Re: [libreoffice-users] integration of styles management between writer and impress

On 9/13/2011 5:16 AM, e-letter wrote:
> On 12/09/2011, Paul D. Mirowsky<p_mirowsky@bentaxna.com>  wrote:
> > I would far rather see "Writer" with a presentation mode than the way
> > things are now.
> Could you explain how this would work in practice please? The next
> stage is to make a feature request and as such it would be prudent to
> discuss within this mailing list before making the feature request via
> the formal procedure (which I haven't read yet to be honest).
The basis of any document (object) is its end function.
To that end, when creating a document to print, it follows its nature in 
'Writer'. It is the tools overlap that is important.

Tools like menu items and icons are specific to writing a print document.
Assumptions like page position, size and direction are defaulted to 
center, A4 and portrait.
This is all stored and read in this way, basically because you clicked 
on one icon or menu item over another, initiating the preset design.

If you clicked on another icon to create a document, say "Presentation", 
the defaults change, text sizes increase.  Definitions of objects start 
to have layers.  Tables are increased in size and borders become heavy.  
It is the default inherent.  So far, these are overlapping functions 
with differing defaults as the document is opened.

The main differences are in "page" and "object over time" handling. When 
is a "slide" different than a "page"?  When its dimensions are changed 
and gives reference to the word "slide". But a slide is not a slide anymore.
Slides used to be like print documents, static.  We now have movement in 
time.  Presentations are now objects with time functions. Do I need a 
table that updates automatically from a Calc sheet that spins into 
center when I hit next page in a presentation?  Maybe.

The things missing from 'Writer' that remove it from being a 
'presentation' manager are additional functions and views and not much 
else.  I know this mean one huge program, but it does reduce redundancy. 
Not having to know two ways of handling a table is removed.

> > Unified table handling, flow of text from "Writer" with the fancy page
> > changes as an add-on to page handling.
> I'm not sure about consistent table and text flow behaviour because
> the default page size for writer is a4 portrait, whilst in impress the
> slide orientation is landscape.
>
> > In "Document" mode, everything is as is in "Writer", in "Presentation"
> > mode Impress takes over, but not to the point of the better handling of
> > Writers ability.
> Personally, this would be confusing the boundary between writer and
> impress modules, although perhaps a more fundamental question is
> whether these modules should exist.
If font size is universal, it is learn once, use forever.
>   It could be argued that writer and
> impress exist merely to imitate m$o's concept of creating presentation
> content.
Correct
>    From what you are stating, impress as a module should
> disappear and a new paradigm be developed of using writer to create
> presentation content. So a scenario would be to open writer module in
> a default 'document' mode.
A different icon and defaults setting allow the mind to settle in to its 
work. Its just making the decision
a littler earlier on than getting the program open and changing modes.

 Perhaps from the menu bar 'view', there
would be an option to select 'presentation' mode (below where 'web
layout' now resides?), which would automatically change the view to
landscape. To view the presentation, a new dialogue window could
appear (perhaps with a window bar title 'impress presentation viewer),
which the user could maximise to full screen mode to show the
presentation.

I think you've got it.
> One minor disadvantage, from a marketing point of view, is that m$
> users would complain: "where's the equivalent to powerpoint?".
Not if you give them a button to push that says "Impress; a Powerpoint 
equivalent".
Gobe Software created an unified office package for BeOS called GOBE 
Productive.  I used it and I liked it. Tables did real math, but looked 
nice.  In fact, ahead of its time, but if people aren't ready to eat 
healthy, they will continue to eat junk. This is at a time when MS ruled 
the world by file format. Much love to LibreOffice.

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