[Issue] Problem with Table Shadow

[silvermine92]

Since upgrading from OpenOffice 3.1 to 3.2, tables in text document (generated by OpenOffice Writer) originally given a shade is added with a shadow border, which changes colour randomly, say sometimes appearing in black and sometimes in blue. This however only affects the editing window, and in document preview or actual print out, the unwanted shadow border does not appear at all. Is there a way to override the situation, as the bad border is making soft documents look non-professional?

CSLam

[acknak]

Sorry, I've not noticed that problem.

What file format are you using when you save your documents?

If you're not using OOo's native ODF formats for your documents, try that and see if it makes any difference.

[silvermine92]

I have been using tables with shading in Writer for a very long time, prior to OpenOffice version 1 I think. In the older version sxw files, the shading disappears totally although in the table property window OpenOffice says there is the shading defined. Incidentally paragraph formatting does not have this issue, and shadings always appear and properly (ie. without the unwanted border). Table shading comes back to live since v3, as far as I remember. Files are saved from generation to generation in default manner, ie. sxw files still in sxw formats (not upgrading to odt), and odt files in the default odt format.

In summary :-
- sxw files: no shading at all although OpenOffice says this is defined - since quite some time ago after one of the OpenOffice upgrade, but cannot remember exactly the transition
- odt files: shading appearing with unwanted border, and this happens since OpenOffice v3.1 to v3.2 upgrade

CSLam

[acknak]

Hmm, I haven't noticed any problems with my old .sxw documents. I looked at a couple with shading (I assume you're referring to setting a background color for some cells) and they seem fine in OOo 3.2.1.

If you want to attach a sample or two, we can give it a look--or maybe you'd rather just file a bug report? [Tutorial] Reporting bugs or suggestions

[silvermine92]

Thank you for the attention. I am not referring to cell format but on the table itself. I am attaching two files for reference.

(1) Table.odt
This is what I am reporting from the beginning. There is a border on the yellow table shading, which is not wanted. Apparently this is not defined anywhere therefore cannot be get rid of.
(2) Table.sxw
Since my oder version OpenOffice has already been uninstalled, I cannot create a new file. sxw documents saved under OpenOffice v3.2 does not seem affected (but still with the unwanted border) therefore I can only take out one of my sxw file, remove the contents for illustrating the issue.
- Page 1 is Table of Contents somehow I cannot delete - but this is not a problem at all.
- In page 2, the blue row is "paragraph formatting" with a shadow, which is as intended. The yellow box is actually a table, which if you open with Table Properties you will see a shading has been defined. However as you will notice it is not showing up at all. Unlike the (1) case, this shading is not appearing in the editing window, the preview and actual print out.

CSLam

[acknak]

Interesting. Thanks for the samples--very helpful.

I see both of those problems also, just as you described them.

Interesting that I can copy the table from your diary into a new document and the shadow appears. That makes me wonder if it's something else in that document that interferes with the shadow. You can see that Writer is shifting the table to make room for the shadow, but no shadow is actually drawn.

In fact, if I start a new document and insert a table and give it a shadow (all good at this point), then load only the page style(s) from your "Table.sxw", the shadow on the table disappears. So it seems to be something about the page style that's causing the problem, but I've no idea what.

I'm not sure what else to try; you can certainly file bug reports (these would be two separate issues) and include your sample documents. I would not expect that it would get a terribly high priority--there are an awful lot of tasks already in the queue. [Tutorial] Reporting bugs or suggestions

[acknak]

Oops, I should have checked the issue tracker first. Here's the issue (your "B"): Issue 84645: table shadow in certain document not displayed
You can register there and add your vote (up to two) or comment.

There's a comment there with this workaround: the shadow will be shown if you tick the "Merge adjacent line styles" option just below the shadow settings.

[silvermine92]

I have been working with thousands of tables reinstating the table shadow by checking "Merge Adjacent Line Styles". This of course is a very tedious job (by the way, any batch function available to help on this, ie. universally changing a particular piece of table property), but during the course of work I found out two things, which perhaps will help troubleshooting into the issue.

(1) At least the attached tables do not require checking "Merge Adjacent Line Styles" to get the shadow.
(2) Fresh tables created under OpenOffice 3.2.0 do have shadows when defined, but this probably is because "Merge Adjacent Line Styles" have been checked automatically by default. If the option is unchecked, the shadow will disappear.

CSLam

[Hagar Delest]

I have been working with thousands of tables reinstating the table shadow by checking "Merge Adjacent Line Styles". This of course is a very tedious job (by the way, any batch function available to help on this, ie. universally changing a particular piece of table property), but during the course of work I found out two things, which perhaps will help troubleshooting into the issue.

You should try to write a macro for that.
First step is to apply the correct formatting to the table where the cursor is.
Second step could be to use a routine that goes to each table one after the other to apply the formatting from step 1 (such routine is easily available in the forum or in the documentation). Don't hesitate to create a topic in the macro forum for that.

The hard part is to find out what are the correct parameters to apply. I've experienced that few days ago: [Solved] Set automatic alignment for a Writer table.

[silvermine92]

Just wish to add that the unwanted shadow border problem has been reported under Issue 112410.

CSLam