Description: It needs urgent an option to disable "typing replaces selected text" according to the meanwhile solved LO bug enhancement report here (option to disable drag&drop of selected text), please read also https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=100998 Over 10 years go by to introduce an option to disable the useless error creating crap drag&drop of selected text, unbelievable. In Word since beginning a indispensable configuration option. Thats one of the many reasons why MS is still Nr. 1. Now, when you give us an option to disable also "typing replaces selected text", then LO is at last usable for me and probably millions of other Word users. Like Comment_14 said, working and changing long documents is impossible with LO!!! To much risk for loosing important data. And "typing replaces selected text" is much, much worser than drag&drop. Details see still 11 years and more ago in the links below https://ask.libreoffice.org/t/why-there-are-no-options-like-in-ms-word-to-disable-drag-drop-and-typing-replaces-selected-text/5361 And https://ask.libreoffice.org/t/selection-getting-replaced-even-while-using-insert-not-replace/108189/6 https://ask.libreoffice.org/t/in-writer-how-do-i-disable-the-feature-which-replaces-selected-text-with-whatever-is-typed-next/52957/9 https://stackoverflow.com/questions/64717590/accessibility-tweak-in-libreoffice-how-to-prevent-accidentally-selected-text-fr https://forum.sublimetext.com/t/disable-typing-replaces-selected-text-is-there-a-way/37251 Actual Results: - Expected Results: - Reproducible: Always User Profile Reset: No Additional Info: -
Additional information in glance: The main reason for this ancient option in MS Word is to avoid unintended, accidentally deleting of datas especially in large documents, that are changed frequently. This happens fast if the writer has selected text and then is distracted by someone or something and after that presses a key, maybe also unintended, accidentally. There are endless possible failure situations, that cannot be described her, even human failures. On the other side nobody needs really "typing replaces selected text", deleting text and inserting new text is just as simple, but much more secure and better in many ways. MS knows this since the beginning and I think, Word Perfect had the same features in the past. But today, I know no textwriter besides MS Word with this configuration option, incomprehensible. Instead of optimizing LO as a real MS Word competitor, there happens - nothing. And "Typing replaces selected text" is the much bigger failure problem than drag&drop in the link above. What's overwritten is gone, what's only removed per drag&drop you can find again in most cases. Quotation from here 2018 by "PlsdontmakemebuyMS" https://ask.libreoffice.org/t/why-there-are-no-options-like-in-ms-word-to-disable-drag-drop-and-typing-replaces-selected-text/5361 "What’s worse is the bizarre responses attempts to get answers about it generate from OO forum users and the like." MS is very pleased from such an attitude, believe me.
An other link to show, that this option would bei a great facilitation especially for elderly people and people with disabilities. https://askubuntu.com/questions/1288732/accessibility-tweak-how-to-prevent-accidentally-selected-text-from-getting-repl
Last notes Over 90% cases of text selection are "Delete" and "Copy & Paste", daily used from all users of typing text. To see the endless fatal possible failure situation, that therefore can occur, only ask AI. AI prompts for example: - Show a compilation of the most critical failure scenarios for "typing replaces selected text" in Word - Show a systematic analysis of errors in use. - Show especially the Scenario: Invisible data loss due to focus errors." Attention: You have to keep persistently questioning the AI so that it understands what you want and gives reasonable answers, for example AI has to realise for example, AI quote: "I now understand exactly what you mean. You're looking for a systematic analysis of application errors, like those often used in teaching materials (such as the Teialehrbuch you mentioned or IT manuals) to raise users' awareness of the dangers of this automation."
Correction "Over 90% cases of text selection are "Delete" and "Copy & Paste" and "formating""
(In reply to R. Grafe from comment #0) > In Word since beginning a indispensable configuration option. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/type-over-text-in-word-for-windows-62c15c48-0936-4902-affe-4cadd71b7038 When off, typing first unselects and consequently inserts the text.
(Correction in reply to H. Tietze from comment #5) The link is wrong, it leads to the overtyping mode and has nothing to do with "typing replaces selected text" in this bug report. MS has no help support documentation with pictures for this, see https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/editor-options-advanced-0b2b5644-41e2-42c4-990b-60ca36615600 A link with pictures for example you find easy with searchengine or here https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5372545/i-cant-highlight-a-word-and-paste-a-new-word-over Right is: "When off, typing first unselects and consequently inserts the text."
I also noticed that people often overwrite selected text by accident when I help them to edit documents, so I think the option makes sense.
Additional very important remark: When you look in the links above in comment 6 - https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/editor-options-advanced-0b2b5644-41e2-42c4-990b-60ca36615600 - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5372545/i-cant-highlight-a-word-and-paste-a-new-word-over you can see, that "Typing replaces selected text" is the 1. option of all "Editor Options" in MS Word. And the option is existing since the beginning! It's not by chance so, it's because that's the most important option in MS Word, more precisely, because it's the importants option to avoid the most hazardous accidentally mistakes by users. See comment 3 again and ask the AI for the endless failure situations or read the links in the Description and especially Bug Report 100998 and there the hidden (why hidden?) comment 14. For me it's so unbelievable, never could understand, why MS is the only textwriter supplier who offers this most important editor option his customers. Unbelievable, totally, sorry.
We discussed the topic in the design meeting and welcome such option. The default should remain as of today, however.
First thanks in advance. Hope it doesn't last 10 years like option in relation to drag&drop ;-) Of course default as today is OK (also like in Word, I think), otherwise it would irritating existing users.
Tests are welcome: 206276: tdf#169913 - Add option to suppress typing replaces text selection | https://gerrit.libreoffice.org/c/core/+/206276 99% of the credits go to Heiko for solving enhancement 100998. I just copy pasted the settings/implementations.
ABC|DEF (pipe for the caret position) => press Z --- v 26.2 --- No selection: Insert mode => ABCZ|DEF Overwrite mode => ABZ|EF With selection: Insert mode => Z Overwrite mode => Z --- Master + Patch + option on --- No selection: Insert mode: ABCZ|DEF Overwrite mode: ABZ|EF With selection: Insert mode => ABCDEFZ Overwrite mode => ABCDEFZ --- MSO --- With selection: Insert mode => ZABCDEF Overwrite mode => ZBCDEF MSO never overwrites selected text: the Overtype option on/off changes whether a single character is overwritten with Insert key to toggle this. I don't like this deviation from a standard. I would keep the familiar behavior, as it is implemented. And the patch works well too, besides it ignores Insert vs. Overwrite (the Ins key toggles this). So my question is: Shall we change the behavior depending on the insert mode if the new option "[ ] Typing replaces selection" is off?
First, thanks in advance again, I'm glad, such a fast reaction :-) I never use INSERT mode, similar failure possibilities like "typing replaces text". In my humble opinion, I agree with your view.
Sorry, correction, I wanted to say, I never use Insert/Overwrite mode. I have deleted this option to prevent accidentally toggling to error-causing overwrite mode.
If the overwrite option should be a problem, we can create a follow-up patch.
Andreas Heinisch committed a patch related to this issue. It has been pushed to "master": https://git.libreoffice.org/core/commit/ac0fe92185ffa81930dd014bc7e340c7f055c26b tdf#169913 - Add option to suppress typing replaces text selection It will be available in 26.8.0. The patch should be included in the daily builds available at https://dev-builds.libreoffice.org/daily/ in the next 24-48 hours. More information about daily builds can be found at: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Testing_Daily_Builds Affected users are encouraged to test the fix and report feedback.
Gratulation! Many thanks. Now I can get rid off MS. I will going back to Linux and LO. Don't forget to advertise in the release notes of 26.8 especially for this new option, preferably at 1. position, like in MSO configuration options ;-) I hope, that LO get many more users in future, naturally not only in relation to this important feature.