[Solved] Oddities Involving Bullets/Outlines & Font Styles

[Avendesora]

Hi,
New to the board so apologies if this is already answered or in the wrong place. Very often, when I'm using the Numbering or Bullet function in Writer, the numbers or bullets take on Style aspects, such as Strikethrough, or will become highlighted if I highlight part of the phrase on that level. It will affect every number or bullet on the same level throughout the whole document, not just the line where I actually used the Style or Highlighting. Occasionally I can manipulate the outline to make it go away, save the document, close it, but when I open it back up, it comes back, even if I eliminate the original Style or Highlighting.
Is there a way to fix this issue? Is it user error or a bug? If the later, has it already been identified? Any help would be appreciated. I'm using OpenOffice 4.1.3 on Windows 10 at the moment, but I've had it happen on previous versions and operating systems too. Thanks.

[jrkrideau]

I don't remember seeing anything quite like this before but I may have just missed it.

Can you upload a sample file showing the problem? The upload tab can be found at the bottom of the Reply and Quote windows.

[John_Ha]

The only way to assist you is for you to upload a small - less than 128kByte - file as jkrideau suggests.

If you want to debug it yourself, create a completely new document with File > New > Text Document ..., insert some bullets and numbers, and run some tests. Have a look at Creating numbered or bulleted lists in Chapter 3 of the OOo v3.3 Writer Manual.

There is much useful information in the Writer FAQ, the Writer Tutorials, the up to date Writer guide and the OOo v3.3 Writer Manual. When a pop-up window opens, click the Help button for extensive help on that function.

[RoryOF]

Has the file in question originated on or been edited on a copy of MS Word? Also has it been save in .doc format?

Reminder to other volunteers on the Forum: we had a problem some months ago with bullets showing up as number "10" in a black bullet point. This may be a another manifestation of the same problem.

[John_Ha]

... we had a problem some months ago with bullets showing up as number "10" in a black bullet point. This may be a another manifestation of the same problem.

I don't think so as the reported symptoms seem to be different. We need a file to check.

I think the reason is that bullets show up as number "10" is because MS Word has many styles for bullets and not all of these styles come across into Writer when a .doc is opened. There is somewhere when you can see the name of the bullet style but I cannot remember where.

I think the post you are thinking of is Corrupted Bullets where there is discussion as to whether it is a missing font problem.

[Avendesora]

I've attached a sample here. I normally work in .doc formats. I tried saving this in .odt and the problem persisted. Thanks.

[RoryOF]

The problem persists in .odt format because the error introduced by working in .doc format carries over. One of the List styles used carries the name "WW8Num1" - a sign that this is coming from a .doc file.

I cannot help further with a cure as I do not use list styles in my normal writings and have not sufficient experience with them.

[John_Ha]

Rory

The WW8Num1 name is what I was referring to - I agree it means it comes from MS Word. How do you find it in Writer?

Avendesora

See [Tutorial] Differences between Writer and MS Word files. IT seems that you have a file which was created in MS Word (or you copied some text which had been created in MS Word) and has the MS Word bullets.

Therefore solve the problem by removing the bullets (highlight the bullets > click the bullet icon). Now re-insert the bullets - this will use Writer supplied bullets.

Edit: ... or edit? or delete? the styles. Delete them by 1 press F11 to open the Styles and formatting window 2 click Character Styles - second icon 3 right click the last five character styles beginning WW8 > delete Problem fixed. Or 1 place the cursor in a bulleted line and go Format > Bullets and Numbering 2 choose the Options tab 3 Character Style will be something like WW8Num1z0. Set it to None These are the Writer built in styles:

If this solves the problem, please click the Edit button on your original post and add [Solved] in front of your subject.

[RoryOF]

@John_Ha: I found it yesterday in Writer by highlighting one of the bullets (sorry - can't remember which) and noticed that style was involved in the numbering setup. This morning, when I went to reply, could I find it? Rather than waste any time fiddling around, knowing it was there, I simply unzipped the file archive and found it in the .xml file.

[John_Ha]

Rory

Thanks. As you can see, I eventually found it. "found" implies a logical search - I really mean I tripped over it.

It looks like it is an imported MS Word Character Style which is defined in the Styles and Formatting dialogue under Character Styles.

This Character Style is then applied to the bullets, list and numbered items by the Format > Bullets and Numbering dialogue ..., where it appears under the Option tab as the selected Character Style. If I set it to None there, Writer does not change the format of the bullet - it just removes the strike through or highlight. If I choose Bullet instead of None Writer then changes the format of the bullets themselves.

Edit: See post by Bill below It is best to set the Character Style to Numbering Symbols rather than None as that is the default Writer setting.

[John_Ha]

I normally work in .doc formats.

That is not recommended - See [Tutorial] Differences between Writer and MS Word files for why you should always work in and save files as .odt.

[John_Ha]

The Style name also appears at the bottom of the window. By right clicking the WW8 Character Styles in the Styles and Formatting pop-up window I found one that had strike through applied and one had highlight applied. I edited the Style to remove the strike through and highlight and it fixed the problem.

It would be very interesting to have an original MS Word document showing this problem. Is it happening because the MS Word author created these incorrect Character Styles and used them for the bullets? If so, Writer is working correctly and displaying the Character Style it is being told to display. Or is it that Writer did not understand the MS Word bullet format, and corrupted the format to this, and is now displaying the incorrect style because that it is what it is being told to display?

The Style is shown in the Styles and Formatting window when you select Applied Styles and look under the List tab.

Clipboard04.png (6.17 KiB) Viewed 6095 times

[Bill]

This Character Style is then applied to the bullets, list and numbered items by the Format > Bullets and Numbering dialogue ..., where it appears under the Option tab as the selected Character Style. If I set it to None there, Writer does not change the format of the bullet - it just removes the strike through or highlight. If I choose Bullet instead of None Writer then changes the format of the bullets themselves.

I'd change the Character Style to "Numbering Symbols" instead of "None". "Numbering Symbols" is the default Character Style for numbering. If the Character Style is set to "None", then the bullets are formatted using the style of the paragraph text.

While this fixes the bullets if you use only .odt documents, the problem will reappear if the document is saved as a .doc file because of the way Writer imports bullets and numbering from .doc files. To fix the problem when using .doc files the problematic character styles have to be corrected. In this case, the problems are with level 4 and level 6 numbering which use the WW8Num1z3 and WW8Num1z5 Character Styles. In the Styles and Formatting window, right-click the WW8Num1z3 Character style, select the Font Effects tab and click "Standard" to remove the Strikethrough Font Effect. To fix the WW8Num1z5 Character Style, open it for modification, select the Background tab and select "Standard".

The initial problem may be caused by this bug:

Issue 75510 - WW8: some formats of numbering labels revert to settings of paragraph style on re-import

[John_Ha]

Bill

Thanks for the clarification and correction. I have updated the post.

[Avendesora]

Bill, thank you. That fixed it, quickly and easily, without me having to clear the outline entirely. Much appreciated.