Formats in Comments

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hugoandresbustos
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Formats in Comments

Post by hugoandresbustos »

Hello

I have noticed that comments have certain limitations in their capability to recieve special text formats. For example, I have tried to adjust the alignment of the text(left, center, or right) in certain parts of the comment, but when I finish editing the comment, and then place the cursor over them to see the comment, the comment only allows one type of alignment of text for the whole comment.

It would be nice that the comment would allow multiple types of text alignment for its text format. I would like to suggest this enhancement for a later version of OOo.

Thank you

 Edit: I forgot to make clear that I am reffering to Calc comments, not Writer comments 
Last edited by hugoandresbustos on Tue Jun 23, 2015 12:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
OOo 4.1.1 - Vista Home Prem. 32-bit
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acknak
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Re: Formats in Comments

Post by acknak »

Sorry, but the forum is not an effective channel for suggestions

[Tutorial] Reporting bugs or suggestions

I am curious though: why is complex formatting needed in document comments? The comments are intended for building the document not so much for final presentation. Maybe there is some other way to get what you need.
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hugoandresbustos
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Re: Formats in Comments

Post by hugoandresbustos »

acknak wrote:Sorry, but the forum is not an effective channel for suggestions

[Tutorial] Reporting bugs or suggestions
Oh, sorry, I wasn't conscious of this, I'll check the link and post the suggestion where it should be. Thanks
acknak wrote: I am curious though: why is complex formatting needed in document comments? The comments are intended for building the document not so much for final presentation. Maybe there is some other way to get what you need.
I didn't know that comments were intended for building the document and not so much for final presentation.
In my case, I am using them on a Calc document. I am actually using them as a way for the final user of the document to recieve instructions on how to use the current sheet. I place them on the first cell, A1, and I place the text "INSTRUCTIONS" in that cell and paint the background of that cell the same yellow color that comments have as default. So when the final user is using the document, on every page, he/she could just hover the cursor over the "INSTRUCTIONS" cell and recieve automatically the instructions on how to use the document.
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RoryOF
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Re: Formats in Comments

Post by RoryOF »

In Writer I've just made a quick test and find that the Comment is holding the alignment and font style (italic/bold) through a save and reopen using OO 4.1.1 on Xubuntu 15.04. It is also holding alignment and font style in Calc on the same system.

Attached is a sample file

 Edit: You may need to break the comment text into paragraphs. 
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fred.ods
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Apache OpenOffice 4.1.15 on Xubuntu 22.04.4 LTS
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acknak
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Re: Formats in Comments

Post by acknak »

hugoandresbustos wrote:[... In my case, I am using them on a Calc document. I am actually using them as a way for the final user of the document to recieve instructions ...
Ahh, ok. I just assumed that you were using Writer.

For Calc, what you're suggesting is more appropriate.

The only problem I see with it is that, as you've noticed, Calc's comments are not so flexible about formatting.

Unfortunately, they're also unstable. I've experienced, and others have reported here, that comments may disappear from a document, or even move around, without warning.

If you're going to put a lot of time into adding comments, I suggest that you make sure to create backup copies frequently. Save your work to a new file as often as needed.
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hugoandresbustos
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Re: Formats in Comments

Post by hugoandresbustos »

acknak wrote:Unfortunately, they're also unstable. I've experienced, and others have reported here, that comments may disappear from a document, or even move around, without warning.
Oh ok, I wasn't conscious of this, I'll take this detail into consideration.
acknak wrote:If you're going to put a lot of time into adding comments, I suggest that you make sure to create backup copies frequently. Save your work to a new file as often as needed.
Ok, it's a good habit that I'm already practicing for this document I'm creating, so now I'll make sure I keep doing so.

Thanks for the advice.
OOo 4.1.1 - Vista Home Prem. 32-bit
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