Created attachment 190169 [details] LibreOffice & Office XP samples When formatting sections in columns I frequently have to use a manual column break when columns do NOT break or break at the wrong point/position at the end of the section. The section columns format correctly when using Word.2002 v10 dtd.2001 in Microsoft Office XP. Thanks, Tracey Samples attached.
The "mcb" suffix on the section name are the sections that I noticed that manifest the issue. Even if the columns is "corrected", reopening the document can easily manifest the same issue. Tracey
Hello Tracey, what are steps to reproduce the bug? Please, can you explain more? Thanks
Steps: I created sections by selecting portions of text, one after another, formatting each section as 2 columns Many/Most auto-format correctly. In numerous sections (as seen in the LibreOffice examples), the last "page" of the section fills in both sides unevenly: either all in the left column and none in the right column or a noticeable uneven distribution of text between the columns. The sections that I saw with the problem I appended mcb to the section name. If I can correct the text distribution in the column... ... (by inserting manual column break... ... then maybe deleting it afterward ***or not***..., that does not guarantee that when the document is reopened that the text distribution will remain evenly distributed. When I opened it in [msOfficeXP.Word.2002 v10 dtd.2001] the columns are evenly distributed (see attached samples). Tracey I saved the LibreOffice document as RTF so I could open it Office XP and saved it as DOC and RTF. I downloaded Office XP and I can use msWord about 40 times.
Created attachment 190195 [details] sample file sample after resetting LibreOffice to factory settings.
Created attachment 190196 [details] ODT sample
I thought I already posted this text, but I do not see it: I had another formatting issue (156518) which was resolved with resetting LibreOffice to factory defaults. However, resetting LibreOffice to factory defaults did NOT resolve end-of-section-column-formatting issue. I removed all the manual column breaks in the attached files. Thanks, Tracey Some of the column break locations are different than before (which is why I called them unstable). After "fixing" the end-of-section-column-formatting issues, upon re-opening the document, the issues would either re-appear or appear in a different sections. Sometimes putting in a manual-column-break(mcb) and deleting the mcb would temporarily "FIX" the issue, but subsequent openings, the issue would re-appear. I now have the following column-break issue in the following places/pages: 306-307, 547-548, 675, 676, 700 (Chapter 46: special -[mid paragraph]- column-break issue), (BTW I tried looking at the document as RTF with notepad++ and a hex viewer, but I only "see" 7 bit ASCII characters 8-(... ) 700-701, 705, 706-707, 708, 713, 714, 721, 729, 732, 734, 740, 745, 748, 749, 757, 761, 768, 782, 785, 792, 1077-1078, 1093-1094, 1107-1108, 1346-1347, 1378-1379, 1394-1395, 1411-1412
(In reply to Tracey from comment #6) > I thought I already posted this text, but I do not see it: > > I had another formatting issue (156518) which was resolved with resetting > LibreOffice to factory defaults. > > However, resetting LibreOffice to factory defaults did NOT resolve > end-of-section-column-formatting issue. > I removed all the manual column breaks in the attached files. > > Thanks, Tracey > > Some of the column break locations are different than before (which is why I > called them unstable). > After "fixing" the end-of-section-column-formatting issues, upon re-opening > the document, the issues would either re-appear or appear in a different > sections. > Sometimes putting in a manual-column-break(mcb) and deleting the mcb would > temporarily "FIX" the issue, but subsequent openings, the issue would > re-appear. > > I now have the following column-break issue in the following places/pages: > 306-307, 547-548, 675, 676, How should we test with the ODT document to see the problem? And what exactly is the problem? > 700 (Chapter 46: special -[mid paragraph]- column-break issue), > (BTW I tried looking at the document as RTF with notepad++ and a hex viewer, > but I only "see" 7 bit ASCII characters 8-(... ) The ODT files are actually .zip files, so you can extract their contents. They contain for example XML files. In general, if you have saved back and forth from ODT to RTF/DOC, it will surely cause problems. It is best to work in ODT and only treat the Microsoft formats as final export targets.
Created attachment 190416 [details] sample file You can use attached to continually add 2-column sections one after another.
I am not saving back and forth, nor do I want to (see last 2 lines). I saved it as a PDF to show that the [end] of the 32 out of 247 2-column sections format erratically (about 13% of the time). I already answered this question (How should we test with the ODT document to see the problem? And what exactly is the problem?). >>>See reply on 2023-10-12 17:16:45 UTC Thanks, Tracey I was just checking against Word 2000 and Word 2002 to see if they have the same issue and they do not 8-) BTW Word 2000 and Word 2002 do NOT format the 2-column sections format erratically 8-)
(In reply to Tracey from comment #9) > I am not saving back and forth, nor do I want to (see last 2 lines). > > I saved it as a PDF to show that the [end] of the 32 out of 247 2-column > sections format erratically (about 13% of the time). > > I already answered this question (How should we test with the ODT document > to see the problem? And what exactly is the problem?). You didn't answer it. I want to see steps like 1. Go to page 306 2. Do something etc. See this for more: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/QA/BugReport#Good_Reports
Steps: I created 2-column sections of text by selecting portions of text, one after another, formatting each section as 2 columns (247 2-column sections) with a paragraph in between each section (about 1450 pages). I suppose you could use any sizable body of text and format as I just stated. After I was done, I discovered that: 215 times (about 87% of the time) the end-of-the 2-column sections of text auto-format correctly (evenly/uniformly). The (last page of the section/end of the section) is uniform and evenly formatted. 32 times (about 13% of the time) the end-of-the 2-column sections of text do NOT auto-format correctly, but the (last page of the section/end of the section) is erratic and inconsistently formatted. I was surprise that it happened and I can not figure out a way to permanently fix it. I tried inserting a manual column breaks to "force" uniformity, but in the end it only appeared to be a fix. When the document is re-opened, sections (last page of a section/end of the section) is erratic and inconsistently formatted. As it is now, some of the end-of-section will not format uniformly and this makes the document look ugly. Thanks, Tracey As a double-check/test, I downloaded Office 2000 and Office XP (2002) and the end-of-the 2-column sections of text auto-format correctly (evenly/uniformly). This is NOT a solution for me because I do NOT own either program.
Created attachment 190439 [details] sample file New insight(1of2): Attached pdf shows an issue at the bottom of page 719 (mid-column break) It should NOT break at his point. Thanks, Tracey BTW Word 2000 and Word 2002 have the same issue.
New insight(2of2): I am unable to pin-point a specific page of a 2-column section because I can't :-( The reason I cannot do this is because every time I [open or up-date] the document, LibreOffice appears to re-form the column section boundaries :-o I deleted (1) 2-column section and reformed it as (22) 2-column sections. 3 of the 22 (about 13%) of the 2-column sections are malformed at the bottom/end of the section. While I cannot "pin-point" any page (because of dynamic column section formation), I can guarantee anyone who opens the ODT document (just previously attached) and monitors the formation of each section will discover the malformation problem. LibreOffice appears to intermittently (about 13% of the time) stops formatting a 2-column section prematurely. Did I just make your day or what? I know I am not as stressed out or frustrated now. Now it is up to the developers to squash that mean nasty bug :-) Thanks, Tracey BTW Word 2000 and Word 2002 DO NOT have the same issue.
(In reply to Tracey from comment #12) > Created attachment 190439 [details] > Attached pdf shows an issue at the bottom of page 719 (mid-column break) > It should NOT break at his point. I can see that issue in and around "Psa 046 mid-break": uneven column distribution in chapters 44, 46, 47. Version: 7.5.7.1 (X86_64) / LibreOffice Community Build ID: 47eb0cf7efbacdee9b19ae25d6752381ede23126 CPU threads: 8; OS: Linux 5.15; UI render: default; VCL: gtk3 Locale: en-AU (en_AU.UTF-8); UI: en-US Calc: threaded This is the same issue as in bug 45261, marking as duplicate. *** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 45261 ***
Created attachment 190443 [details] smaller sample ODT based on original See this smaller reproduced: 1. See uneven distribution in one of the chapters (different depending on version used) 2. Format > Columns > untick "Evenly distribute contents to all columns", click OK 3. Turn it back on again In 7.5 and 7.6, it fixes it, but is bad again after save + reload, like in bug 45261 comment 11 (tested in Chapter 45 for 7.5.7.1, and in chapter 44 for 7.6.2.1) In a recent master build, the turning off then back on does not even fix it temporarily (tested in Chapter 46).
Just FYI, chapter 46 issue. The issue was resolved by un-checking [do not split paragraphs] and [keep with next paragraph. I do NOT know how/why the 2-column section was check. None of the other sections were checked. It should NOT have the caused the problem to begin with, but that's why they are call bugs Just FYI, Tracey
(In reply to Tracey from comment #16) > The issue was resolved by un-checking [do not split paragraphs] and [keep > with next paragraph. > It should NOT have the caused the problem to begin with, but that's why they > are call bugs But if you set paragraphs to "keep with next" and "do not split", they try to keep together and to not split - between columns - as you required. No bug in ch. 46 at all.
FTR: help says: [1] > Do not split paragraph > Shifts the entire paragraph to the next page or column after a break is inserted. > > Keep with next paragraph > Keeps the current paragraph and the following paragraph together when a break or > column break is inserted. So Writer behaves exactly according to the specification; and the claim that "It should NOT have the caused the problem to begin with" is incorrect. [1] https://help.libreoffice.org/7.6/en-US/text/swriter/01/05030200.html?DbPAR=WRITER#hd_id3148978