Description: Libreoffice Writer doesn't display correctly a special field. Steps to Reproduce: 1. New document 2. Type "Title 1" 3. Apply Style "Heading 1" 4. New line 5. On this new line, Format > Paragraph > Outline & List > Outline Level > "Level 1" 6. On this very line, Insert Special field "Chapter name" Actual Results: The chapter name is not displayed at all. Expected Results: The chapter name should be displayed correctly. Reproducible: Always User Profile Reset: No Additional Info: Weirdly, if you switch step 3 and step 5, the actual result is perfect. Insight: https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=146627#c6
Created attachment 177685 [details] Contains the bug You cannot see the content of the Special field in this file, this is the bug
Created attachment 177686 [details] title-then-special-field works (no bugs here but almost the same)
Erratum to my first comment: Additional Info: Weirdly, if you switch step 5 and step 6, the actual result is perfect.
Oh wow, now I'm reopening the 2 files, both display the bug! So actually, the bug does not show up immediately if you switch step 5 and step 6, which is even worse.
To make more visible what happens: 1. Open attachment 177686 [details] 2. type somthing into second paragraph Result: Field displays text of second paragraph Both both paragraphs have outline level 1 (although they have different styles). Field takes chapter name from the nearest paragraph with outline level 1. Expected result: Field should display chapter name from first paragraph with outline level 1 on that page. Although I wouldn't expect current result, it might be the desired one. Adding Design-Team. Bug 93904 is at least related.
By setting an outline level you make this paragraph the current chapter. And since it's empty the chapter name will be empty too. Dieter's hint shows the issue and you should also enable field shading. => NAB (Minor issue: a field being part of its references would infinitely duplicate itself but doesn't. "123" results in "123123121211" meaning the key stroke is taken somehow. Sounds not really safe and we should block it somehow.)
Thank you for your answer Heiko. The 2 files were not displaying the same thing as I made them... is that really supposed to happen? Clearly something is wrong to my eyes, and what's more, very difficult to detect... again for untrained eyes (for mine it took hours to write/understand the bug, Dieter said it took him a while too, probably 5 minutes haha... Isn't that too much already?) I know Bugzilla is not a platform for help, but I confess I don't understand how the «outline» hierarchy and the «heading» hierarchy are interrelated. How/Why do they cancel each other out? Is there any help file on the Internet where I can learn how they block each other? (I understand vaguely that in LO, a title should not be in a list and viceversa? Is that so?) If this is the expected result, at least add something to a help file somewhere? PS: I actually found what I think are 5 incomprehensible bugs like this one in a file I had to help a friend edit, and I thought this one was the most obvious one, a «lost chapter title» is clearly still a bug to me -- at least a UI really unpleasant experience -- so if there is no problem here... I won't even try to identify the other four, lest I lose my time, and yours too.
(In reply to Nucleos from comment #7) > I don't understand > how the «outline» hierarchy and the «heading» hierarchy are interrelated. > How/Why do they cancel each other out? In LibreOffice Writer, there is an outline concept, where normal text has outline level 0, and any paragraph with outline level greater than 0 defines a "heading". There are some convenience heading paragraph styles, just for user to avoid the hassle of defining their own heading styles, or worse - defining headings manually by setting outline levels at specific paragraphs; and these styles indeed already have proper outline levels. But they do not limit user's ability to define other styles with outline levels; or to format paragraphs to have those levels manually, at which point, such formatted paragraphs become headings without any style application. So outline is actual heading, and "Heading N" styles are just convenience methods. That is their interrelations. Please see our help [1], and out documentation [2]. [1] https://help.libreoffice.org/ [2] https://documentation.libreoffice.org/en/english-documentation/
Olivier, Seth: Do we have/need a documentation specifically on the topic outline? Searching the online help for "outline" returns https://help.libreoffice.org/latest/en-US/text/swriter/guide/chapter_numbering.html?DbPAR=WRITER#bm_id3147682 which maybe does not explain the underlying concept enough.
(In reply to Heiko Tietze from comment #9) > What Removed Added > Component Writer deletionRequest Why the component change like this?
(In reply to Mike Kaganski from comment #10) > Why the component change like this? Because it was the choice before "Documentation" - is there such a thing as a "mouse-o"?
(In reply to Heiko Tietze from comment #9) > Olivier, Seth: Do we have/need a documentation specifically on the topic see bug 137829 and bug 137281 Otherwise, there is a discussion in the Writer's Guide (see comment 8, ref 2)
@Nucleos For line 6 in comment 0, did you use: Insert - Field - More Fields - Document tab - Type: Chapter Why didn't you use: Insert - Field - More Fields - Cross-References tab - Type: Headings (Insert reference to Chapter) Maybe the issue here is understanding special fields and not outline levels? You did not really explain what you were trying to accomplish.
Thank you for your question. I guess my goal here was to understand how I could explain their errors to my students. I understand now that this report is actually not a bug, but a situation where many different bad decisions in the past of LO led to this. 1) I'm still surprised by "inverting step 5 and 6" in my report does not get the same results, this is still only expressed in this notabug report, I let you decide that this is definitely something you want in LO: only when you quit and reopen the file can you be sure to know what the file really looks like in terms of this Special field, which is updated automagically but sometimes computes wrongly its content. 2) Let me use abbreviations here: * Heading Style : HS (with HS0 = Text body) * Outline Level : OL (with OL0 = Text body) Regular users usually use styles with a HS=OL mindset. You then check the OL of a particular line by clicking on it, look at the top left corner and because HS is displayed clearly, you get your OL through HS=OL. I'm completely flabbergasted that LO lets user define lines with: * OL0, HS0 * OL1, HS0 * OL0, HS1 I guess it can allow some tweaks in the ToC, but it allows users to shoot themselves in the foot, and I think this is the one of the two main reasons why my students were so weirded out by LO. At least a warning against that kind of behaviour would be nice, but to my eyes the idea that HS1 can describe something else than OL1 is wrong. 3) I'm also surprised that "Chapter numbering" actually is exactly "Outline levels numbering" and that LO incorporated a new word just to please translation teams, see bug 107573. It means my long questioning on “what is the link between chapter name's level and outline level?” could have been answered immediately without this blurry choice of having two names for the same algorithm. 4) A newline after OL1 is OL1, except with HS1 where newline is Text Body. This is the other main reasons why my students were lost. I do not see how a user should want to type many OL1 lines one after another. 5) HS0 (default style) is called "text body" and OL0 (the lowest chapter (!) number) is "text body", but to call a style and a OL with the same name is ambiguous. To sum it up, the names 'Chapter', 'Heading Style' (HS), 'Outline Level' (OL) are three very slightly different things, difficult to keep in mind for a regular user because sometimes they are exactly the same, sometimes not. (Indeed chapter are exactly outline levels, but you can find Outline numbering no more.) Through my enquiries, I've been told: 1) this is the expected behaviour -- some user wants this 2) do not use Outline levels if you do not know what they should do 3) please work with doc, not with us As a result, I will do what I was told to do: stick with documentation effort. I will no more report or partake in bugs about this outside of doc.
(In reply to Nucleos from comment #14) > my goal here was to understand how I could explain their errors to my students. Thanks for your detailed explanation. I understand now that your focus was not on special fields (or outline levels for that matter). > 1) I'm still surprised by "inverting step 5 and 6" in my report does not get > the same results, this is still only expressed in this notabug report, Explanation was given (and slight inelegancy noted) in comment 6. Note that if you changed the outline level to anything but Level 1, then the order of steps 5 and 6 would not matter. > my long questioning on “what is the link between chapter name's level and > outline level?” could have been answered immediately without this blurry > choice of having two names for the same algorithm. If you do not think that bug 137281 has included this point, then you could add it there. > To sum it up...I will stick with documentation effort. You seem to have some insight into the possibilities and pitfalls for HS, OL, etc. and understand that bug reports for the help pages can be filed here -- also suggestions for where in the existing help pages specific information could be added. (Suggestions for the Writer's Guide should be sent to: documentation@global.libreoffice.org)
(In reply to Nucleos from comment #14) > As a result, I will do what I was told to do: stick with documentation > effort. I will no more report or partake in bugs about this outside of doc. That would be a pity. I fully understand your confusion and agree to limit it (see also bug 62032). But we have to convince the developers and consider legacy documents.