Apache OpenOffice (AOO) Bugzilla – Issue 99794
Improve file open dialog, filter file types by application
Last modified: 2014-01-26 09:11:03 UTC
Opening text files into the spreadsheet application can be made easier. More generally, the file open dialog can be made easier to use. Because there are many supported file types, a filter should be added to limit this list by the application the user is expecting to use. Additionally, the first 8 lines in the file type menu contain application names rather than file types. This misleads the user to think the selected file will be opened by the selected application. One solution would be to change the behavior of the file type pull-down menu in the open dialog box so that it selects which application will be used to open the file if one of the first 8 entries is selected. Additionally, if the user selects the open dialog from the spreadsheet application, this menu could be pre-set to the spreadsheet application. The existing behavior can remain if the user selects one of the many file types further down the menu. An alternate solution would be to add a third filter to the open dialog selecting which application will be used to open the document. This could filter the contents of the file type pull-down menu to a more reasonable length. In order to open a text file as a spreadsheet, I must select the Text/CSV file type which is the 52nd entry on the list of file types. The addition of lines to group file types by applications was helpful but not a complete solution -- scrolling down two line breaks then an additional 15 entries is similarly cumbersome. For comparison, when using another spreadsheet program, one can select a text file in the file open dialog and the import process begins without having to select any additional options.
I would prefer the solution in the third chapter. The open file dialog should show per default the files of the used application. Additional filters are IMHO overdrawn. E.g. in writer you open normally opendocument text (.odt.).
Indeed, the file type selection list is too long. IMHO the filtering list should be replaced with a field where user types the extension of the desired file. Just like in File name field, while typing a list should appear for quick selection. For example, user types in the file extension field d -> a list appears: dbf dif doc docx dot dotx dxf etc... user types o -> above list reduces to: doc docx dot dotx etc... In any stage the user can click the desired file extension - just like in file name. Moreover, File name field and Extension field should be linked: User filtered for odp files -> while typing in file name field only odp files should be offered in the list.
A better open dialog is indeed needed, therefore I think that confirming the request is correct. But I do not think, that the suggestion in comment 2 is good, because file name extension and file type are not necessary the same, and because the file name extension does not always determine the AOO module to be used. I don't know about other OS, but in Windows, you can easily filter the shown file names by entering *.d or *.doc (or what you need) into the file name field and hit Open button. This is a typical case, where help of a UX expert would be good.
IMHO filtering by file type is not useful since in most cases user already knows the exact extension of the file he is trying to locate. The extension should determine the program to be used. In Win 7 right click file - Properties - General - Opens with: Change...
Maybe also the common open button can be replaced with open buttons near each AOO module.
*** Issue 93054 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue. ***