Bug 50991 - Alternatively insert files as OLE object per drag 'n drop by using an accelerator key
Summary: Alternatively insert files as OLE object per drag 'n drop by using an acceler...
Status: NEW
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: OLE-Objects Drag-and-Drop
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Reported: 2012-06-11 23:14 UTC by Manoj
Modified: 2022-06-16 15:14 UTC (History)
7 users (show)

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Crash report or crash signature:


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Description Manoj 2012-06-11 23:14:48 UTC
Like in MS-Office, one cannot insert other office-Docs (*.ods, odt, doc, docx, xls etc.) as an Icon.

MS-Office embeds a document, and displays it as an Icon, clicking on which, one can open and edit the embedded document.

In LibreOffice, Office-Documents are inserted directly as documents, tho, it works fine for PDF or other kind of Non-Office documents.

For complex documents management, this is a Must-Have feature.
Comment 1 Wilbur Harvey 2012-08-29 21:48:36 UTC
I also have the same problem.
In Word, I can insert an arbitrary file, including zip files, PDF files, binary files, whatever I want, as an icon.
This is a must for many technical documents.
I can distribute one file which contains everything referenced.
Comment 2 Yousuf Philips (jay) (retired) 2017-12-03 09:16:32 UTC
The feature is available in Insert > Object > OLE Object and clicking the 'create from file' radio button and the 'display as icon' checkbox.

So the question for UX is whether when a file is dragged onto the page and isnt an image or video file that gets embedded, should it be embedded as an OLE object like MSO or embedded as a linked section as it is today.
Comment 3 Heiko Tietze 2017-12-04 10:19:18 UTC
Never understood the workflow with icons - and actually we provide this with the start center. So my take is WONTFIX since the common workflow and expectation is to insert the document and not an icon.
Comment 4 sophie 2017-12-04 11:05:08 UTC
Heiko, it's about having embedded document in other documents, on Windows it's possible to choose between the whole document in a section or only an icon of the document, so the Start Center is not useful here. It was used a lot by the past, I don't know now. Imho, behavior should not be changed but maybe better documented (from what I remember, it has often be a not so stable feature). Sophie
Comment 5 Heiko Tietze 2017-12-04 12:01:30 UTC
(In reply to sophie from comment #4)
> Heiko, it's about having embedded document in other documents, on Windows
> it's possible to choose between the whole document in a section or only an
> icon of the document, so the Start Center is not useful here. It was used a
> lot by the past, I don't know now. Imho, behavior should not be changed but
> maybe better documented (from what I remember, it has often be a not so
> stable feature). Sophie

Why would a user want to place a link to another document in an extra document and what is the difference to references in the start center. It's a rhetorical question, no need to answer. Feel free to reopen the ticket if you disagree with this aspect and what I stated about the common workflow.
Comment 6 sophie 2017-12-04 12:42:04 UTC
(In reply to Heiko Tietze from comment #5)
> (In reply to sophie from comment #4)
> > Heiko, it's about having embedded document in other documents, on Windows
> > it's possible to choose between the whole document in a section or only an
> > icon of the document, so the Start Center is not useful here. It was used a
> > lot by the past, I don't know now. Imho, behavior should not be changed but
> > maybe better documented (from what I remember, it has often be a not so
> > stable feature). Sophie
> 
> Why would a user want to place a link to another document in an extra
> document and what is the difference to references in the start center. 

Because when you send a document to another user, he won't have access to your start center... Now why it's necessary to do it, I don't know, but it's a frequently used feature in the users' world, what I can imagine is that it's easier to read the full doc and only open the embedded document (marked by an icon) when it's needed instead of having it cutting the page through a section. Maybe you should try to follow the process described by Jay to get the full picture of the feature. Sophie
Comment 7 Heiko Tietze 2017-12-04 13:19:40 UTC
(In reply to sophie from comment #6)
> Because when you send a document to another user, he won't have access to
> your start center... 

Accepted
Comment 8 Cor Nouws 2017-12-05 22:07:21 UTC
(In reply to sophie from comment #6)

> your start center... Now why it's necessary to do it, I don't know, but it's
> a frequently used feature ...

imagine you send out a meetings agenda, and include relevant information, side letters, etc. embedded in the agenda.
This is what happens.
Comment 9 Cor Nouws 2017-12-05 22:10:30 UTC
This does work (since recent?) for PDF files.
Copy Paste PDF file to Writer document.
Right click and choose Edit with external tool..
There you go.
Comment 10 Cor Nouws 2017-12-06 19:11:42 UTC
(In reply to Yousuf Philips (jay) from comment #2)

> So the question for UX is whether when a file is dragged onto the page and
> isnt an image or video file that gets embedded, should it be embedded as an
> OLE object like MSO or embedded as a linked section as it is today.

The functionality asked for is OLE.
But this doesn't mean that the existing linking as section should get lost :)
(Sorry for missing this question)
Comment 11 Heiko Tietze 2022-06-16 15:14:07 UTC
Coming back to this, sorry for the delay.

Insert OLE object from file as icon works well but with drag 'n drop the document is linked into a section. Sections have some advantage over OLE objects and changing completely might be a regression for many users. So I recommend to insert as OLE object, and show the respective dialog to make it an icon, per drag 'n drop by using an accelerator key, for example Ctrl.

Attaching binary files might be a security issue.