Bug 43530 - Functionality request for Writer: improve dialog "Insert index entry"
Summary: Functionality request for Writer: improve dialog "Insert index entry"
Status: NEW
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Writer (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
unspecified
Hardware: All All
: medium enhancement
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords: needsUXEval
: 68367 (view as bug list)
Depends on:
Blocks: TableofContents-Indexes-Dialog
  Show dependency treegraph
 
Reported: 2011-12-05 04:35 UTC by Christopher Leffler
Modified: 2023-04-01 23:05 UTC (History)
7 users (show)

See Also:
Crash report or crash signature:


Attachments
example of alphabetical index (16.05 KB, application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text)
2012-02-20 03:42 UTC, sasha.libreoffice
Details

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Description Christopher Leffler 2011-12-05 04:35:00 UTC
1.  I am puzzled also about the indexing application in Writer. I am indexxing a long transcript of a historical document. Entering an index entry has pitfalls because the Help does not make it clear that "Entry" and the first Kkey need to be the same, with any extra text added ("Barker, Sir Richard - will of" when "Barker" is the Entry.) because First Key is what appears at the head of the actual index, whereas "Entry", which in my (latest) version appears after the first and second keys needs to be told not to print. 

2.  I also find that the Index Entry dialogue behaves very peculiarly if you leave it  up but go to refer to another file for information or whatever; it reverts to its first entry or qa string of other entries from previous indexing, and it is not clear in any help that I have seen how the up-down arrows and the right and left behave. This has been very frustrating when doing two or three hundred entries!!

3.  After attempting it in OOo and now in Libre - which I like! - I still have not managed to understand the process for entering hyperlinks in the Indexing system. If the row of boxes with the "E" and the "#" etc were better explained and it were to say "This box is for .... and is where the start of the hyperlink goes" and similarly for the ending,it might help the elderly llike me!"

4. Autocorrect - 
I use it a great deal with "shorthand" abbreviations to save retyping a lot of long words and short phrases which recur in the book I am writing, Why is it so slow to appear and idsappear when you press ALT -T- A and OK to revert to the document??  It cqn take six or seven seconds, which is not helpful to productivity

Its a great program and my wife and daughter now use it.  Perhaps I am testing it more, soI would like to hear from someone authoritative if they can spare the time.

Christopher Leffler

chrisleffler@uwclub.net
Comment 1 sasha.libreoffice 2012-02-13 07:26:07 UTC
> 1.  I am puzzled also about the indexing application in Writer. ...
Please, attach any document that demonstrates this problem

> 3.  After attempting it in OOo and now in Libre ...
My be explanation from here can somehow help:
Bug 40948 - UI ยท EDITING: Hyperlink on page number in a Table of contents impossible via right button (mouse click)

> 4. Autocorrect -
Developers work on optimization, but it will take time. Very much work.
Comment 2 sasha.libreoffice 2012-02-20 03:42:33 UTC
Created attachment 57308 [details]
example of alphabetical index
Comment 3 sasha.libreoffice 2012-02-20 04:00:13 UTC
Steps to reproduce initial problem:
0. Open attachment
1. Place cursor near end or first page
2. Insert->Indexes and tables->Entry
3. Inter "bar" in field "Entry" press tab to go to field "1st key", enter "bar" there, press tab to go to field "2st key", enter "bar" there, press tab to go to button "Insert", press enter.
Expected: all mentioned field contains "bar".
Actually: second field contains "Barker Sir John"

4. repeat step 2 and 3 but not enter somenting into field "2st key"

Expected: field "Entry" contains "bar", "1st key" contains "bar", "2st key" contains nothing.
Actually: field "1st key" contains "Barker Sir John", "2st key" contains "in her own right"
Comment 4 sasha.libreoffice 2012-02-20 04:12:52 UTC
We see that autocompletion forces selecting some variant, not proposes (compare how Firefox proposes autocompletion of web address or fields content).
Problem is even worse by two another problems:
1. Dialog "Insert index entry" fields is too small, we often can not see if autocompletion occurs or not.
2. When we place mouse cursor on our field, we only see "Alphabetical index: bar", we can not verify contents of "1st key" and "2st key" fields

So, improvement can be:
1. Disable autocompletion or improve it for not force completion.
2. Clear values of "1st key" and "2st key" fields after pressed button "Insert" in dialog
3. Increase size of dialog "Insert index entry" and fields inside
4. Add displaying contents of "1st key" and "2st key" fields in tooltip (especially if option "Extended tips" selected)
Comment 5 Christopher Leffler 2012-02-23 06:22:29 UTC Comment hidden (no-value)
Comment 6 Joel Madero 2014-06-25 06:07:25 UTC
*** Bug 68367 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 7 Thomas Lendo 2018-10-06 20:08:42 UTC
Adding needsUXEval to discuss that again after six and a half years.
Comment 8 sdc.blanco 2023-03-11 11:55:37 UTC
(In reply to sasha.libreoffice from comment #3)
> 3. Enter "bar" in field "Entry" press tab to go to field "1st key", enter
> "bar" there, press tab to go to field "2st key", enter "bar" there, press
> tab to go to button "Insert", press enter.
> Expected: all mentioned field contains "bar".
> Actually: second field contains "Barker Sir John"
Entry: bar
1st key "Barker Sir John" appears (while another name appears when only "ba" is entered.  (but possible to edit to get "bar" alone)
2nd key is "bar"

> 4. repeat step 2 and 3 but not enter somenting into field "2st key"
Actual: "Entry: bar"  "1st key" contains "Barker Sir John", "2st key" nothing.
(a little bit closer to "expected", but still a problem with 1st key, but can be edited to be "bar")

If Insert Entry is dialog is closed and reopened, then 
 "1st key" contains "Barker Sir John", "2st key" contains "in her own right"

Tested with:
Version: 7.6.0.0.alpha0+ (X86_64) / LibreOffice Community
Build ID: ee5dbd193fa24b46fb980ddd8a6c39ca349d0d01
CPU threads: 8; OS: Windows 10.0 Build 19044; UI render: Skia/Raster; VCL: win
Locale: da-DK (da_DK); UI: en-US
Calc: CL threaded
Comment 9 sdc.blanco 2023-03-11 12:12:50 UTC
(In reply to sasha.libreoffice from comment #4)
> So, improvement can be:
> 1. Disable autocompletion or improve it for not force completion.
Perhaps checkbox option in dialog? 

> 2. Clear values of "1st key" and "2st key" fields after "Insert"
Hard to say.  Won't some users (in some cases) want to keep 1st key, and then go through a document to index all places with the same 1st key. Predict complaints if these fields get reset.

> 3. Increase size of dialog "Insert index entry" and fields inside
WFM

> 4. Add displaying contents of "1st key" and "2st key" fields in tooltip
> (especially if option "Extended tips" selected)
Do not understand request.