https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=151710
--- Comment #15 from Eyal Rozenberg <[email protected]> --- It is a bad idea for LibreOffice to have this feature. That is, it's not just not-useful, it is detrimental for the application for it to exist. I will explain why that is the case, and then request that this bug be closed as NOTABUG. First, let us note that that no Office suite (AFAICT) has such a button, or command. Also, no text editor (that I know of) has such a command. I am also not aware of IDEs which have such a command. Why do you think that is, even in applications that are focused entirely on text rather than on styling, formatting, tables, frames, pages etc.? One reason is that this is text-entry functionality. And in text editors, we use the keyboard to enter text. If you look at the Writer toolbars, you'll not find a single button whose function is to enter text (with the exception of 'Special Character', which is for what you can't type in). We do not want to encourage users to click buttons instead of typing text. Now, it's true that it involvements entering text at two points, but it's still just entering two characters. The effort of selecting the text, then pressing this button or shortcut, is roughly the same as reaching its beginning, adding the '(', navigating to the end and adding the ')'. Even if you have the text pre-selected somehow, the workflow is: cut the selection, enter '(', paste, enter ')'. Faster than picking up the mouse, finding a toolbar button, pressing the button and letting go of the mouse. Also note, that once we have a parentheses-enclosing command, we would be hard-pressed to reject a curly-brackets-enclosing command. And other kinds of brackets. And a command for applying double quotation marks. And single quotation marks. And the list will go on. Let us not start down this path. A second reason - and perhaps an even more important one - is that encourages grammatical overuse and misuse of parentheses. The Modern Language Association says [1]: > As strong punctuation marks, parentheses tend to slow down the > experience of reading prose. They also momentarily take the > reader outside the main point and grammatical coherence of the > sentence. For these reasons, a text that relies heavily on > parentheses can feel like a path filled with distractions that > shift the reader off course. we do not want to encourage the use of parentheses! Also, parentheses enclosing a larger piece of text - a multi-line sentence or so - are a problem regardless of frequently. It's like someone talking to you who suddenly start a different conversation, without any warning they've gone off on a tangent. And by the time they're done - you've half-forgotten you were talking about something else! Instead, in a conversation, the person should make the effort to connect the sentence narratively; or just give up on the long side-sentence or move it elsewhere. in a Writer document, a footnote, or comment, or a floating text box may also be appropriate alternatives. So, to recap - for the benefit of all involved - let's reject this enhancement request. [1] : https://style.mla.org/how-to-use-parentheses/ -- You are receiving this mail because: You are the assignee for the bug.
