Breaking of external links in Writer works poorly

users
#1

I want to make a new version of a book I wrote in Writer around 2016. My master document has 16 chapters with 68 images linked in (as distinct from embedded). The odt file is 6.4 MB and the images total another 5.4 MB, they are b&w line drawings in png format.

My standard practice which I've carried out many times over the last few years (but not in the past year) is to make a copy of the master odt file and then to break the links in that copy so that the images are embedded. Then I save the file and move the copy to a new directory and prepare the new edition.

This time, however, the link breaking doesn't work fully. To break the links, I go Edit > 'Links to external files', highlight all the links and click "Break link". Checking on Edit then shows 'Links to external files' greyed out and right clicking on any image and checking the properties doesn't show any path for the image. So all looks good and it appears that the links have been broken and the images are now embedded.

After moving to a new directory, the first 7 chapters were ok but the remainder showed missing images. Moving the file back to its original directory got all the missing images back again and Edit > 'Links to external files' showed that half the images were, in fact,  still linked.

Various trials showed that breaking the links 1 or 2 at a time worked (as did right-click on the image and then 'Replace'). Attempting to break four or more links at a stroke appeared to work but saving, closing and reopening the file (without even moving to a new directory) show that the links are all still present.

I have repeated these trials many times using both LO 6.4.7.2 on UbuntuStudio 20.4.2 and also LO 7.1.2.2 on Windows10. The result is always as I've described above. So I don't suspect a fault in my installations but I do wonder if something has changed within Writer since I made my original file in 2016  relative to the linking process?

Has anyone else experienced problems in this area?

Philip

#2

Hi Philip,

I want to make a new version of a book I wrote in Writer around 2016. My
master document has 16 chapters with 68 images linked in (as distinct
from embedded). The odt file is 6.4 MB and the images total another 5.4
MB, they are b&w line drawings in png format.

My standard practice which I've carried out many times over the last few
years (but not in the past year) is to make a copy of the master odt
file and then to break the links in that copy so that the images are
embedded. Then I save the file and move the copy to a new directory and
prepare the new edition.

This time, however, the link breaking doesn't work fully. To break the
links, I go Edit > 'Links to external files', highlight all the links
and click "Break link". Checking on Edit then shows 'Links to external
files' greyed out and right clicking on any image and checking the
properties doesn't show any path for the image. So all looks good and it
appears that the links have been broken and the images are now embedded.

After moving to a new directory, the first 7 chapters were ok but the
remainder showed missing images. Moving the file back to its original
directory got all the missing images back again and Edit > 'Links to
external files' showed that half the images were, in fact,  still linked.

Various trials showed that breaking the links 1 or 2 at a time worked
(as did right-click on the image and then 'Replace'). Attempting to
break four or more links at a stroke appeared to work but saving,
closing and reopening the file (without even moving to a new directory)
show that the links are all still present.

I have repeated these trials many times using both LO 6.4.7.2 on
UbuntuStudio 20.4.2 and also LO 7.1.2.2 on Windows10. The result is
always as I've described above. So I don't suspect a fault in my
installations but I do wonder if something has changed within Writer
since I made my original file in 2016  relative to the linking process?

Has anyone else experienced problems in this area?

Could you report your experience on this issue and if possible provide a
test sample ?
https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=140829
Thanks in advance,
Kind regards
Sophie

#3

Hi Sophi,

Hi Philip,

I want to make a new version of a book I wrote in Writer around 2016. My
master document has 16 chapters with 68 images linked in (as distinct
from embedded). The odt file is 6.4 MB and the images total another 5.4
MB, they are b&w line drawings in png format.

My standard practice which I've carried out many times over the last few
years (but not in the past year) is to make a copy of the master odt
file and then to break the links in that copy so that the images are
embedded. Then I save the file and move the copy to a new directory and
prepare the new edition.

This time, however, the link breaking doesn't work fully. To break the
links, I go Edit > 'Links to external files', highlight all the links
and click "Break link". Checking on Edit then shows 'Links to external
files' greyed out and right clicking on any image and checking the
properties doesn't show any path for the image. So all looks good and it
appears that the links have been broken and the images are now embedded.

After moving to a new directory, the first 7 chapters were ok but the
remainder showed missing images. Moving the file back to its original
directory got all the missing images back again and Edit > 'Links to
external files' showed that half the images were, in fact,  still linked.

Various trials showed that breaking the links 1 or 2 at a time worked
(as did right-click on the image and then 'Replace'). Attempting to
break four or more links at a stroke appeared to work but saving,
closing and reopening the file (without even moving to a new directory)
show that the links are all still present.

I have repeated these trials many times using both LO 6.4.7.2 on
UbuntuStudio 20.4.2 and also LO 7.1.2.2 on Windows10. The result is
always as I've described above. So I don't suspect a fault in my
installations but I do wonder if something has changed within Writer
since I made my original file in 2016  relative to the linking process?

Has anyone else experienced problems in this area?

Could you report your experience on this issue and if possible provide a
test sample ?
https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=140829
Thanks in advance,
Kind regards
Sophie

I've done as you asked and included a demo file with 14 linked images of which roughly half get broken when I try to break all the links.

Philip

#4

Hi Philip,

Hi Sophi,

Hi Philip,

I want to make a new version of a book I wrote in Writer around 2016. My
master document has 16 chapters with 68 images linked in (as distinct
from embedded). The odt file is 6.4 MB and the images total another 5.4
MB, they are b&w line drawings in png format.

My standard practice which I've carried out many times over the last few
years (but not in the past year) is to make a copy of the master odt
file and then to break the links in that copy so that the images are
embedded. Then I save the file and move the copy to a new directory and
prepare the new edition.

This time, however, the link breaking doesn't work fully. To break the
links, I go Edit > 'Links to external files', highlight all the links
and click "Break link". Checking on Edit then shows 'Links to external
files' greyed out and right clicking on any image and checking the
properties doesn't show any path for the image. So all looks good and it
appears that the links have been broken and the images are now embedded.

After moving to a new directory, the first 7 chapters were ok but the
remainder showed missing images. Moving the file back to its original
directory got all the missing images back again and Edit > 'Links to
external files' showed that half the images were, in fact,  still
linked.

Various trials showed that breaking the links 1 or 2 at a time worked
(as did right-click on the image and then 'Replace'). Attempting to
break four or more links at a stroke appeared to work but saving,
closing and reopening the file (without even moving to a new directory)
show that the links are all still present.

I have repeated these trials many times using both LO 6.4.7.2 on
UbuntuStudio 20.4.2 and also LO 7.1.2.2 on Windows10. The result is
always as I've described above. So I don't suspect a fault in my
installations but I do wonder if something has changed within Writer
since I made my original file in 2016  relative to the linking process?

Has anyone else experienced problems in this area?

Could you report your experience on this issue and if possible provide a
test sample ?
https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=140829
Thanks in advance,
Kind regards
Sophie

I've done as you asked and included a demo file with 14 linked images of
which roughly half get broken when I try to break all the links.

Thanks a lot! That will help to solve the issue
Cheers
Sophie