Apache OpenOffice (AOO) Bugzilla – Issue 48790
alignment buttons in toolbar appears to be inactive when differntly aligned items are selected
Last modified: 2005-12-02 16:43:20 UTC
In writer and calc, alignment buttons in toolbar appears to be inactive when differntly aligned items are selected. However, alignment is still working without regarding to appearance. I believe it is better to show buttons as normal (non pushed) state in this case. Steps to reproduce (in writer) 1. Open a Writer document 2. Input a paragraph and make sure alignement stays 'left'. 3. Input another paragraph and align it 'right'. 4. Select both paragraph. 5. Confirm alignment buttons become inactivated. 6. Click 'align left' button 7. Confirm both paragraphs are aligned left.
One interesting thing is that alignment buttons for textbox in draw has different behavior. Was it implemented in different way to wrtier or calc?
I think this is the expected behaviour when the selection has multiple possible attributes for the controls on the toolbar. If the controls were to show one of the attributes selected, which one should it be? For this reason, the font name, size, style (B/I/U), and alignment attributes are left blank or greyed-out (not inactive) when multiple, differing attributes are encountered in the selection. Leaving the buttons "non pushed" would be deceiving if there were portions of the selection that contained that attribute. Thus, this third state clearly shows that part of the selection has that attribute. It's a very good way to show that. I think this issue should be closed as "invalid." Matt Needles OOo volunteer coach/tester
Matt, thanks for your comment. I think a grayed out button typically means that the function is not available in current situation. Also, primary purpose of toolbar button is to show _what user can expect by pushing toolbar button_. In case of this issue, user can expect selected entities to be aligned with any of alignment options. So, it is ok to leave the buttons non-pushed. I understand it is good to show current state of selected entity through toolbar buttons. However, openoffice.org tries it too much and it causes another type of usability issues such as i40778 ( http://www.openoffice.org/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=40778 ). In my opinion, this kind of is is very subjective matter. My arguments here are based on simply my assumption. :-)
Hi jeongkyu, thanks for using and supporting OpenOffice.org... Please suggest what to do instead "greying out" the affected buttons... I think mjneedles is right... What else should we do?
Hi mci, I suggested to show all buttons as normal(non pushed) state in this case. The reason was in my prior comment.
reassigned to cj mci -> cj: Hi cj, please have a lookat this. I'm not sure which behaviour is better: the current behaviour or the suggested behaviour... Please decide...
<Back from a recess> The op's suggestion is the way MS does it (MSO XP). I like our way better, because it shows there are multiple, different attributes in the selection. I don't think the term "greyed-out" correctly describes the buttons in this case, though. They are "selected (pushed) and dimmed" IMHO. This shows, as far as possible, the attributes found in the selection. MSO's way doesn't tell you anything. Matt
If they are selected (pushed) and dimmed, it has to be pushed only for selected attributes. So, confusion still remains. If it shows just 'multiple' attributes in selection, normal buttons can show same meaning. My point is that toolbar buttons are not for showing selected attributes. In case of this issue, buttons have to show 'if you click one of the alignment button, the alignment will be applied to every selected paragraph'. I believe normal buttons are best for showing this. Typically, pushed button is used when user can remove selected attribute. Also, i40778 is a good example of inconvinience caused by showing 'current state'. How do you think?
CJ -> OS: When two or more differently aligned paragraphs are selected we should display the tb buttons enable, but not selected. In case of Radio buttons all should be enabled, but not selected (like it already is). In case of menu or context menu entries all should be enabled ,but not selected (like it already is). Given that it is only consistent to display the tb buttons in the same way.
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os->cj: Not that I could change anything in the appearance of toolbox items, but: Your solution doesn't make much sense and I can't see any reason for a target 2.01. I case of the alignment it might make sense to change the way they are currently displayed for mixed attributes. In case of single buttons like bold, italic we would lose information.
cj -> ssa: Could you please have a look at this one? Thanks cj -> os: Sorry, for assigning you as owner for this.
The patch of issue 35563 solves this issue. *** This issue has been marked as a duplicate of 35563 ***
closing duplicate