Bug 161715 - Math Symbols and Insert Character are hard to use
Summary: Math Symbols and Insert Character are hard to use
Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 56301
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Formula Editor (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
24.2.4.2 release
Hardware: All All
: medium normal
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2024-06-20 14:48 UTC by Ben van der Merwe
Modified: 2024-07-11 12:27 UTC (History)
1 user (show)

See Also:
Crash report or crash signature:


Attachments

Note You need to log in before you can comment on or make changes to this bug.
Description Ben van der Merwe 2024-06-20 14:48:28 UTC
Description:
The Symbols and Special character views are modal, meaning you need to close them if you want to insert another symbol elsewhere in your formula. When you reopen them, they do not remember the last symbol set selected.

Steps to Reproduce:
1. You are in math editing a formula. You want to insert the symbols for PI.
2. You click Tools, Symbols. You switch to the Greek character set and find and insert PI.
3. You want to insert another symbol elsewhere in your formula, but you can't because the Symbols view is modal, you can't click on another spot in your formula while the Symbols view is open.
4. So you close the Symbols view, click where you want in your formula and go back to Symbols. But now it has defaulted back to Arabic again, so you have to select Greek again.

Actual Results:
The Symbols view needs to be close to select another insertion point in your formula and when you reopen it, it defaults back to Arabic instead of your last selection.

Expected Results:
1. You are in math editing a formula. You want to insert PI.
2. You click Tools Symbols. You switch to the Greek character set and find and insert PI.
3. You want to insert another symbol elsewhere in your formula, so while the Symbols view is open you click on another point in your formula to set the insertion point. You insert the second Symbol.
4. You close the Symbols view. You open it again.
5. When it reopens it remembers that you had the Greek symbol set selected.


Reproducible: Always


User Profile Reset: No

Additional Info:
Same thing with the Special characters view.
Comment 1 Stéphane Guillou (stragu) 2024-07-11 12:27:37 UTC
Thank you for the suggestion.

For me, Tools > Special Characters does remember the last selected character when reopening it (although the Character Block dropdown does not show the corresponding block name).

In any case, the way forward would be to make the dialog non-modal, which is requested in bug 56301. Marking as duplicate.

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 56301 ***