Bug 167465 - Support fields in comments
Summary: Support fields in comments
Status: RESOLVED INSUFFICIENTDATA
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Writer (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
Inherited From OOo
Hardware: All All
: medium enhancement
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks: Apple, because, Libre, of, Office, opening, problem, Writer-Comments
  Show dependency treegraph
 
Reported: 2025-07-11 13:05 UTC by Gabor Kelemen (Collabora)
Modified: 2025-09-23 12:30 UTC (History)
3 users (show)

See Also:
Crash report or crash signature:


Attachments
Example file with fields in a comment box (16.34 KB, application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document)
2025-07-11 13:05 UTC, Gabor Kelemen (Collabora)
Details
The example file in Word and current master on Windows (60.77 KB, image/png)
2025-07-11 13:05 UTC, Gabor Kelemen (Collabora)
Details
Screenshot MSO365 (14.52 KB, image/png)
2025-09-10 09:46 UTC, Heiko Tietze
Details

Note You need to log in before you can comment on or make changes to this bug.
Description Gabor Kelemen (Collabora) 2025-07-11 13:05:32 UTC
Created attachment 201755 [details]
Example file with fields in a comment box

This is a feature request for interoperability.

In Word, it is possible to insert any fields into a comment. Writer does not have this capability, and opening a docx file with fields in comment leads to data loss.

1. Add a new comment, position the cursor inside
-> Insert -> Field menus items are disabled.

or
2. Open attached docx from Word 2016
-> There are no fields imported in the comments.

Version: 25.8.0.0.beta1+ (X86_64) / LibreOffice Community
Build ID: 211c193b1c7391b4f1c1172214a90899de19b06a
CPU threads: 8; OS: Linux 6.8; UI render: default; VCL: gtk3
Locale: hu-HU (hu_HU.UTF-8); UI: en-US
Calc: threaded
Comment 1 Gabor Kelemen (Collabora) 2025-07-11 13:05:56 UTC
Created attachment 201756 [details]
The example file in Word and current master on Windows
Comment 2 Dieter 2025-09-09 20:30:47 UTC
I confirm the current behaviour and I think it is a valid request. I would expect that at least text itself is displayed (that's the result in Word Online)
Comment 3 Heiko Tietze 2025-09-10 09:46:29 UTC
Created attachment 202769 [details]
Screenshot MSO365

I wonder if this is standardized (and documented in ODF).

The first comment shows the author, the second is visible only in the sidebar. Both don't appear as field, neither I can enter anything via the UI or per ctrl+F9. And what should this field-in-comment be good for?


Microsoft® Word for Microsoft 365 MSO (Version 2507 Build 16.0.19029.20136) 64-bit
Comment 4 Heiko Tietze 2025-09-23 12:30:23 UTC
(In reply to Heiko Tietze from comment #3)
> I wonder if this is standardized (and documented in ODF).
No feedback, no comment. I disagree with the need for fields in comments. Nothing to say against adding variables like author name but then as a fix string.