Apache OpenOffice (AOO) Bugzilla – Issue 120304
Bad alignment inside math matrices
Last modified: 2015-12-04 12:45:30 UTC
Created attachment 78675 [details] Alignment In Math Matrix With OOo3.4 & OOo3.3 The « alignr » math formula command is no more efficient since OOo 3.4 when used for aligning to the right the objects inside a column of a math matrix (a math matrix is a table with columns and rows). Look at the two pdf attachments : one has been compiled and exported with OOo 3.4, the other one with OOo 3.3. This bug arises only with the new version of OOo – so it is a « regression ». It is a « release_blocker » because I will get rid of OOo 3.4 and re-install OOo 3.3 (which is inoperant since I've intalled OOo 3.4). I've joined (hybrid) pdf formats to make sure you see the differences between those two versions. Luc P.
The wrong alignment is caused by the minus sign. A plus sign produces the wrong alignment too. The alignment is wrong too for alignl. The error is only in a matrix, not in a stack. It seems, that the position is shifted one place to the left. Workaround: Add an empty text "" or an empty operand {} before the minus sign.
Created attachment 78678 [details] Document with one matrix with alignr and alignl
The alignment is OK in DEV300m93 (around 2010-11-15) and broken in DEV300m94 (around 2010-12-03).
I surely prefer to use OpenOffice 3.3 and LibreOffice 3.3.4 instead of OO 3.4 or LO 3.5.5 when having to write matrices, which means quite often while teaching linear algebra. The syntax was then fairly easy and clear : writing the « alignr » command only once before the matrix command was enough. And also that simple with « alignc » and « alignl » if necessary. Now, with the new versions, would we have to write the alignment commands erratically with a lot of symbols (`,~," " ) to adjust spacing ? Doesn't it become "monstruous" and annoying ? I mean, this workaround is not a real solution : there IS a real bug over there. I observe regression occurs. I hope it will be corrected in the next version. It is an obstacle to convincing my math colleagues to quit Micro$oft for OO or LO. And using "old" versions is a risk on security, it seems. Incidently, the installation of OO 3.4 destroyed my "old" 3.3 version. After having lost hours of web researches, I finally found the OO 3.3 and the LO 3.4 versions. One at http://www.openoffice.org/download/legacy/index.html , the other at http://downloadarchive.documentfoundation.org/libreoffice/old/ Don't forget to uninstall OO 3.4 before a clean re-install of OO 3.3.
Here is the easy way I found to resolve this problem I pointed out 2 years ago. Inside the matrix code (in Math module), negative numbers should be written with the large minus sign « – », instead of the narrow one « - ». On an Apple mac keyboard, the large minus sign is obtained via simultaneous keys [alt][maj][+=], where [maj] stands for the (majuscule) capital letters key. The output in Text (out of Math module) is the same large minus sign, but the alignment (left, center, right) is now respected. Tested on LO 4.2.6.2 and OO 4.1.1 (running under Mavericks).
This is not fixed. Using a minus as text is only a workaround for using a negative number. This workaround works the same as putting an empty string before the number. A "fix" needs a change in the core.