Bug 158408 - Enhancement and RFC: File Language Versioning within Writer
Summary: Enhancement and RFC: File Language Versioning within Writer
Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Writer (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
unspecified
Hardware: All All
: medium enhancement
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords: needsUXEval
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2023-11-28 01:49 UTC by lucas
Modified: 2024-01-26 08:21 UTC (History)
3 users (show)

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Crash report or crash signature:


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Description lucas 2023-11-28 01:49:42 UTC
Description:
On many websites there are drop downs to select the language to view the page in. Similarly there should be a drop down (or other selection method) in LibreOffice so that one can duplicate the current project and change the content based on the language. In everything but Calc it could be shown via sheets at the bottom (the way in which Calc shows sheets). This would not discard the information on the other parts of the document, but instead make a parallel version that the user can work on. It doesn't need to be based on language, the user should be able to name this "parallel version" in case they use it for multiple drafts.

Purpose: This would be useful for those who work in big companies and corporate environments who need to send documents in multiple languages to different groups. The normal way this is done is just sending many pdfs in the form file_<lang_code>.pdf in the email. This works fine, but when there are 5 documents with 2-3 language versions it becomes hard to track documents. If it could all be handled in one document then it could be the best way to keep track of these documents. 
This could also be used for students who want to keep multiple versions of a document together (such as a draft, and the final paper). This way in only one document one can see the versioning that is done based on how the user defines it.


Steps to Reproduce:
1. User would click on a drop down or add sheet button
2. User is presented with a box asking to define the new sheet with a drop down of various languages or a blank text box that they can fill in.
3. The current document will be cloned into a new document, and a small tab (similar to the LO calc sheet tabs) indicating which version they are on appears at the bottom. 
4. User can freely switch between the two and edit them as if they are separate documents that are part of the same file.
5. Repeat as necessary

Actual Results:
Enhancement request, it currently does nothing

Expected Results:
One can create a cloned version of the current document in a new "tab" that allows them to create a version in a different language, or for whatever they need this tabbed document for.


Reproducible: Always


User Profile Reset: No

Additional Info:
While this can technically be done in writer by just creating more sheets underneath, if you could have parallel versions it doesn't require scrolling or bookmarks to go to particular sections.
Comment 1 Heiko Tietze 2023-12-18 12:23:08 UTC
The website metaphor does not work very well on dynamic content. The language attribute plays an important role in many ways, the least would be citations.

But you could create two sections, fill one with content in language A and the other with B, and hide it depending on a variable. Works out of the box.
Comment 2 V Stuart Foote 2023-12-19 03:27:59 UTC
-1, not seeing the use case for handling concurrent text streams in multiple languages within an OASIS *ODF centric* document.

Individual Paragraphs can be authored in any language, and as Heiko notes whole ODF sections can be hidden/exported to suit any specific authoring need.
Comment 3 Heiko Tietze 2024-01-26 08:21:23 UTC
Not much enthusiasm for the idea, let's resolve WF. Feel free to reopen.