Bug 97303 - Add Illustration and Table caption fields into Insert -> Field menu
Summary: Add Illustration and Table caption fields into Insert -> Field menu
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: needsDevEval
Depends on:
Blocks: Fields
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Reported: 2016-01-21 17:34 UTC by Ljiljan
Modified: 2020-03-09 13:27 UTC (History)
7 users (show)

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Description Ljiljan 2016-01-21 17:34:12 UTC
It would be very good idea if Illustration and Table fields are added into Insert -> Field menu. These are  very often used. 

Just suggestion for LibreOffice 5.1.
Comment 1 tommy27 2016-01-21 19:45:47 UTC
UI customization request.

CC'ing Jay to hear his opinion about it
Comment 2 Yousuf Philips (jay) (retired) 2016-01-27 20:11:55 UTC
Hi Ljiljan,

Illustration and Table fields are variables-related fields and are primarily added to documents using Insert > Caption, while all the entries listed in the Insert > Field menu are document-related fields. If Illustration and Table fields are often used and users would be going into the field dialog to insert it, then it would be beneficial to make it easier to access in the menu.

On a separate note, we dont have UNO commands for these two fields, so it would require a developer to create them in order for them to be added to the menu.

@UX-Advise: Anyone else have any opinion of this?
Comment 3 Heiko Tietze 2016-01-28 10:09:36 UTC
Took me a while to figure out what you meant with *fields*: the caption fields such as "Figure <1>". But it makes no sense to have this field without further specification such as type, text, etc.
Captions are highly relevant for objects as it affects the style along with correct numbering, the TOC, and the text flow (captions must not get wrapped to the next page). So I'd say yes, it is a frequently used function.
Access to captions is available from the main menu (Insert>Caption) as well as per context menu - but not for tables. Tables, however, have a toolbar with a caption button.

needsDevEval for the UNO question and the table context menu
RESOLVED/WORKSFORME if Ljiljan has no objections.
Comment 4 Ljiljan 2016-01-28 22:49:17 UTC
Thanks. 

Insert -> Caption is really good when it comes to tables (caption is inserted above or below table), but what I don't like is how caption is added to illustration/ drawings. Inserting caption for drawings/ illustration will also insert frame. And I (personally) don't like inserting frames just to add caption. That is why I always need to go Insert ->Field -> Other -> Variables -> Illustration. But I think it is matter of habit/ my personal preference, so no need to talk about this anymore. 

Nevertheless, UNO command would be useful.
Comment 5 Yousuf Philips (jay) (retired) 2016-01-29 10:18:40 UTC
(In reply to Heiko Tietze from comment #3)
> needsDevEval for the UNO question and the table context menu

Caption was removed from the table context menu due to context menu size restraints.

(In reply to Ljiljan from comment #4)
> Insert -> Caption is really good when it comes to tables (caption is
> inserted above or below table), but what I don't like is how caption is
> added to illustration/ drawings. Inserting caption for drawings/
> illustration will also insert frame. And I (personally) don't like inserting
> frames just to add caption. That is why I always need to go Insert ->Field
> -> Other -> Variables -> Illustration. But I think it is matter of habit/ my
> personal preference, so no need to talk about this anymore. 

In order to accurately place a caption for a floating image, a frame is needed to be placed around it to make sure the caption aligns with the image. Maybe the alternative solution is to have an option in the caption dialog to enable/disable to creation of the frame.

@Maxim: Would it be easy to create a single UNO command to be able to open the insert field dialog at a particular field or insert any field, similar to how we have for changing styles and changing slide layout? So something like this to open the insert field dialog at a particular field type

.uno:InsertField?type=Number range&select=Table

and something like this to insert a field directly

.uno:InsertField?type=Number range&select=Table&format=Arabic (1 2 3)&name=Table&value=Table+1
Comment 6 Heiko Tietze 2016-01-29 10:40:00 UTC
Perhaps we should split this into two topics: UNO command and framed captions.

(In reply to Yousuf (Jay) Philips from comment #5)
> In order to accurately place a caption for a floating image, a frame is
> needed to be placed around it to make sure the caption aligns with the
> image. Maybe the alternative solution is to have an option in the caption
> dialog to enable/disable to creation of the frame.
How about paragraph style with the "keep together" option? Or is it not possible to assign a style to any object.
 
(In reply to Yousuf (Jay) Philips from comment #5)
> .uno:InsertField?type=Number range&select=Table
The UNO command might make sense, but actually there is no use case to have captions without any relation to an object. So the question is do we really need it?
Comment 7 Ulrich Windl 2016-11-11 12:48:03 UTC
...and don't forget to add "Add caption" to the context menu of a table: You have it for images, so why not for tables, too?
Comment 8 Xisco Faulí 2020-03-09 13:27:51 UTC
Please add keyword 'needsUXEval' and CC 'libreoffice-ux-advise@lists.freedesktop.org' if input from UX is needed.