Bug 85905 - Allow undocking of Sidebar decks
Summary: Allow undocking of Sidebar decks
Status: NEW
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: UI (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
4.4.0.0.alpha1
Hardware: Other All
: medium enhancement
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords:
: 88853 93216 96997 140393 (view as bug list)
Depends on:
Blocks: Sidebar-UI-UX 146246 160544 150975
  Show dependency treegraph
 
Reported: 2014-11-05 08:38 UTC by Samuel Mehrbrodt (allotropia)
Modified: 2024-05-02 11:51 UTC (History)
15 users (show)

See Also:
Crash report or crash signature:


Attachments
AOO can do it. (52.19 KB, image/png)
2016-10-23 15:36 UTC, Daveo
Details

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Description Samuel Mehrbrodt (allotropia) 2014-11-05 08:38:06 UTC
Allow users to undock single decks from the sidebar.

This would allow users to have multiple sidebar decks visible at the same time (as it was possible before with the floating windows).

Once this is implemented, we can remove all remaining floating windows which have a deck in the sidebar (Navigator e.g.).

Symphony had this feature: http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/lswiki.nsf/dx/New_Sidebar_in_Symphony_3_beta_3

Symphony source code is available here: https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/incubator/ooo/symphony/trunk/
(Not sure that's helpful since that sidebar implementation is quite different than ours)
Comment 1 V Stuart Foote 2014-11-05 14:26:26 UTC
This is going to be some work I'd bet, but this is needed to further enhance Sidebar function.
Comment 2 bugzilla2 2014-11-24 15:51:46 UTC
I can only "vote" for that bug ;)

Just tested 4.4 beta 1, and was very frustrated by not being able to pin the "format templates" ("Formatvorlagen" in German) pane/deck/window (whatever you want call it) ALONE to the right side of the window, as it was possible until 4.3.x.

If I use the sidebar to view the "format templates" (or style sheets?), then close the document and reopen, the sidebar again contains the "properties" pane, not the "format templates". I use the "format templates" pane very often, and don't want to activate it every time again, I open a new document :/

Interestingly, the navigator pane still cane be pinned to the left side WITHOUT the sidebar stuff around, bit the same doesn't apply to the "format templates" (F11).

For me -> regression compared to 4.3.x.
Comment 3 Jan Holesovsky 2015-01-14 19:47:35 UTC
Samuel: I doubt we can use code from Symphony; if we want to implement this, we have to do it our own way :-) - but would be great if you can spend some time on that...
Comment 4 V Stuart Foote 2015-01-29 01:33:27 UTC
*** Bug 88853 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 5 Harald Koester 2015-01-29 09:59:55 UTC
(In reply to bugzilla2 from comment #2)

> Just tested 4.4 beta 1, and was very frustrated by not being able to pin the
> "format templates" ("Formatvorlagen" in German) pane/deck/window (whatever
> you want call it) ALONE to the right side of the window, as it was possible
> until 4.3.x.

I complained about this already in bug 88757. According V Stuart Foote it is intended that the sidebar tabs are always visible if the templates deck is displayed.
Comment 6 Harald Koester 2015-01-29 10:33:49 UTC
(In reply to V Stuart Foote from comment #4)
> *** Bug 88853 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

In bug 88853 I proposed to allow to display more than one deck at the same time. For me this is independently if the decks are floating (as proposed here by Samuel) or docked. If the decks are docked it should be possible to display them either side by side or oppositely at the right and left side of the working area.
Comment 7 Harald Koester 2015-01-29 11:02:08 UTC
(In reply to bugzilla2 from comment #2)

> If I use the sidebar to view the "format templates" (or style sheets?), then
> close the document and reopen, the sidebar again contains the "properties"
> pane, not the "format templates". I use the "format templates" pane very
> often, and don't want to activate it every time again, I open a new document

See bug 65351.
Comment 8 V Stuart Foote 2015-01-29 13:34:13 UTC
(In reply to Harald Koester from comment #6)
> In bug 88853 I proposed to allow to display more than one deck at the same
> time. For me this is independently if the decks are floating (as proposed
> here by Samuel) or docked. If the decks are docked it should be possible to
> display them either side by side or oppositely at the right and left side of
> the working area.

Sorry, exposing additional Decks--docked or undocked--is functionally the same task. The code is not at that point and the sidebar would need to be refactored to allow multiple decks in multiple states controlled from a single Tab bar. Also, at present there are only two docking locations top right (default) and top left, multiple positions along right or left edges would probably need to be provided.  Work is also needed to make Sidebar stateful-- bug 65351

True, by design, at present an instance of the Navigator <F5>, and the Sidebar's Navigator content panel can be open--the same code, but the instances are not linked.  On the other hand pressing <F11> Styles and Formatting, or its toolbar button, will shift the Sidebar to the Styles and Formatting content panels in the Deck. Only the Sidebar deck, docked or not, is created.

Handling multiple deck instances as in OP, is the correct enhancement.  

=-ref-=
https://wiki.openoffice.org/wiki/File:SidebarNames.png

As implemented, the Sidebar consists of the Deck & Title, holding one or more Content panels with titles, and the Tab bar holding the selection tabs for each mode available in the active LibreOffice component.
Comment 9 V Stuart Foote 2015-08-07 02:06:25 UTC
*** Bug 93216 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 10 V Stuart Foote 2016-01-10 14:17:36 UTC
*** Bug 96997 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 11 Daveo 2016-10-23 15:36:41 UTC
Created attachment 128191 [details]
AOO can do it.
Comment 12 Daveo 2016-10-23 15:38:17 UTC
AOO inherited the sidebar from IBM and (for those who wanted it) made good use of it. LO acquired the sidebar from AOO and inflicted it on it's users, almost to the point of excluding any other option.
In AOO we can have the original floating windows (or decks as our design/UX have chosen to rechristen them, or "multiple deck instances" as V Stuart Foote comment 8 wants them to be known), but in LO they have be locked into the sidebar.
I propose that we provide our users with an option to select if they want to be locked into the sidebar, or have the option of the original floating/docked windows in the same way as provided by AOO, as illustrated in the attached screen capture.
In comment 3 Jan Holesovsky says "we have to do it our own way :-)". I say "We have to do it in a way that satisfies our users" and the "one size fits all" commits in Bug 73151 is not that.
Comment 13 V Stuart Foote 2016-10-23 16:27:50 UTC
(In reply to Dave Barton from comment #12)
> AOO inherited the sidebar from IBM and (for those who wanted it) made good
> use of it. LO acquired the sidebar from AOO and inflicted it on it's users,
> almost to the point of excluding any other option.

Hmm, those aren't the facts. Andre Fisher (an IBM Germany dev wroking on the Apache Open Office project) carefully merged the Symphony contribution with existing OOo task panel to become the Sidebar.

https://blogs.apache.org/OOo/entry/the_sidebar_new_and_improved
https://bz.apache.org/ooo/show_bug.cgi?id=121420
https://bz.apache.org/ooo/show_bug.cgi?id=122257


> In AOO we can have the original floating windows (or decks as our design/UX
> have chosen to rechristen them, or "multiple deck instances" as V Stuart
> Foote comment 8 wants them to be known), but in LO they have be locked into
> the sidebar.

Sorry, that was what Andre Fisher named them in documentation and as implemented in the source code.

https://wiki.openoffice.org/wiki/File:SidebarNames.png

> I propose that we provide our users with an option to select if they want to
> be locked into the sidebar, or have the option of the original
> floating/docked windows in the same way as provided by AOO, as illustrated
> in the attached screen capture.

That is what this issue is requesting. But first the framework must be in place to support multiple decks. The OP is one of the lead devs for the UI, it is already on the dev & UX to do list as time and priority allow.

> In comment 3 Jan Holesovsky says "we have to do it our own way :-)". I say
> "We have to do it in a way that satisfies our users" and the "one size fits
> all" commits in Bug 73151 is not that.

No, you've misunderstood the implications. Essentially all of the UI in LibreOffice has been migrated to GTK based .UI xml configuration--a large percentage of the UI implemented in source code widgets no longer exists for the project. AOO remains source code widget based and the dialogs, panels and toolbars that make up the UI are all implemented in source. LibreOffice went a different direction.
Comment 14 V Stuart Foote 2016-10-23 16:38:55 UTC
(In reply to V Stuart Foote from comment #13)
>  LibreOffice went a different direction.

And in LibreOffice because the UI is no longer statically laid out in .src, a much more diverse set of configurations is possible. A UI framework that actually allows the flexible reconfiguration and user customization that folks appreciate.

Getting the Sidebar implemented in .UI was just a starting point and is far from perfect (see bug 65138), implementing multiple Sidebar decks to hold content panels as analogs to source based dialogs is just one of many features to be implemented.  

As a feature I think it is important, but so are many other UI efforts. When implemented there will likely be options to enable or disable the default behaviors of each Deck and to hold that configuration in profile so each user can have the UI they prefer.
Comment 15 Xisco Faulí 2019-11-29 13:29:55 UTC
Changing priority back to 'medium' since the number of duplicates is lower than 5
Comment 16 V Stuart Foote 2021-02-13 15:47:25 UTC
*** Bug 140393 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 17 Telesto 2021-02-13 17:57:50 UTC
Is this already on the radar of Heiko? Sounds like kind of GSoC (or me affected by wishful thinking) 
If this is not enough substance, combine it with toolbar widgets or something like that. The welding is done..