[Solved] No dialog shown when activating Find & Replace

[WinnieOriana]

Hello,
Since today when I click on the binoculars to activate the Find & Replace option, the pop-up simply doesn't show.
Even after updating to 4.1.14 version the result remains negative.
The icon can be set neutral and in light blue but nothing happens.
Other buttons like "show draw functions" and "Gallery" are all working perfectly fine.
Please help

Edit: Changed subject, was Find & Replace  Make your post understandable by others  -- MrProgrammer, forum moderator

[FJCC]

I used to see this many years ago on a two screen system when the computer would get confused about placing the dialog. If that is the problem, try this: After clicking the Find & Replace icon, try pressing the two keys Alt + Space Bar. You should see a pop up menu with the items Move and Close. Press Enter to select the Move option. Even if you don't see the pop up, press Enter. You can then use the arrow keys to move the dialog back onto the screen.
Another possibility is to reset your use profile. Shutdown OpenOffice. Open any folder and enter %appdata%\openoffice\4 in the address bar near the top. That should take you to a directory containing a directory named user. Change the name to user_old and restart OpenOffice. You should get the registration screen. Fill that out and see if Find & Replace now works.

[JeJe]

If you get no joy, this little macro should show a message box with information about where it is - assumes there is only one find & replace dialog showing.

How to install a code snippet if you don't know this:
viewtopic.php?t=5519

Code: Select all

Sub FindReplaceDialogInfo
dim oFrame,oToolkit,i,a,ps
oFrame = ThisComponent.getCurrentController().getFrame()
oToolkit = oFrame.getContainerWindow().getToolkit()
with otoolkit
for i =0 to .topwindowcount - 1
a =.gettopwindow(i)
if a.accessiblecontext.titledbordertext = "Find & Replace" then 
ps = a.getpossize
with ps
msgbox "Display:" & a.display & chr(10) & "X:" & .x & chr(10) & "Y:" & .x & chr(10)  & "width:" & .width & chr(10)  & "height:" & .height
end with
exit sub
end if
next
msgbox "No Find & Replace dialog is found"
end with
End Sub

[JeJe]

This script will move the find & replace dialog to the top left (coordinates 0,0). After installing, it needs to be run from Tools menu/macros/run macro or perhaps a keyboard shortcut. Again assumes only one find & replace dialog is showing.

Code: Select all

Sub MoveFindDlgToLeftCorner
dim oFrame,oToolkit,i,a,ps
oFrame = ThisComponent.getCurrentController().getFrame()
oToolkit = oFrame.getContainerWindow().getToolkit()
with otoolkit
for i =0 to .topwindowcount - 1
a =.gettopwindow(i)
if a.accessiblecontext.AccessibleName = "Find & Replace" then 
a.setpossize 0,0,0,0,3
exit sub 
end if
next
msgbox "No Find & Replace dialog is found"
end with
End Sub

[WinnieOriana]

Problem solved:

Open any folder and enter %appdata%\openoffice\4 in the address bar near the top. That should take you to a directory containing a directory named user. Change the name to user_old and restart OpenOffice. You should get the registration screen. Fill that out and see if Find & Replace now works.

Thanks for your help guys,
Winnie

[Lupp]

Problem solved:

Open any folder and enter %appdata%\openoffice\4 in the address bar near the top. That should take you to a directory containing a directory named user. Change the name to user_old and restart OpenOffice. You should get the registration screen. Fill that out and see if Find & Replace now works.

Thanks for your help guys,
Winnie

This answer describes a way to reset the user pofile on a Windows system. The probable resetting of F&R related options to defaults is only one of many effects. This radical approach also resets any different settings (options, customizations), and makes many previously created/edited things inaccessible, among them templates, scripts (Basic e.g.) changed dictionaries, and user-defined AutoText entries.

Such a profile reset should only be made if all that is meaningless for the user, or if the profile (i.e. mostly the file 'registrymodifications.xcu') is corrupted beyond repair. In the second case the user should look for ways to make the wanted and not corrupted parts work again.

Basically the issue may not only concern 'Writer' but also other components.

The radical way should never be chosen befor the "mildest" changes were tried:
>Tools>Customize>>
Enable RadioButton 'OpenOffice' ('Writer' only if you want to resrtict the setting to work in Writer.)
>>Keyboard>>'Shorcut keys':Ctrl+F
Go to Functions/Category now. Select 'Edit' under 'Category' and 'Find & Replace' under 'Function.
Next to the RadioButtons confirm 'Modify'.

LibreOffice users also note: LibO now has a 'Find Bar' (use >View>ToolBars' if not shown). It is entered by default with the shortcut Ctrl+F. Therefore the default shortcut for 'Find & Replace' was changed to Ctrl+H in LibreOffice.