Bug 150975 - View > Navigator (F5) summons a second navigator instead of opening the sidebar deck (comment 18)
Summary: View > Navigator (F5) summons a second navigator instead of opening the sideb...
Status: RESOLVED NOTABUG
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: UI (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
4.4 all versions
Hardware: All All
: medium minor
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords:
Depends on: 85905
Blocks: Sidebar Navigator
  Show dependency treegraph
 
Reported: 2022-09-15 13:20 UTC by Aleix
Modified: 2024-11-01 21:15 UTC (History)
4 users (show)

See Also:
Crash report or crash signature:


Attachments
screenshot with 2 navigation panes (157.99 KB, image/png)
2022-09-15 13:20 UTC, Aleix
Details
Video showing how to dock the Navigator (474.30 KB, video/mp4)
2022-09-16 20:21 UTC, Rafael Lima
Details

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Description Aleix 2022-09-15 13:20:16 UTC
Created attachment 182466 [details]
screenshot with 2 navigation panes

Hi,
First, thanks to all developers and community members for such a great app!

I guess the following might be considered either a minor bug or a non-well-documented new feature. I spent about 30 min till I realised what was going on.

The issue arose when I called the navigation pane for the first time with F5 or view/navigation pane. A floating navigation pane appeared but was undockable. Since I was new to LO7 I spent about 30 min trying to understand why I could not dock this navigation pane. I read the official docs and only mentioned dragging it to the side, but this would not work nor other methods (e.g. ctrl+shift+F10).

Then I realised that there was already a navigation pane embedded in the side pane. Then I had 2 navigation panes open simultaneouly: the floating, undockable one and the one embedded in the side pane (which can be undocked and docked) (see attached screenshot)

So, either this is a bug, and only a single navigation pane should be allowed at any time, and the one embedded in the side pane should open/expand when calling the navigation pane. Or this is a new feature through which one can have 2 navigation panes simultaneously, which should be explained in the official docs to avoid confusions. 

I hope this helps!
Best
Aleix
Comment 1 Rafael Lima 2022-09-15 19:43:57 UTC
The Navigator you open using F5 works independently from the one available in Writer's sidebar.

However it can be docked. You simply have to hold down Ctrl and then double-click anywhere empty in the Navigator window. In my case it'll dock to the left-side of the document.

Can you check if this works?

The following help pages provide this info:

https://help.libreoffice.org/latest/en-US/text/swriter/guide/resize_navigator.html?DbPAR=WRITER#bm_id3145088

https://help.libreoffice.org/latest/en-US/text/shared/guide/autohide.html?&DbPAR=WRITER&System=UNIX
Comment 2 Aleix 2022-09-15 23:04:24 UTC
Hi Rafael, thanks for your quick reply.

Regarding the navigator pane called by F5: in my case, it won't dock in any way (either ctrl + doubleclick on empty space, nor ctrl+shift+F10, nor dradding it with the titlebar close to the main window side). So perhaps it is a docking issue specific in my case. 

I am running ubuntu 22.04, and LO: Version: 7.3.5.2 / LibreOffice Community
Build ID: 30(Build:2)
CPU threads: 8; OS: Linux 5.15; UI render: default; VCL: gtk3
Locale: pt-BR (pt_BR.UTF-8); UI: en-US
Ubuntu package version: 1:7.3.5-0ubuntu0.22.04.1
Calc: threaded

However, I am still confused about having 2 navigators. Why calling F5 does not make the one in the side pane to expand? 

Also, I saw the docs you pointed to me. But in the main description of the navigator it does not mention that there is another way to access it: through the side pane (https://help.libreoffice.org/latest/en-US/text/swriter/01/02110000.html). 
And actually, you can have 2 navigators at the same time, which I find a bit strange, but maybe I am just not seeing the intended use of such feature...

Best
Aleix
Comment 3 QA Administrators 2022-09-16 03:42:21 UTC Comment hidden (obsolete)
Comment 4 Rafael Lima 2022-09-16 20:10:10 UTC
(In reply to Aleix from comment #2)
> However, I am still confused about having 2 navigators. Why calling F5 does
> not make the one in the side pane to expand? 

I too do not understand what's the use of having 2 navigators. Maybe it's a legacy feature and many users still like to have a floating navigator without having to undock the entire sidebar for that.

(In reply to Aleix from comment #2)
> Regarding the navigator pane called by F5: in my case, it won't dock in any
> way (either ctrl + doubleclick on empty space, nor ctrl+shift+F10, nor
> dradding it with the titlebar close to the main window side). So perhaps it
> is a docking issue specific in my case. 

This is weird. I've just tried using gtk3 backend and Ctrl+double-click did work to dock the navigator to the left.

Make sure you're double-clicking in the right place. It has to be in an empty position of the navigator.
Comment 5 Rafael Lima 2022-09-16 20:21:27 UTC
Created attachment 182506 [details]
Video showing how to dock the Navigator

Here's a video of how I dock the Navigator. Notice where I double-click. It has to be in an empty part of the window.
Comment 6 Aleix 2022-09-18 23:10:27 UTC
Hi,
I tried as you show in the video but it does not work for me. Not sure which backend I am using. It is a fresh install of ubuntu 22.04 with a couple of gnome extensions. Not sure if they can affect the docking behaviour.
Comment 7 Aleix 2022-10-11 17:58:10 UTC
Hi, trying to revive the issue. My navigation pane called by f5 does not dock to the main writer window, even trying 3 differents ways to do so. I found the same issue described here: https://ask.libreoffice.org/t/dock-navigator-in-writer/74242/6 which probably means I am not the only one experiencing this issue. 

I am using LO 7.3.6.2 in ubuntu 22.04 with wayland.

Any help will be more than welcome. I can do some testing if you tell me which commands to run since I am not a programmer.
Comment 8 Aleix 2022-11-08 23:29:06 UTC
OK, I've "solved it".... The "bug" was due to Wayland: in Wayland the navigator does not dock at all. In Xorg, it docks both by dragging or by using ctrl+shift+F10, although it does not dock by double-clicking on empty space.
Comment 9 Aleix 2022-11-08 23:29:45 UTC Comment hidden (obsolete)
Comment 10 Stéphane Guillou (stragu) 2023-01-11 10:58:37 UTC
(In reply to Aleix from comment #8)
> OK, I've "solved it".... The "bug" was due to Wayland: in Wayland the
> navigator does not dock at all. In Xorg, it docks both by dragging or by
> using ctrl+shift+F10, although it does not dock by double-clicking on empty
> space.

Yes, there is a justification in Bug 113330 about why the docking/undocking is disabled on Wayland, and a proposa in Bug 113416 to work around the limitation.

Let's keep this report focused on the apparently inconsistent UI.

Comparing:

- Write > View > Styles (of F11) pops up / focuses the corresponding sidebar deck (same as Ctrl + Alt + 2)
- Writer > View > Gallery (no shortcut) pops up / focuses the corresponding sidebar deck (Ctrl + Alt + 3)
- Calc > View > Function List (no shortcut) pops up / focuses the corresponding sidebar deck (Ctrl + Alt + 5)

VS:

- View > Navigator (or F5) opens a separate dialog even though there is a dedicated sidebar deck.

I'm sure some users find it comfortable to have a persistent Navigator while switching between sidebar decks as needed, but keen to hear what the UX team has to say about it.

Tested on:

Version: 7.6.0.0.alpha0+ (X86_64) / LibreOffice Community
Build ID: 5b3fd1af1247d4096451e5a768c3438fbccec2b2
CPU threads: 8; OS: Linux 5.15; UI render: default; VCL: gtk3
Locale: en-AU (en_AU.UTF-8); UI: en-US
Calc: threaded
Comment 11 Jean-Francois Nifenecker 2023-01-11 12:07:43 UTC
Removing the ability to have apparently two Navigators (meaning, one in the side pane and one "free") would cause much inconvenience, as stated by Stéphane on comment #10.

Advanced users very often want/need (in my situation, *always*) to have both the side pane and a free Navigator visible at once. In the side pane, I usually have the styles pane visible (but might want other panes at times). The combination of the styles pane and Navigator makes working with text documents and spreadsheets very easy and *efficient*.

If I cannot get the two tools at once on screen (and if I understand the request correctly), this would mean that I could only get one at a time.

Please, do NOT do that!
Comment 12 Roman Kuznetsov 2023-01-11 19:54:22 UTC
I think we discussed it hundred times already. I fully agree with Comment 11, I have the same use case for using Navigator as different thing in addition to the Sidebar

-1 from my side
Comment 13 Stéphane Guillou (stragu) 2023-01-11 22:57:56 UTC
Incidentally, I saw a bug report today in which the reporter's common setup has the navigator docked next to the sidebar: bug 151504.

I imagine this will end up as a "won't fix" because the Navigator might be the one dialog/panel that users want to have always available, across components.
Comment 14 Heiko Tietze 2023-01-12 09:00:35 UTC
Duplicate of bug 99618 (F5 should show the docked Navigator if the sidebar is open) being itself duplicated to bug 84502 (introduced ctrl+alt+<number> to open sidebar decks).

Having both the floating Navigator (ideally docked) and the Sidebar active is desired by many users. See for example bug 148460. And even more customization is requested in bug 85905 (undocking of "decks", rather tabs).

If the floating Navigator is docked (or probably if you are not using Wayland) you can move it from the left side to the right and have it underneath/above the Sidebar.

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 99618 ***
Comment 15 Mike Kaganski 2023-01-12 09:12:02 UTC
(In reply to Heiko Tietze from comment #14)
> Duplicate of bug 99618 (F5 should show the docked Navigator if the sidebar
> is open) being itself duplicated to bug 84502 ...
> 
> *** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 99618 ***

Why the bug that is itself a duplicate gets own duplicates? This distorts the picture, making the main bug have less dupes. Indeed, in this case when the main bug is already resolved, it might not make a big deal, but still. If bug 99618 is different enough to warrant own duplicates, then it should not be a dupe itself.
Comment 16 Heiko Tietze 2023-01-12 09:13:40 UTC
(In reply to Mike Kaganski from comment #15)
> Why the bug that is itself a duplicate gets own duplicates?

The forwarded bug solves the issue in a different way.
Comment 17 Mike Kaganski 2023-01-12 09:39:47 UTC
(In reply to Heiko Tietze from comment #16)

If bug 99618 is *solved* by that bug 84502, and *this* one is solved at the same way, then it's a dupe of 84502 the same way. And making dupes for dupes is simply *wrong*.

Otherwise, you need to clarify which of these bugs is *not* solved yet, and so which is not a dupe at all.
Comment 18 V Stuart Foote 2023-01-12 14:46:07 UTC
Actually this is NOT A BUG, the second instance of the Navigator SB Deck is intentional. 

This was *decided* in the see also bug 73151 during implementation of the Sidebar's TabBar (a TabBar as distinct from a Toolbar since it is not tb framework).

At the 4.4 release, the individual panels/dialogs i.e. the Stylist <F11>, Gallery, and Styles & Formatting were eliminated in favor of the SB deck instance. 

And until for bug 85905 --we can refactor the SB to support any of the SB deck to be detached-- that the second instance of the SB Navigator deck (docked left, right or floating) and launched with its <F5> shortcut is by design.

Having two Navigator decks showing is wasted screen space, but the second instance is intentional pending a refactoring of the SB framework.

Meanwhile, Jim's work on bug 84502 provided shortcut support <Ctrl>+<Alt>+[1-9] for the SB Decks--and <Ctrl>+<Alt>+4 is the fixed shortcut for the SB instance of the Navigator.
Comment 19 Heiko Tietze 2023-01-12 14:49:31 UTC
(In reply to V Stuart Foote from comment #18)
> Actually this is NOT A BUG, the second instance of the Navigator SB Deck is
> intentional. 

You set back to unconfirmed (apparently agreeing with Mike's critic on my duplicate state). What has to be done, what input can UX give?
Comment 20 Stéphane Guillou (stragu) 2023-01-12 14:51:49 UTC
Sounds sensible, thank you for the historical perspective, Stuart!
Closing as "Not a bug".
Comment 21 V Stuart Foote 2023-01-12 15:06:19 UTC
(In reply to Heiko Tietze from comment #19)
> (In reply to V Stuart Foote from comment #18)
> > Actually this is NOT A BUG, the second instance of the Navigator SB Deck is
> > intentional. 
> 
> You set back to unconfirmed (apparently agreeing with Mike's critic on my
> duplicate state). What has to be done, what input can UX give?

Back to UNCOFIRMED as it was an open UX issue, though from my perspective it is NAB.  But needed to be for the rest of UX-advise to decide, and hopefully for folks to revisit the bug 85905 dependency and priority of the needed SB refactoring to move the UI forward.

Stéphane has set it NAB now, and I'm fine with that from QA and UX-advise perspective.