Apache OpenOffice (AOO) Bugzilla – Issue 18508
color of non-printing characters should not be same as printing characters
Last modified: 2020-03-20 20:24:48 UTC
When you choose to display non-printing characters, they display as the same color of the printing characters. Usually when an application shows non-printing characters, it does so with a much lighter color than the text itself, such as light gray.
This is an enhamcement.
Not a defect but a request for enhancement, and I agree that having a different color would make it a lot easier to use productively.
confirming, setting target-milestone (mybe 1.1.1?). OS, Platform -> ALL, Prio: 4
*** Issue 20532 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue. ***
I don't think, that such an option would be strongly used.
Issue gets closed.
I had in mind to post such a RFE for a looong time. Pity this one was closed. Could it be re-opened. I also think that colored non-printing character are much clearer and less eye tiring. For the record, MSO had such a feature on MacOS. Sincerely, Fousage
*** Issue 49015 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue. ***
*** Issue 73479 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue. ***
I see no reason why this issue has been closed. Because this IS an issue. I have people around me asking how to gray out those nonprinting characters in OpenOffice because their document is more readable this way. So plase reopen this bug, or at least explain why it is closed. “Issue gets closed” is not enough. Also look at those new duplicates. This may not be a very needed feature but some ask it. Thanks for reading me :)
I think the canonical way to push an Issue is: VOTE FOR THIS ISSUE (tm)!
So changing the color of page and section breaks is important enough for a configuration option (and they're still nearly invisible), but non-printing characters used constantly by nearly every user are stuck in black only? Please consider re-opening this issue. Usability would be greatly enhanced if the non-printing characters could be displayed in some toned-down fashion. They are very distracting when they appear in the same color as the surrounding text, and so the user has to constantly switch them on and off.
Yes, please reopen this request, its a great feature!
Created attachment 47399 [details] sample document showing appearance
"bh" decided for himself or herself back in 2003 , "I don't think, that such an option would be strongly used" then closed it. "bh" was wrong, and this issue should not have been closed based on a single person's opinion. It needs to be re-opened. I'd vote for it but I have only 5 votes to spread out through all the issues for Writer. That's not enough!! I'm hoping a comment can be considered a vote. The user should be allowed to choose the color of non-printing characters. Light grey is too light for me to see small features such as word spaces. Because not everyone can see the most typically selected colors (red, blue, green), the color for non-printing characters needs to be configurable by the user.
@bh: you may or may not be right, that users would or would not actively select said option. but please consider this: i am responsible for content in a corporate environment. the reality: quite many of my authors deliver content, that has elements of "typewriter layout", e.g. they use whitespace instead of tabs, or there are bogus paragraph delimiters at the end of line. there would be no problem if these documents would just go to print. but if my editors process these texts, a significant amount of time goes into re-formatting, because just one inserted word often breaks the "typewriter layout". ok, so we do trainings for authors, tell them to take care of those nonprinting characters. and here is the heart of the problem: there is high resistance against diaplaying those characters, because (being displayed the same) they confuse authors and take away attention from content and layout. please, please, help us reduce our processing and training costs. like it is now it is a real pain.
I registered specifically to vote for, and comment on, this issue. In my opinion this is a useless feature without this specific enhancement to go along with it.
It's nearly 10 years since the original request for this enhancement and the latest release still does not address this issue. It is a HUGE usability issue for anyone who is using this software in any capacity for proofing and laying out text. There are numerous duplicates of the issue, along with numerous external related forum requests and questions. By not fixing this simple issue you are excluding potential users and contributors to the project. Please REOPEN this issue. What is required is a sufficient level of contrast between the default text color and the color used to display non-printing characters (as well as the default background color). Suggest #CCCCCC, #66CCFF or similar. Since the text color can be customized by the user, it would make sense to have the non-printing character color customizable also.
If you're looking for this feature, LibreOffice has changed the nonprinting character color to blue. Color is not configurable, doesn't auto-adjust with page background.
*** Issue 90745 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue. ***
Using non-printing characters the same color as the text is horrible. It basically makes this feature worthless for a lot of people. If there are some that love the black... then can this be at least be a switch to move from a color or black. AS it is, I would pick LO over AOO every day of the week for just this feature.