[libreoffice-users] How to read a Style description

Dealing with a Style definition issue in Draw, I first noticed that the Style Inspector tool is not 
available in Draw (or Calc, for that matter), so presumably is a Writer-only tool. The next 
observation was that, in general, styles are not well supported in components other than Writer, so 
maybe I should treat Draw styles with some circumspection. However, this exercise made me aware 
that there is one aspect of styles definition that I do not understand in /any/ component, 
including Writer: It is the style's Organizer tab, in particular the *Contains* pane at the bottom 
of the Organizer tab, which often contains statements without definition that I can't locate in the 
other tabs or anywhere.

As an example from Draw, I offer the "Default Drawing Style" (the hierarchical root of other Draw 
styles), which is defined thus:

> *Style*
> Style: Default Drawing Style
> Inherit from: [- none-]
> Category: (unspecified)
>
> *Contains*
> Continuous + 0.0 inch + 0.08 inch + 0.08 inch + Not centered + Not centered + Continuous + Shadow 
> off +
> Shadow color + Shadow spacing X 0.1 " + Shadow spacing Y 0.1 " + Left text frame spacing 0.1 " + 
> Right text
> frame spacing 0.1 " + Upper text frame spacing 0 " + Lower text frame spacing 0 " + Horizontal text 
> anchor Use
> entire width + Word wrap text in shape on + • + Indent left 0.0 inch, Indent right 0.0 inch + From 
> top 0.0 inch,
> From bottom 0.0 inch + Single + Automatic + Liberation Sans + 18 pt + normal + No underline + No strikethrough 
> + Not Italic + No Outline + Not Shadowed + Pair Kerning + Microsoft YaHei + Lucida Sans + 18 pt + 18 pt +
> normal + normal + Not Italic + Not Italic + none + No relief + No overline + None

The first major problem is that *Contains*" offers instantiations of properties (like {Continuous} 
or {0.0 inch}) for which *the properties are not identified*.
A secondary general problem is that the instantiations in any case are not formalized; for example, 
should a measurement be {0.0 inch} or {0.0 "} ?
In some cases, like the bullet {•} in the fourth line above, there is no way to even guess what is 
signified.

Even in the Writer Guide, which covers styles in some depth, I find no way to interpret this aspect of style 
definition. The Draw Guide covers styles in a different way, in Chapter 4 (Changing Object Attributes) under 
"Using drawing object styles". But neither covers this aspect of style definition.

Is there any guide to how this essential part of a Style description can be read and controlled?

John

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