Re: [libreoffice-users] Re: Document Page Numbering Problems

On 12/06/2014 06:42 AM, Brian Barker wrote:
> At 13:57 05/12/2014 -0700, Joseph Schrock wrote:
> > On Friday, December 5, 2014 12:38 PM, Brian Barker wrote:
> > > At 10:03 05/12/2014 -0700, Joseph Schrock wrote:
> > > > I'm using Libreoffice Writer now. I'd created a document in 
> > > > Microsoft Word earlier. Then I got Libreoffice software, and when I 
> > > > use my manuscript file to save as another file (in Libreoffice), 
> > > > the page numbering screws up. When there are 3 digits in a page 
> > > > number, it puts the first 2 digits on a line and the third digit 
> > > > below that. That's messed up.
> > >
> > > Indeed it is! And since that is not the way that LibreOffice Writer 
> > > behaves, the question is: why have you done it that way?
> > >
> > > > How can I correct this?
> > >
> > > That depends on exactly how you have contrived to create the 
> > > problem. Microsoft Word has some fancy ways of formatting a page 
> > > number in a header or footer, some of which will not even save in 
> > > its older .doc file format. Have you perhaps used one of those? In 
> > > any case, it seems likely that the space available for your page 
> > > numbers is too small, so that the text flows naturally to another 
> > > line when necessary. You may well find that simply reducing the font 
> > > size of the page numbers will solve the problem. Alternatively you 
> > > may be able to expand the frame, table cell, or whatever is 
> > > restricting the text.
> > >
> > > In any case, it would be a matter of only a few moments to remove 
> > > the existing page numbers (and perhaps the header or footer) and 
> > > then re-create them using LibreOffice's own facilities.
> >
> > Thanks for your information. First, let me say that the reason I'm 
> > doing it this way is that I'd been using an older computer in which I 
> > had Windows XP. I bought a new computer and the technician suggested 
> > using Libreoffice (free of charge) software for writing, etc. Well, 
> > my old files were written in Microsoft Word. So, I now wanted to use 
> > the Libreoffice Writer software to make changes in the manuscripts. 
> > This was where I encountered the problem.
>
> Sorry, but this doesn't answer my question. It was perfectly clear 
> that you wanted to edit a Microsoft Word document in LibreOffice - the 
> details don't matter. My point was that your problem was that you 
> appeared to have used some obscure page number layout in Microsoft 
> Word that was creating a problem for you unnecessarily. I know this 
> because, much as I tried to reproduce your problem in a Microsoft Word 
> document transferred to LibreOffice, I couldn't!
>
> Incidentally, you may well have been able to transfer your existing 
> licence for Microsoft Word to your new system anyway.

Yes, if you have deleted the MS Office package off the original 
computer, and put it on the new one, you should be able to use it that 
way.  Transferring MS software over to a new system after you removed it 
for the old one should work.  The only problem is the statements like 
the one I saw when I bought Win7 Pro.  It was a "single system OEM 
version and cannot be transferred to a different system".  It was less 
pricey than the "full version" that can be transfered to a new system 
when your old one breaks down.  So it really depends which "style" 
Office install you buy.

Right now, I have bought a new "full version", and not an upgrade, of a 
graphics/photo editing software [X5 upgraded to X7] and I have installed 
the new version on the same system as the older version. So now I will 
install on, and transfer the licence, to a different Win7 system.  Both 
systems are laptops.


> > So far as eliminating the footer (page numbers) is concerned, I'd 
> > have no idea how to do this, ...
>
> Whenever you use new software, surely it stands to reason that you 
> will have no idea how to do many things? But finding out - through the 
> help text, the documentation, web searches, asking for help, and so on 
> - can be a matter of moments.
>
> > ... but it now appears that it's a moot issue, because I got so fed 
> > up with Libreoffice ...
>
> Wow: that was fast!
>
> > ... that I downloaded some fairly pricey Microsoft software that I've 
> > already (as of this afternoon) started using. It works beautifully -- 
> > smoothly, efficiently, and like a charm.
>
> I suspect those are descriptions that many of the millions of users of 
> LibreOffice will also attribute to that product. It's worth saying 
> that you would have learned to use Microsoft Word over a period: 
> no-one unfamiliar with it would find it "smooth and efficient" in an 
> afternoon. And if you chose to transfer to LibreOffice (or any other 
> product), you would certainly need to spend a little time getting used 
> to it. Of course, trying to get one product to handle the results of 
> another is probably an unfair test anyway - whichever way around. 
> Perhaps you fell into the trap of expecting LibreOffice to be a clone 
> of Microsoft Office with a very different price tag? Perhaps that's 
> the idea the technician wanted to give.
>
> > Thanks anyway for offering to help with the Libreoffice matter. No 
> > better than I am in computer-land, I need some very efficient 
> > software that assumes only minimal computer expertise. It looks as if 
> > Microsoft is willing to provide that -- in the event that we're 
> > willing to pay for it.
>
> You say you had been using Microsoft Office, so you no doubt 
> understand its ways. Your current experience, then, does not indicate 
> that it "assumes only minimal expertise"; like any software, it 
> assumes some expertise in using itself - which you clearly already 
> have. Had you persevered beyond an afternoon, you could have 
> transferred your skills fairly simply to LibreOffice.

I guess[hope]  the OP wanted to upgrade the version of MS Office he was 
using on the old XP system.  I have a doubt that the OP had one of the 
last two version of MSO installed on XP.  They might either be too slow 
or could have just not wanted to be installed on such an old OS.  I sure 
have seen a lot of software that no longer will install on XP.  
Actually, it has been at least 6 months since I had my hands on an XP 
box, since I tended to switch them over to Linux when MS stopped 
supporting XP.


> Mind you, I should make clear that (unlike some other adherents of 
> open source software) I'm happy for anyone to make his or her own 
> choices of software, and I'm delighted that you are now happy with 
> your "fairly pricey" solution.
>
> Brian Barker


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