Apache OpenOffice (AOO) Bugzilla – Issue 66857
Control+Enter to create line breaks doesn't always work
Last modified: 2017-05-20 11:11:13 UTC
Hello, This is a problem that we've noticed since starting to use OO at our office. When editing spreadsheets we sometimes want to add line breaks to cells so that they are easier to read. In other spreadsheet applications with which we are more familiar, it is possible to type Control+Enter to add them and we can do it wherever we can edit the text. This doesn't seem to be true for OO. Instead it looks like it only works when someone clicks on a cell, then clicks on the input line, then clicks on the text in the cell again and then does the Control+Enter. When a user wants to format a lot of text, that takes a long time. Plus, everyone is accustomed to being able to click on the cell, click on the input line, then doing the Control+Enter there. The default behavior in OO has caused a lot of confusion here, with a lot of people thinking OO doesn't allow the addition of line breaks at all. Is it possible to add this functionality or something like it? This simple addition would lead to less confusion (and increased pro-OO sentiment). Keep up the good work and thanks for such a great office suite, John Duperon
Works for me Did you try the {F2} button? (Then you do not have to click the input-line or formula bar anymore) Gerco-Kees
Hi Gerco-Kees, Thanks for the suggestion. I tried the {F2} as you say. By doing so, I don't have to click the formula bar. However, that still means that I need to do something, click the formula bar or {F2}, which unfortunately doesn't lower the number of steps one needs to go through just to add a line break. Also, there is still the confusion of users as they try to add line breaks in the formula bar and it just doesn't work. Is it difficult to allow control-enter in the formula bar? Shouldn't it just be a cut and paste of code from the cell box? It would really be great if you guys could implement this feature. We'd all appreciate it here. Thanks, John
Hi, CTRL+ENTER in the edit line does not work, this is a double to at least Issue 8793. This Issue is also closed as double but I think we should re-think about allowing CTRL+ENTER also in the Edit line. So I re-assign this Issue to Requirements for decission finding. Frank
There are really two separate topics here. One is showing line breaks in the input line. This would be useful in some cases, annoying in others (because it would obstruct parts of the table area). That's why issue 13870 was closed. The other one, independent from that, is that Ctrl-Enter should work and insert a line break when the cursor is in the input line, even if it's visible only in the table area. This is a serious and frequently reported usability problem, because it's not immediately clear to users when Ctrl-Enter works and when it doesn't. I'm even ready to call it a usability bug. I'm taking this issue for the second topic, and leaving 13870 closed because we're not changing the first one.
retarget 2.x -> 3.x
*** Issue 92491 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue. ***
Reset assigne to the default "issues@openoffice.apache.org".