Jonathon Coombes wrote:
On 16/03/2006, at 9:34 AM, Ian Laurenson wrote:
I am the "devil incarnate" who wrote the "RevealCodes" macro as a proof
of concept - it is certainly not a fully functional macro. However, it
could be if people actually showed sufficient interest to get involved.
SNIP!
Alternatives to reveal codes
----------------------------
Status quo: see effective format of current selection by opening format
paragraph and format font dialogs. Check against format of paragraph
style and character styles.
Low level XML editor: this is my preferred choice. To me it would be
great to be able to go View > XML and see the current document in a low
level XML editor.
I thought about a possible compromise that might work quite well, so I
want to present it and see what people think about it. It seems that the
reveal codes people want to see the "formats" applied, and the stylists
want to remain true to style methodologies. How about we have a
hierarchical representation of the applied styles. That is, for the
current page at least, show the page style, then each of the applied
paragraph styles, within each shows the character styles etc. Here is a
quick example:
Current Page
-> Default Page
-> Heading 1
-> Text Body
-> Text Body
-> Emphasis
-> Italics
-> Preformatted Text
-> Image Frame
-> Text Body
-> Footer
This shows that our page is using the default page style, has a heading,
3 paragraphs with an image, and a footer. Clicking on any one of these
will highlight the appropriate area/object within the page. This may (or
may not) be expanded to include hard formatting I am guessing.
This fits in somewhat with what already exists in the "Applied Styles"
option in the Styles and Formatting window. Maybe this could be expanded
to fit, or maybe another option in the navigator.
What do people think?
Sure. Something like the Navigator for a page sounds like a good idea.
I've certainly nothing against showing direct formatting either, or
anything that aids in debugging structural or display problems. This
sounds like an excellent approach.
What I don't like particularly is the idea of a faux-codes mode that
misrepresents the underlying structure of how OOo Writer works internally.
On the other hand, the macro that does emulate the WordPerfect codes is
an admirably amazing and cool toy, the kind of thing I too often waste
my own time on ... just for the fun it.
And as Ian Laurensen indicates, allowing users to easily see what is
going on beneath the surface, for users who want this, regardless of how
it is done, is in itself a good idea.
Jallan
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