:30:54 UTC
We currently store the window position even when nothing is saved; what should happen here?
Comment 11 Christian Lehmann 2022-03-11 15:49:56 UTC
The following suggestions on the last questions presuppose that the enhancement sought will store, for those documents which figure in the list of 25 Recent Documents, the size and position of the window last occupied by each of them.

On Comment 9:
A new document should always be opened in a window whose dimensions approach A4 format (or Letter format, for US users), as this would fit the intentions of most users.

If a new document is opened from the Start Center, its window should remain within the confines of the Start Center window, since this is being replaced. If the Start Center window borders on one of the vertical edges of the screen, the new document should do the same.

If a new document is opened by File > New, the default assumption would appear to be that the user wants to keep his current document open and open the new one in addition. If so, he will want minimum overlap between the two documents. Consequently, position the new window at the opposite vertical edge of the screen.

If a document is opened by double-clicking its file in the File Manager, then if it is one of the 25 Recent Documents, see above. Otherwise, it should be treated like a new document opened by File > New, with the File Manager taking the role of an open LO document for the purpose of window positioning (if LO can recognize the File Manager's window position).


On Comment 10:
If a document is opened (and maybe edited), but not saved, nothing is to be done: If it is one of the Recent Documents, its window position remains stored. Otherwise, the above treatment for new documents and for older existent documents applies.

Heiko, not sure whether this is what you meant.
Comment 12 Christian Lehmann 2022-03-11 15:54:44 UTC
Yet another question concerns the best position for a New Window opened for a document that is already open. It should probably be treated like a New Document opened by File > New: the user will most probably want to have it on the opposite side of his screen. (No idea on what should happen if a third window on the same document is opened ...).
Comment 13 Cor Nouws 2022-03-15 18:37:08 UTC
Hi Christian,

(In reply to Christian Lehmann from comment #0)
> At close, Writer only remembers the setting of the document last closed. If
> one had three documents at the end of a session and opens them again next
> day, one has to remember which of them was the last one being closed in
> order to restore the setting for at least this one. The other documents will

You will get the last one by choosing File > Recent Documents > #1
Does that help?
Comment 14 Christian Lehmann 2022-03-16 08:41:30 UTC
On the one hand, if this principle worked, it would not be helpful for the user. The order in which he closes open files depends on contingent factors and is not actually something easy to remember.

However, in my installation, the principle does not even work reliably. Even the file last closed sometimes opens in a window of the size of the start center.
Comment 15 Heiko Tietze 2022-03-17 06:59:07 UTC
This topic was on the agenda at the design meeting.

The use case, to have two documents side by side, is relevant and we should store the window position with the document. As today, new documents should take the position/size of the last session, even when the document was not not saved. The (to be introduced) document's window position/size overrules the workstation info.
Comment 16 Carri March 2022-08-02 09:32:30 UTC Comment hidden (off-topic)