Created attachment 180370 [details] DOCX file where the problem occurs Open attached DOCX file and then open the Navigator. In the Headings section there are some empty entries that are shown. I think this happens because the author of the document accidentally applied a heading style to empty lines, which caused them to appear in the navigator. I would like to discuss the possibility of hiding such empty entries in the Navigator. Showing them in the navigator does not look good and might confuse users, who might even consider this to be a LO import bug. System info: Version: 7.4.0.0.alpha1+ / LibreOffice Community Build ID: ad6905f9a09c63712ba0aaffc700923246d21e55 CPU threads: 16; OS: Linux 5.13; UI render: default; VCL: kf5 (cairo+xcb) Locale: pt-BR (pt_BR.UTF-8); UI: en-US Calc: CL
Created attachment 180371 [details] Screenshot of the Navigator with empty entries
Created attachment 180372 [details] Navigator in MS Word hides empty headings MS Word hides empty headings, as shown in this screenshot of the same DOCX file.
I confirm the behaviour. It is not related to docx-files. You can find it also in every odt-file. I like it, because it gives you a very quick hint of wrong formatting or layout in the document or superfluous paragraphs. Normally headings have a different formatting than default style in a document (bold, diffenret font size, paragraph spacing, ...) and so you can correct it very fast. For me clearly NAB.
Definitely NAB. Question is, is acceptable as an enhancement? In my view, WontFix for 2 reasons, 1st one given by Dieter, 2nd one that Headings have not Settings where one can filter. On the other side, ToC doesn't show empty headings, that shoulb be enough. If you still think differently, please set Unconfirmed with UX.
(In reply to Timur from comment #4) > Definitely NAB. > Question is, is acceptable as an enhancement? Hi Dieter and Timur, I agree with both of you that this is NAB. When I created this, my intention was that it should be evaluated as an enhancement request, so that we could hide empty entries in the Headings section of the navigator. The issue with the current LO Writer implementation is that it is not possible to hide such entries, so we end up with a very long Headings list with empty entries, which is not helpful for one who is reading a document and navigating through it. I work as a lecturer and I often have to review long dissertations that come with these empty headings and having them shown in the Navigator is a problem for this use case. So I believe we could have an option in the Heading section of the Navigator (accessible by right-clicking it) that would "Hide empty headings". This way we could maintain the original behavior and provide a way to hide such entries for users who are only navigating through a long document. I am redefining the title of this request and setting it back to UNCONFIRMED so that it gets reevaluated as an enhancement request.
For me if there are any empty headings in the document then it's just a wrong formatting or outline in the document anyway. And implementing any additional options around this area will be fully wrong
(In reply to Roman Kuznetsov from comment #6) > For me if there are any empty headings in the document then it's just a > wrong formatting or outline in the document anyway. And implementing any > additional options around this area will be fully wrong Hi Roman, I know that this is a formatting error made by the author of the document. Many MS Word users apply a Heading 1 style and then press Enter multiple times replicating the style and creating these empty entries. However, the purpose of the Navigator is to help the reader navigate through the document and not to highlight where the original author made styling mistakes. My argument here is that the Navigator is not fulfilling its mission when it shows empty entries. And I would like to be able to hide them. This is what MS Word already does and from the standpoint of usability, it's a better user experience.
No, MSO 2016 also shows empty lines after 4.2 in Navigation Page.
(In reply to Timur from comment #4) > ...2nd one that Headings have not Settings where one can filter. Don't get this. (In reply to Timur from comment #8) > No, MSO 2016 also shows empty lines after 4.2 in Navigation Page. So the screenshot from MSO is taken with an outdated version?
(In reply to Rafael Lima from comment #7) > Hi Roman, I know that this is a formatting error made by the author of the > document. I expect, that a program reveals formatting errors and doesn't hide them. > Many MS Word users apply a Heading 1 style and then press Enter > multiple times replicating the style and creating these empty entries. If Timur is right and MS Word shows this formatting error, I hope, that a lot of MS Word users will learn to avoid empty paragraphs with heading style.
(In reply to Timur from comment #8) > No, MSO 2016 also shows empty lines after 4.2 in Navigation Page. Hi Timur, indeed you're right. In MS Word all entries are expanded by default so the empty entries ended up being at the bottom and I made the mistake of not seeing them. When I collapsed them, I could see the empty headings in Word. So I confirm that indeed MS Word shows these empty entries. (In reply to Heiko Tietze from comment #9) > So the screenshot from MSO is taken with an outdated version? I am using an active Office 365 license at the university (desktop version), which is supposed to be up-to-date. In summary, I still think having an option to hide empty headings would help those reading a document (instead of users editing it). But maybe this use case may be too niche for it becoming a new feature in Writer.
Created attachment 180428 [details] Navigation pane in Word does show empty headings
That would be definitely *bad*. Navigator should help; that is not "hide what I did wrong, since I want to keep doing that", but "help me doing that right way". But even without that conceptual badness - you would immediately create discrepancy between e.g. Navigator's outline, and ToC using the outline; why does my Navigator show three chapters, and my ToC shows some empty chapters? Why doesn't Navigator help me? Why ToC is buggy?... WF.
(In reply to Mike Kaganski from comment #13) > ...you would immediately create discrepancy between e.g. Navigator's outline, > and ToC using the outline We do have a discrepancy, the ToC hides empty headings.
(In reply to Heiko Tietze from comment #14) I stand corrected; I must check instead of relying on flaky memory. I still consider it bad, and I am sad to see this in ToC; but my position is not strong anymore, and if others consider it worthy, please open it again.
(In reply to Heiko Tietze from comment #14) > We do have a discrepancy, the ToC hides empty headings. That's OK, ToC is customizable, and Navigator is not. Behavior is similar to MSO and logical and useful.
Opposite of this request namely to show empty headings in the ToC as well, is going to be WF'ed in the follow-up ticket bug 149381.