[Solved] Greyed out Field options in Object

[Talvi]

Hi

I have a group of objects in a text document in Write. One of these has/had a date field in it which has now disappeared and I can find no way to insert it again.

I had been successfully editing the group (to get its positioning on the page, formating of text in individual objects, etc etc) with no problem. During editing I made prints from time to time and in each of these the date field automatically updated as expected. After a final print I did a final save, closed OO, and then realised I needed a PDF. I reopened the odt file and printed to PDF (using CutePDF not the Write export function). However, the date field did not print. I assumed this was a problem with the creation of the pdf, reopened the odt file, but discovered the date field had in fact vanished from there.

Now I can find no way to reinsert any type of field. I also find that I can no longer FULLY select any of the individual elements in an object of the group although I was able to do this previously). Now, if I try to select the contents of an individual object, the selction setting reverts to Group (i.e. the Group becomes the item selected not the object) although the individual object remains available for editing (but with no handles on it).

I guess this may be just a bug in OOo, and I was "lucky" that the paste of the original group (from Draw) carried over and continued to function. But, I really need to insert a field into an object though and can find no way of doing this. Can anyone help? I'm using 3.3.0 (m20 build 9567) on Win7.

[RoryOF]

We would need to see a file containing at least the group in question, and possibly some surrounding text.

[Talvi]

We would need to see a file containing at least the group in question, and possibly some surrounding text.

Thanks for your speedy reply Rory, could you give me some idea/hint of what you are looking for?
The document is private and confidential so I can't really give you directly what you ask for.

The group is anchored to the page, it comprises three elements, one a graphic, and the other two textual. I have had it as "background" and as "foreground" (I can't see what these two options actually do in practice apart from the standard layering functionality)

I could repeat the creatuon process again and create a dummy document to send screenshots of ... or even send the entire dummy, but that would take time that I don't have right now.

[Talvi]

.. ok, I was going to send a screenshot of the field in question but can't see how to do that anyway!
TTFN back in about five hours.

[RoryOF]

If we had access to the relevant section of the document, even if the sensitive content were obfuscated in some way, we would immediately be able to see if the problem persisted on our machines, or if it was peculiar to your computer. In that later case, deleting or renaming your User Profile may cure the problem; details are at
http://user.services.openoffice.org/en/ ... 74&t=12426

[Talvi]

RoryOF, thanks.

I had assumed the problem was with the document but it is true of a new text document too. I am unable to create a text box and enter a field in it. Is this performing as designed or is there a glitch?

I can't see how to attach a file, but this is a description of events:
> I open a new text file (File > New > Text document)
> From the toolbar I pick text box, or something from basic shapes.
> The text box displays with a boundary made of cross hatching.
> After entering text and reselecting the text box, the handles are displayed.
> At none of these points is it possible to enter any field in it- the menu options are greyed out.

Your comments about the user profile are really interesting. I have Win7. But I have not been able to get access to Docs and Settings despite changing the file security/access settings to allow this.

Any ideas?

[RoryOF]

I've made a quick test. The actions you list above do not permit a field to be entered in a Frame. But click outside the frame so that it is unselected; now, click _inside_ the frame (no selection handles showing) and try / Insert / Field and the fields should be available for insertion. I have done this, inserted a Time field, and was then able to move the frame about, complete with the inserted field.

[Talvi]

I can't replicate your results Rory. These are mine:-

1. Create blank document
2. Insert Frame (using text icon in tool bar ie a text object?) -> FIELD OPTIONS GREYED OUT
3. Insert text in Frame (nb if no text is entered the Frame is uncreated/deleted when unselected)
4. Place cursor inside Frame and single-click -> Frame handles display, FIELD OPTIONS GREYED OUT
....try again....
5. Unselect Frame (by placing cursor outside of Frame and clicking)
6. Select Frame (by placing curser in Frame and DOUBLE clicking) -> text handles do NOT display, FIELD OPTIONS GREYED OUT

What's going on?

[RoryOF]

I used / Insert / Frame from the menu bar - I rarely use Toolbars.

Try this sample file:

[Talvi]

Yup that nailed it.

Doesn't anybody use modular design methodology anymore?!?

Thanks I would never have thought .... though come to think of it the icons for "identical" functions also work in different ways!!!

[RoryOF]

It may be that you were clicking in the border area of the frame, which is typically about 2mm from the frame outline. A click here is the same as a click on the frame outline itself. One needs to click well within the frame. I have such borders always visible, which avoids my making such an error, but many users default to not showing the structural elements (outlines and non-printing characters) of OpenOffice. Coming from a printing and design background I like to see these and don't find them obtrusive.

[Talvi]

The clicking/selection logic that Oo use is very convoluted but, no, that wasn't the problem.

The problem was that I was using the Toolbar to create an "object", in this instance a text box, which didn't have the functionality that calling a Frame from the menu and using it as a text box did.

The generic problem is that there are significant differences in the code/functionality called/delivered when using Toolbars as opposed to menus to access "identical" functionality.

Thanks for the benefit of your experiences Rory.