Back-to-previous-position in Writer, other than Reminders

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FanieBekker
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Back-to-previous-position in Writer, other than Reminders

Post by FanieBekker »

I use Android OpenOffice daily, and continuously, on my Android tablet, and I need an additional function built into the software please. I explain:

I have an 800 page "Text Document" which I edit for my personal use on a daily basis - and I have to move forth and back continuously. To move forward I use search& find, but then I have to go back every time to my previous position... and your software does not have that function.

Could you please build it into your software. The absence of it is a real problem and I am sure that many users would appreciate such a function. If you need more information, please email me.

Or if it already exists, please help me to find it.
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Zizi64
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Re: A "go-back-to-previous-position" in a Writer Text Docume

Post by Zizi64 »

There is such function. You need fill-in the user data in the Settings. And - maybe - you must be the Author of the document. Check it in the File - Properties - General.
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Please, edit the initial post in the topic: add the word [Solved] at the beginning of the subject line - if your problem has been solved.
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Re: A "go-back-to-previous-position" in a Writer Text Docume

Post by FanieBekker »

I have completed all the User Data previously, but I do not have a "certificate" to digitally sign this documnt. I am just an ordinary user typing a private document. I wonder what I could do to get this function activated?
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RoryOF
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Re: A "go-back-to-previous-position" in a Writer Text Docume

Post by RoryOF »

Zizi64 is miss-interpreting your requirement: you wish Find and Replace to have a "go back" function. He has noted the method whereby OpenOffice remembers the last cursor position in a Saved document, so that cursor is positioned at that location on re-opening of the file.

A Find and Replace auto return is not as simple as you think: often one will use Find and Replace to modify a complete series of Finds - as an example, changing the name of a character in a book length document. To which of these Finds should the proposed function return?

If it matters to me, which it does very rarely, I insert a Comment (/Insert / Comment) marking my current place, and use Navigator (F5 key) to return.

I remark also that an 800 page document seems cumbersome and suggest that it might be time to reorganise it - perhaps using a Table of Contents (hyperlinked) and/or bookmarks to move speedily about the document.

The code for OpenOffice may be downloaded and modified to suit your requirements.
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FanieBekker
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Re: A "go-back-to-previous-position" in a Writer Text Docume

Post by FanieBekker »

Thank you RoryOF... I have done everything you mentioned already, like the Table of Contents and bookmarks with Hyperlinks etc. and that is why up to now I have been able to get back to previous position/s, but it remains a drag... In view of the fact that I have previously used another Word Processor which had that "Go-Back"-function, (I think it was LibreOffice, which is not yet available as an App for Android,) I thought it might be easy for the programmers to add it. My knowledge is too limited to try and adjust the source code. Thank you anyway for your kind suggestions. And I must add, that although the document is 800pages, the Android OpenOffice-app and Android itself handles it perfectly.
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Re: A "go-back-to-previous-position" in a Writer Text Docume

Post by JeJe »

If your screen is big enough the best way might be to add a new window so one of your windows is kept in the initial position and you do the find in the other one.

If not, might reminders be helpful here?

https://wiki.openoffice.org/wiki/Docume ... _Navigator
Windows 10, Openoffice 4.1.11, LibreOffice 7.4.0.3 (x64)
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RoryOF
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Re: A "go-back-to-previous-position" in a Writer Text Docume

Post by RoryOF »

My concern was not that the app could not handle 800 pages - I have handled documents of much greater length - but that a document of such length by its nature, particularly if built over time, can get very confusing to the user and its structure may benefit from reconsideration.
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Re: A "go-back-to-previous-position" in a Writer Text Docume

Post by JeJe »

The attached document has a toolbar called save scroll position which has 2 buttons. The first runs a macro which saves the current scroll position. The second returns to that saved position. It works for me in OO... it may or may not work on yours.

If you don't just want the scroll position restored but want to restore the selection as well that will require slightly different code.
Attachments
getsetscrollposition.odt
(10.64 KiB) Downloaded 215 times
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John_Ha
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Re: A "go-back-to-previous-position" in a Writer Text Docume

Post by John_Ha »

Type zzz before searching. Search. Search for zzz after searching. Delete zzz.
FanieBekker wrote:I have an 800 page "Text Document" which I edit for my personal use on a daily basis
Your document is almost certainly "tangled" with so much editing. Search the forum with tangled for more information.

1. Set up a new document with the same page format.
2. Insert > File ..., and pull in your document.
3. Save the new document.

Such a document should be smaller and more responsive.

Be aware that if your document is complex (many images, footnotes, endnotes, ToC AOO will take several tens of minutes to lay it out during which time the layout may have gaps, tables may split and the page count will be variable (and always larger than the correct page count). See 11A. Why is my page count so high? Why does my page count keep changing? Why do white gaps appear in my document? in [Tutorial] Some useful hints on using images.
Last edited by John_Ha on Mon May 03, 2021 1:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
LO 6.4.4.2, Windows 10 Home 64 bit

See the Writer Guide, the Writer FAQ, the Writer Tutorials and Writer for students.

Remember: Always save your Writer files as .odt files. - see here for the many reasons why.
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Re: A "go-back-to-previous-position" in a Writer Text Docume

Post by JeJe »

Sometimes I type a single character before scrolling somewhere else and then press Ctrl+z to undo it and take me back to that position. This only works if you don't want to make an edit in the scrolled to position.
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FanieBekker
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Re: A "go-back-to-previous-position" in a Writer Text Docume

Post by FanieBekker »

JeJe wrote:The attached document has a toolbar called save scroll position which has 2 buttons. The first runs a macro which saves the current scroll position. The second returns to that saved position. It works for me in OO... it may or may not work on yours.

If you don't just want the scroll position restored but want to restore the selection as well that will require slightly different code.
Jeje thank you. I have tried to install it into my OO by disabling the macros security, and when I run your document it does open OO and install the functions but it does not remain... when I close OO it looses that function... what am I doing wrong?
Android Openoffice version: 4.8.0 / 31467
Open Office version: 4.1.7
Operating system: Android version: 7.0
FanieBekker
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Re: A "go-back-to-previous-position" in a Writer Text Docume

Post by FanieBekker »

John_Ha wrote:... Your document is almost certainly "tangled" with so much editing. Search the forum with tangled for more information. ... Such a document should be smaller and more responsive. ...[/url].
Thank you John_H, I am taking note of your suggestions.
Android Openoffice version: 4.8.0 / 31467
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Operating system: Android version: 7.0
FanieBekker
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Re: A "go-back-to-previous-position" in a Writer Text Docume

Post by FanieBekker »

JeJe wrote:Sometimes I type a single character before scrolling somewhere else and then press Ctrl+z to undo it and take me back to that position. This only works if you don't want to make an edit in the scrolled to position.
Thank you Jeje... that is why I have lots of bookmarks.. with hyperlinks... but a one-click-function would be nice too... :)
Android Openoffice version: 4.8.0 / 31467
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FanieBekker
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Re: A "go-back-to-previous-position" in a Writer Text Docume

Post by FanieBekker »

JeJe wrote:If your screen is big enough the best way might be to add a new window so one of your windows is kept in the initial position and you do the find in the other one.

If not, might reminders be helpful here?

https://wiki.openoffice.org/wiki/Docume ... _Navigator
Unfortunately JeJe I am using an Android tablet which does not have "windows"... but I'm checking out the idea of reminders! Thanks.
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Re: A "go-back-to-previous-position" in a Writer Text Docume

Post by JeJe »

Its set up as a demo that just works for that document - including the toolbar which is just for that document.

I've put the code in a simple extension - if you install that and then set shortcuts or create a toolbar with buttons to the macros in MyMacros/RememberScroll Library/Module1/getVScrollvalue2 (saves the position) and setVScrollvalue2 (restores the position)
Attachments
RememberScroll.oxt
(1.54 KiB) Downloaded 183 times
Windows 10, Openoffice 4.1.11, LibreOffice 7.4.0.3 (x64)
FanieBekker
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Re: A "go-back-to-previous-position" in a Writer Text Docume

Post by FanieBekker »

JeJe wrote:Its set up as a demo that just works for that document - including the toolbar which is just for that document.

I've put the code in a simple extension - if you install that and then set shortcuts or create a toolbar with buttons to the macros in MyMacros/RememberScroll Library/Module1/getVScrollvalue2 (saves the position) and setVScrollvalue2 (restores the position)
Thanks JeJe, will bee trying that.
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Re: A "go-back-to-previous-position" in a Writer Text Docume

Post by MrProgrammer »

Hi, and welcome to the forum.
FanieBekker wrote:To move forward I use search& find, but then I have to go back every time to my previous position ... The absence of it is a real problem and I am sure that many users would appreciate such a function. … Or if it already exists, please help me to find it.
OpenOffice.org 3.3 Writer Guide, page 27
  • One of the little-known features of Writer that you may find quite useful is the possibility of jumping between reminders. Reminders let you mark places in your document that you want to return to later on, to add or correct information, make some other change, or simply mark where you finished editing. The possible uses of reminders are limited only by your imagination. To set a reminder at the cursor's current location, click on the [spedified] icon in the Navigator. You can set up to 5 reminders in a document; setting another causes the first to be deleted. Reminders are not highlighted in any way in the document, so you cannot see where they are, except when you jump from one to the next—the location of the cursor then shows the location of the reminder. To jump between reminders, first select the Reminder icon on the Navigation toolbar. Then click the Previous and Next icons.
"Reminders" was mentioned earlier in the topic but I had forgotten about it. Perhaps you should try Reminders. If you don't like the feature, don't use it. Read the Writer Guide to learn how to use the Navigator. This tool is an important part of the software. I use only Apache OpenOffice. I don't know if the Reminders feature exists in LibreOffice or AndrOpen Office. I don't know where the documentation for AndrOpen Office would be.
FanieBekker wrote:your software does not have that function. … Could you please build it into your software.
Apache OpenOffice or LibreOffice or AndrOpen Office is not "our" software. This is a user-to-user forum. We are all users just like you. There are no developers here. We may have ideas which can help you accomplish your goal, but asking for features to be added or other changes to the software is a waste of your time.

If this solved your problem please go to your first post use the Edit button and add [Solved] to the start of the subject field. Select the green checkmark icon at the same time.
Mr. Programmer
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FanieBekker
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Re: A "go-back-to-previous-position" in a Writer Text Docume

Post by FanieBekker »

MrProgrammer wrote:Hi, and welcome to the forum. ...
...One of the little-known features of Writer that you may find quite useful is the possibility of jumping between reminders. ...
If this solved your problem please go to your first post use the Edit button and add [Solved] to the start of the subject field. Select the green checkmark icon at the same time.
Thank you MrProgrammer for the information regarding "Reminders"... and I have tried it, but it is not quite what I need - because I a already using Bookmarks and Hyperlinks extensively. You see - I have used that function which I need before in anothe programme, as I said, and there is just nothing as nice as it.
So, thank you, but my problem is not solved... I am sure there must be a way - I just have to look for the solution, and then, as you said - build it into my OO myself... however limited my knowledge an experience with these matters are at 65. :) ...but everyone who has contributed here, like yourself, has taught me a lot. Thank you's.
Android Openoffice version: 4.8.0 / 31467
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FanieBekker
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Re: A "go-back-to-previous-position" in a Writer Text Docume

Post by FanieBekker »

FanieBekker wrote:
JeJe wrote:Its set up as a demo that just works for that document - including the toolbar which is just for that document. ...I've put the code in a simple extension - if you install that and then set shortcuts or create a toolbar with buttons to the macros in MyMacros/RememberScroll Library/Module1/getVScrollvalue2 (saves the position) and setVScrollvalue2 (restores the position)
Thanks JeJe, will bee trying that.
JeJe I have installed everything as you said twice yesterday, but I just could not get it to work - so I will be trying it again today. Thank you for the extension... I am learning a lot of new things about my OO... have a nice day.
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FanieBekker
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Re: A "go-back-to-previous-position" in a Writer Text Docume

Post by FanieBekker »

JeJe wrote:...I've put the code in a simple extension - if you install that and then set shortcuts or create a toolbar with buttons to the macros in MyMacros/RememberScroll Library/Module1/getVScrollvalue2 (saves the position) and setVScrollvalue2 (restores the position)
JeJe where could I see a list of all available macros for OO?
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Re: A "go-back-to-previous-position" in Writer

Post by robleyd »

In Apache OpenOffice, they are found via Tools | Macros. I can't say whether AndrOpenOffice is identical. There may be differences between the two programs, as AndrOpenOffice has been ported to Android by a third party.
LibreOffice, which is not yet available as an App for Android
https://www.collaboraoffice.com/solutio ... droid-ios/
Cheers
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Re: A "go-back-to-previous-position" in Writer

Post by FanieBekker »

robleyd wrote:In Apache OpenOffice, they are found via Tools | Macros. I can't say whether AndrOpenOffice is identical. There may be differences between the two programs, as AndrOpenOffice has been ported to Android by a third party.
LibreOffice, which is not yet available as an App for Android
https://www.collaboraoffice.com/solutio ... droid-ios/
Thank you David.
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Re: A "go-back-to-previous-position" in Writer

Post by JeJe »

You can run a macro from the Tools Menu/macros/run macro but that's very cumbersome.

To set a shortcut or add it to a toolbar go to Tools menu/customise

For customizing keyboard tab... the macros are at the end of the list of categories. And the same if you click on add on the toolbars tab - at the end of the list of categories.
Windows 10, Openoffice 4.1.11, LibreOffice 7.4.0.3 (x64)
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