Apache OpenOffice (AOO) Bugzilla – Issue 6800
Column balancing
Last modified: 2013-08-07 14:43:23 UTC
I have several MS Word documents that are completely unusable in OOo word processor. Main problem is that text doesn't show correctly, the lower part of many larger lines, often 40% of them are blanked out. At the same time what fits onto a page in MS Word doesn't fit in OOo. We'll be glad to provide the file as a sample but don't know how to do this with this form. Stan Berka
Thanks for posting Stan. There are a couple of ways you can send us the file. Ideally, please use the "Create a new attachment" link in your issue, ( issue 6800 ). If you cannot find this link in the issue, you can always post an URL we can use to download the problem file. Thanks.
Created attachment 2576 [details] The MS Word document that doesn't open correctly
Stan, thanks for attaching a document. I opened up the document you posted in Word 2000 and I saw the same problems you described for OO. What version of Word does this document open up correctly in? Is this a document you created in OO then saved as Word 2000 format? If this is the case, could you please provide us with the OO document?
Hi, The first document I attached was created in MSWord. Then, I opened it in OO and took off/modified all company specific info and saved as MSOffice 2000. That might have been too complex to trace back to the source of the problem. So, I'm attaching another file. It's saved from MSWord 97 which, of course, opens it correctly. In OO, the file looks bad. Stan Berka
Created attachment 2703 [details] File created in MSWord 97. Doesn't open correctly in OO
Thanks for the original document Stan. Duplicated on Win NT 4.0 SP6a, OO 1.0.1. Seems like OO has problems rendering the table.
Duplicated on Win 2000 NT 5.0 v 2190 using OOo 1.0.1 I used the document stan attached in order to replicate the bug.
The document renders okay for me in build 643. I opened the doc in both Word 2k and OOo 643 and they both looked about the same. Stan, if possible, take a look in 643 and if the file opens okay for you please mark this case as fixed with a comment about 643.
Hi P M, I can't compile the application. Is there a place I can get binaries for Win2K for build 643? I couldn't find them. Stan
http://www.openoffice.org/dev_docs/source/643/index.html#otherdocs and there is a table for download of binary install sets for 643, choose one of the windows mirrors and off you go.
Created attachment 3314 [details] File that doesn't show right
Created attachment 3315 [details] How it looks in OO Writer (page 1)
Created attachment 3316 [details] How it looks in OO Writer (page 2)
Created attachment 3317 [details] How it looks in MSWord97
Hi, Thanks for the info on binaries. The problem is still there when using build 643. To simplify the issue, I'm attaching: 1. The file from MSWord97 2. OO drawing file showing how it looks in OO Writer (two files: page 1 and 2) 3. OO drawing file showing how it looks in MSWord97 Stan
Hello Stan, thanks for the update. There are multiple issues here. For future reference, one problem per issue. 1 Number of pages Word renders the doc on 1 page, OOo takes 2. Known issue since you have columns on the first page. OOo cannot handle multiple margins on the same page. OOo will break pages with multiple margins into separate pages. Please see issue 6879. 2 Problem with image wrapping in the column. I haven't been able to figure out exactly how you got the text to wrap to the second column. The issue with OOo is how we split the text to the next column. It's probably a combination of frames, text wrapping and spacing. The workaround in OOo is to insert a column break after the graphic images. 3 Clipped text In OOo, on the second page, the first and second lines appear clipped. That's because the formatting on those 2 lines of text is complicated. A) The font was set as Arial 14 pt. B) Then line spacing was set at "Exactly 12pt". This causes clipping in Word 2000. C) Superscript was applied to the text. That makes "clipping" in Word 2000 worse. D) Then the position of the text was forced "Lower by 3pts". I doubt bolding and italics have anything to do with this problem. Note, this document has margins that are outside the valid print area. Stan, please break problem 3 into a new issue, I'll add some notes for the developer on how to set the settings in Word and we'll be on our way.
PM->CMC: I've attached "6800columnbrk.doc" created in Word 2K. This file focuses on the column break issue. The problem for this file is how OOo breaks the graphics and text into 2 columns. In Word, the drawing objects are in the left column and the text is in the right column. OOo puts all of them in one column. The workaround in OOo is straight forward, just add a column break.
Created attachment 3358 [details] Just the columns.
I have created a seperate issue (#8776) with just the text-clipped stuff.
Reassigned to Michael.
I agree in all thre points. First problem is not fixable due two the different page margins in the two sections. Third problem is worth another issue, but I do not think that it is a filter problem. I'll have further investigations on it.
MRU->CMC: There's no column break below the graphic, because in the section the option "Evenly distribute contents..." is not enabled.
The ms compatability option "don't balance columns for continous section starts is relevent here. With it on never balance columns, with it off balanced columns in sections except the last one I think.
Another one for you.
Aidan: Should be fixed in next release.
Aidan: The fix for this issue is in CVS, and will be included in the next release
close issue.