Drawing arrows in Writer.

users
#1

​The arrow tool in the draw function toolbar in, e g, Draw or Impress makes
drawing an arrow there a breeze, but the same toolbar in Writer (I'm using
4.4.2) seems to lack this particular​ - and very handy - tool. Is there
some way to get around this lack and draw arrows (other than block arrows)
in Writer ? If not, may I suggest that the developers consider adding this
tool to the draw function toolbar in this LO application, perhaps already
in version 5.0, which we have been told is in the works ?...

Thanks to all the developers for the splendid work they are doing !

Henri

#2

M Henri Day wrote:

> ​The arrow tool in the draw function toolbar in, e g, Draw or Impress makes
> drawing an arrow there a breeze, but the same toolbar in Writer (I'm using
> 4.4.2) seems to lack this particular​ - and very handy - tool. Is there
> some way to get around this lack and draw arrows (other than block arrows)
> in Writer ? If not, may I suggest that the developers consider adding this
> tool to the draw function toolbar in this LO application, perhaps already
> in version 5.0, which we have been told is in the works ?...

You can draw a line and with Format -> Object -> Line... you can select arrow heads and tails.

#3

Hi :slight_smile:
Good answer and very quick.

That makes it sound like it might be a relatively "Easy Hack". If so then
it helps the project because it gives devs who are new to this project, or
people who are fairly new to (or learning) coding, to get practical
experience in this specific project.

@ Henri please feel free to post a "bug report" but mark it as a "feature
request" instead of it being a bug as such. Hopefully the new
bug-reporting system makes it easy. The old system had "feature request"
as one of the options in one of the drop-downs. If it's not obvious in the
new system then just add something into the subject-line or summary to make
it clear that it is a feature request.

Also if it's a menu item then it might be possible to add it into a
customised menu-bar but i have no idea how to do that and find the idea a
bit scary tbh.

It is always nice to have a work-around or two but it's even nicer when a
better longer-term solution is potentially on the way. Being involved in
helping make that happen feels really good and is one of the many
advantages of OpenSource projects.

Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#4

​Tom, the procedure suggest by Piet is, indeed, easy to follow - and, as a
matter of fact, is to be found via LO help​
​ (I somehow managed to overlook it before posting). But since the arrow
tool is found in the draw function toolbar in both Draw and Impress, it
should not be too difficult to add it to Writer as well. This would
contribute to the latter application's user-friendliness....

I have opened Bugzilla and shall now file a report, under «Enhancement»
under the category «Severity», which is the nearest I can come to the
«feature request» you suggested....

Thanks for the tip !...

Henri

#5

Hi :slight_smile:
+1

Ahh, it sounds like "Enhancement" is the new word for "Feature request". I
doubt the severity rating needs to be high and it's polite to keep that as
low as reasonably possible but as high as you feel it needs to be.

Good luck and many thanks from
Tom :slight_smile:

#6

​Thanks for your reply, Tom ! As noted above, «Enhancement»​
​ is listed under «Severity»​
​ ; thus no other severity rating can be assigned. Please take a look at
bug 90651 on Bugzilla and comment on it as you find appropriate....​

​Henri

#7

​Thanks for your reply, Tom ! As noted above, «Enhancement»​
​ is listed under «Severity»​
​ ; thus no other severity rating can be assigned. Please take a look at
bug 90651 on Bugzilla and comment on it as you find appropriate....​

​Henri

​PS : I was wrong - *after* posting the bug, I found that I could assign an
«Importance​
​» to it. I chose «Low».... ;-)​

#8

As has already been suggested, you can insert a line in a text document (using the Drawing toolbar) and then format it in many ways (Format | Object > | Line... or right-click | Line...), including adding arrowheads.

But you can also create whatever you need in a Draw or Impress document and easily copy-and-paste it into a text document. The resulting arrow can still be manipulated in the text document.

I trust this helps.

Brian Barker

#9

@Henri, *

Comments on the BZ issue tdf#90651
<https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=90651> ,

The dialog frame that opens for Line objects remains the preferred way to
manipulate --all-- Line objects in Writer, but
in addition to your suggestion of adding the group button for Lines and
Arrows, the group button for Connectors should also be made available in
Writer.

That likely would be done on the the Drawing toolbar, which is exposed from
Standard toolbar with the "Show Draw Functions" button. Only question is if
these new buttons would be enabled by default on the Drawing
toolbar--probably should be.

Stuart

#10

​My suggestion, Stuart - I regret that I didn't make it explicit - would be
that the arrow tool be added to the draw function and *enabled by default*.
As Brian points out above, there are several ways to skin this particular
cat, but from my point of view, which is that of a person who helps
retirees with their computer problems and, among other things, attempts to
convince them to use LibreOffice rather than the dear - and unintuitive -
legacy office suite, an alternative which doesn't require too many steps is
preferable. My experience is that users of this type can accept clicking on
the ​«Show draw functions» icon in the Writer toolbar to bring up the draw
functions toolbar and then click on the arrow icon there to create an arrow
in a Writer document, but were I to suggest following *all* the steps I
outline in the enhancement request or first creating an arrow in Draw or
Impress and then copying and pasting it into a Writer-document, their eyes,
I fear would begin to glaze, and they would inform me that the procedure
was too complicated for them....

Henr
​i​

#11

@Henri,

The group selectors for Draw/Impress "Lines and Arrows" and "Connectors" are
not currently exposed to Writer. If that piece gets done, then the choice
of exposing it on Writer's Drawing toolbar by default or hiding it is
negligible.

But take your point about exposing by default on the Drawing toolbar for
simplicity of use for those not comfortable with doing toolbar
customization.

Stuart

#12

+1