I agree with all you say below but it is really a moot point with me as I have removed OpenOffice from my system. There were just too many issues. Not just the find and replace one, but the fact that formatting would not transfer back and forth between OpenOffice and Word correctly.
Nor would files translate correctly between Impress and Powerpoint correctly. Not just formatting but more basic issues such as sound files imbedded within Powerpoint not play correctly in Impress. As I said before, OpenOffice is just "not ready for prime time." Perhaps for simple files with no complex formatting or special features, such as letters to your mother, (although mine often did) it might serve. But when used in a more professional environment, it does not answer. Thanks for your reply, James E. Smith -------------- Original message ---------------------- From: CPHennessy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > On Tue December 20 2005 13:36, + [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > [ MODERATED ] *********************** > > In the "Find and Replace" function, there is no way to replace paragraph > > breaks. I know you can do the remove paragraph marks from one-line > > paragraphs in the Autocorrect feature, but that is not what I mean. > > > > Often, I find myself working with documents that have extra line spacing > > below the paragraph in place of Twp paragraph marks. This is not suitable > > for posting to many web sites or bulletin boards, wheer double line feeds > > are required. > > > > In Word, WordPerfect, Appleworks, etc. it is possible to replace single > > paragraph marks with double ones in the "Find and Replace" feature. For > > OpenOffice to be "ready for prime time" basic features such as this need to > > be available. In fact, one should be able to do this with all formatting > > characters. For example, manual like breaks often have to be either > > deleted en mass or replaced with paragraph marks. Neither of these is > > possible in OpenOffice. > > > > As a professional writer and editor, I need these features and cannot work > > effectively without them. > > As you are not subscribed you may not have seen that: > On Wed December 21 2005 20:32, Ian Laurenson wrote: > > To make life easier for people migrating to OpenOffice.org and to get > > around some of the limitations in the find and replace I have written a > > macro called IanndFindReplace available from: > > http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/hillview/OOo/ > > The instructions for installing in OOo2.0 need updating but if you look > > at the instructions for installing libraries for the KeyHandler, you > > should be able to work it out. > > > > However, I think that it is time that my macro is retired and that > > similar features be part of standard OOo. Namely: > > > > * Ability to select regular expressions so that they don't have to be > > remembered or looked up in help; > > > > * Work across paragraphs and not just within paragraphs; > > > > * Fix the anomaly of \n being line breaks in Find but paragraph breaks > > in Replace; > > > > * Ability to search for and replace character and paragraph styles at > > the same same time as an expression for text; > > > > * Define the styles for the replaced text. E.g. If replacing a paragraph > > break be able to say which paragraph style the resulting merged > > paragraph will have - the first paragraph or the second. > > > > My macro can't do the following but these features should be included: > > > > * Extend the concept to any formatting e.g. be able to find H2O where > > the 2 is subscripted as opposed to all H2O or conversely to find H2O and > > to apply the subscript in the replace; > > > > * Include groups in replace. (A group is a bracketed expression in a > > regular expression and this would allow you to find some text but only > > change a part of it within the found context). > > > > * Change the API so that Find can work on a text range. > > > > I hope that this message will generate some discussion around the issue, > > so that a clearer picture of what people want for Find & Replace and how > > it could work. Maybe my macro could be a starting point for discussing > > some alternatives. > > > > Then maybe I (if I can find the time) or someone else can implement a > > well thought out and discussed improvement. > > Please reply to [email protected] only. > > > -- > Please reply to [email protected] only. > > Normally [email protected] is the best list to ask questions about using > OpenOffice.org > > -- > CPH : OpenOffice.org contributor --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
