Bug 72910 - FILEOPEN DOC: Column Break on first paragraph in document is lost
Summary: FILEOPEN DOC: Column Break on first paragraph in document is lost
Status: NEW
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Writer (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
unspecified
Hardware: All All
: low minor
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
Whiteboard: BSA
Keywords: filter:doc
Depends on:
Blocks: DOC
  Show dependency tree / graph
 
Reported: 2013-12-20 11:38 UTC by Abram
Modified: 2023-05-24 22:28 UTC (History)
2 users (show)

See Also:
Crash report or crash signature:

Attachments
It's a blank .DOC A3 page with 2 columns, a column break in column 1 and a line of text in column 2. (9.00 KB, application/msword)
2013-12-20 11:38 UTC, Abram 		Details
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Description Abram 2013-12-20 11:38:12 UTC 
Created attachment 91035 [details]
It's a blank .DOC A3 page with 2 columns, a column break in column 1 and a line of text in column 2.

Problem description: 

In a new DOC file, with A3 landscape format and two columns, the column break in page 1 isn't saved by Writer, so i save and close the file with the column break inserted, after i reopen the file and the column break is not manteined. 
I resolve if the DOC file has been saved in ODT, RTF or DOCX format, then re-saved in DOC file.

Steps to reproduce:
1. Create a new Writer file
2. Set A3 in Landscape and 2 columns
3. Insert a column brake in page 1 and text in column 2
4. Save as .DOC file
5. Close the file
6. Re-open the file
7. You'll see that the column break has been deleted, and the text is all in column 1.
8. Re-open the document, re-insert the column break and save the document as RTF,DOCX or ODT, finally close it.
9. Open the document and you'll see it mantains the column break.
10. Save as DOC format and exit.
11. Re-open the document in DOC format and you'll see that is ok.

Current behavior:
The column break is not manteined by Writer, only if i work from the beginning in DOC format without using any other format.
If i first save in ODT, DOCX or RTF format, then i re-save in DOC, the problem doesn't occur.

Expected behavior:
The column break has to be manteined always into the DOC file, and in general with any used format.
              
Operating System: Windows 7
Version: 4.1.3.2 release
Comment 1 Jean-Baptiste Faure 2013-12-21 17:52:18 UTC 
Reproducible for me under Ubuntu 13.10 x86-64 with LibreOffice 4.2.0.1+ and 4.1.4

It seems that the problem occurs only if the first column is empty.
Workaround: insert a blank character in the first column.

Best regards. JBF
Comment 2 QA Administrators 2015-04-19 03:19:51 UTC Comment hidden (obsolete)
Comment 3 Gordo 2015-04-21 17:47:08 UTC 
Still reproducible.

After step 3, right click on first paragraph in column 2 -> Paragraph -> Text Flow tab -> Breaks has Insert Column Before (With page style is not greyed out).  After step 6, right click on first paragraph in column 1 -> Paragraph -> Text Flow tab -> Breaks has Insert Page Before With page style, Default Style, and Page number 0.  Changing it back to Column does not insert the break.

I did some testing with setting the column and page break on paragraphs in a new document.  Changing those settings on the first paragraph of a document does not create a break.  Only on subsequent paragraphs does it create breaks.  It is probably because there is nothing before it.

Version: 4.4.2.2
Build ID: c4c7d32d0d49397cad38d62472b0bc8acff48dd6
Comment 4 QA Administrators 2016-09-20 09:31:56 UTC Comment hidden (obsolete)
Comment 5 Jean-Baptiste Faure 2016-09-25 15:04:29 UTC 
Still reproducible in LO 5.2.3.0+ and current master, both built at home under Ubuntu 16.04 x86-64.

Best regards. JBF
Comment 6 QA Administrators 2017-12-11 08:54:09 UTC Comment hidden (obsolete)
Comment 7 QA Administrators 2019-12-12 03:40:22 UTC Comment hidden (obsolete, spam)
Comment 8 Justin L 2020-06-16 10:34:28 UTC 
repro 7.1+
Comment 9 QA Administrators 2022-06-17 03:33:21 UTC Comment hidden (obsolete, spam)
Comment 10 Justin L 2023-05-24 22:12:23 UTC 
So, it works fine if there is at least one empty paragraph in the first column. But yes, if you put a column break as the very first thing in the document, it loses the column break on import. Export is OK - opens fine in MS Word.

repro 7.6+
Comment 11 Justin L 2023-05-24 22:28:19 UTC 
actually, it looks like the first empty paragraph itself is lost on import (since LO splits the paragraph when inserting the break and the column break ends up as a breakbefore on the second paragraph). On import, the first paragraph has a column break specified - but of course you can't column break before your first paragraph.