My Pilcrow is gone. (Non printing Characters)

users
#1

Hi users,
I have lost my Pilcrow on my two networked systems. Both are using LibreOffice 3.4.4 00034m1 (Build:402)
The main system is running Windows Vista Home Basic Service Pack 2.Remote system is running Windows XP Pro Version 2002 Service Pack 3.
Vista system has been running OpenOffice and now LibreOffice for over a year with no problems. The Pilcrow stopped working this week when I set up network access to the LibreOffice data files on Vista. Being not to conversant with individual folder sharing on Vista (XP could see the folder but didn't have permission to access it) I moved all of the data files to the Vista Public directory that was accessible by XP.
I loaded LibreOffice on the XP and was able to access the shared Vista Public (LibraOffice) data files from the XP and the Pilcrow worked fine.
Returned to Vista after the XP installation and opened data files. I was able to read/write files but Pilcrow didn't work. Checked XP system and Pilcrow still there and worked.
Used Windows Add/Remove programs to remove LibreOffice from Vista and re-installed. Windows must not have removed everything because Epub addon is still on toolbar. No Pilcrow after re-install.
Went to XP and still had Pilcrow and was able to accomplish some work. XP shares the Vista printer. As I printed a page from the open XP document onto the Vista printer, the screen flickered and the Pilcrow disappeared.
Any help in finding my pilcrows would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Bob

Bob Houston eBook Formattinghttp://about.me/BobHouston
http://facebook.com/eBookFormatting

#2

Hi Bob,

please have a look at 'Bug 40482 - CONFIGURATION: Formatting aids -
displayed nonprinting characters become unchecked during printing and
PDF export'
https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=40482 .

That could resolve your problem ... :slight_smile:

mjk

#3

Thanks mjk, I'll check it out.

Bob Houston eBook Formattinghttp://about.me/BobHouston
http://facebook.com/eBookFormatting

#4

Hi :slight_smile:

I had no idea what a pilcrow was ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilcrow
Now i know hat that back-to-front invisible P thing is called too.

With regards to reinstalling this guide might help
http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/UserProfile
Other OpenSource programs such as Firefox, Gimp, Vlc and the rest tend to
follow the same strategy.
(thanks Hagar)

Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#5

Tom,Thanks for the input.And also to MJK. I took a quick look at the link supplied by MJK. But have not had time to read to much other than that the Pilcrow disappearance may be a bug.
If in fact it is a bug, what is the procedure to let the software types at LibreO.o know about it?
I'd rather not re-install LibreOffice on both of my systems from scratch and have it happen again while I'm in the middle of working on something. It's very hard doing what I do without being able to see the hidden characters.
Thanks again.
Bob

Bob Houston eBook Formattinghttp://about.me/BobHouston
http://facebook.com/eBookFormatting

#6

Hi :slight_smile:
There is a guide to help with bug-reporting
http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/BugReport

Reinstalling doesn't do the same thing with OpenSource products that it tends to do with proprietary programs. For an OpenSource program you only need to rename the user-profile. It's a lot less hassle.
http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/UserProfile

Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#7

Are you talking about an ACTUAL PHYSICAL inclusion of the "¶" that you want to see in printed copy and on the display?

Or are you talking about an option in your software (View | Non-printing characters) that SHOWS where the paragraphing is by displaying pilcrows. These are not actually in your text but are being presented by the software on your display to show you the details that you asked to see (there really isn't any non-printing character there either, but that doesn't matter). This setting is not (necessarily) conveyed in your document, so if you look at the document in another installation of the software, you have to turn on their display in the new place. They still won't print though, unless you've found a separate File | Printer Settings ... | Options for that.

Is this helpful in your case?

- Dennis

#8

Dennis E. Hamilton wrote

They still won't print though

Do you mean the "non-printing characters" are not printed??? :slight_smile:

In fact you could print them, just for fun, if you deliberately
inserted/pasted a ¶ character at the end of each line :slight_smile:

#9

Bob Houston wrote

Any help in finding my pilcrows would be greatly appreciated.

Have you tried pressing Ctrl+F10 (or selecting View, Non-printing characters
from the menu) on the machine where the sign doesn't show?

This setting is saved per machine not per document, so switching machines
only proves that it is enabled on the XP machine and not on the Vista.

#10

No Pedro, I just need to see them. Not print them. |:>)

Bob Houston eBook Formattinghttp://about.me/BobHouston
http://facebook.com/eBookFormatting

#11

Tom wrote

Reinstalling doesn't do the same thing with OpenSource products that it
tends to do with proprietary programs. For an OpenSource program you only
need to rename the user-profile. It's a lot less hassle.

I couldn't disagree more. This is not a FLOSS characteristic. This is a
limitation of OpenOffice/LibreOffice. A properly behaved uninstaller has an
option to remove personal settings if the user so wishes. In fact this would
solve many problems and save many user questions. I think the LO devs should
seriously consider this.

#12

Hi :slight_smile:
I think the uninstaller does have the option to also uninstall all user-profiles and everything but it's possibly not something that people would look for.

There are substantial advantages to the way OpenSource programs user their user-profiles. The different programs use the same pathnames so to back-up galleries, templates, extensions, configurations and all that you only need to copy 1 folder (and all it's sub-folders). This can be used to move the profile onto a different machine, even a different OS, and/or to different users if you want to apply settings across a corporate system.

Also with the proprietary way of reinstalling the program even if it does solve the problem it leaves no clear way of finding out exactly what caused the problem. So it's likely to recurr. With the user-profile system you can often go back and pinpoint the cause which could lead to an obvious work-around.

Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#13

The PILCROW is back!
Thanks to MJK for directing me to the bug page. It is a bug.No fix for the bug as of yet, but if he tries to sneak away again I can find him and put him back to work.
Thanks to all.
Bob

Bob Houston eBook Formattinghttp://about.me/BobHouston
http://facebook.com/eBookFormatting

#14

Hi,

No Pedro, I just need to see them.  Not print them. |:>)
[...]

Sigh ... :wink:
There's no need to rename (remove) the user profile.

(To abstract from bug 40482):

The bug occurs since LibO 3.4.3
- when you open the print dialog (e.g.: 'Ctrl+P'), or
- when you 'Export as PDF...'.

How to get back (to reset) the 'nonprinting characters' (in general):
Menu 'Tools > Options > LibreOffice Writer > Formatting Aids >
Display of >
[✓] Paragraph end (etc.)
[set the checkmark(s)].

In the current document
(where the visible 'nonprinting characters' have suddenly disappeared):
1. Open 'Page Preview' (via button/standardbar)
2. 'Close Preview'
or
1. Menu 'File > Page Preview'
2. 'Close Preview'.

:slight_smile:
mjk

#15

MJK,
You said it way better than I could.
Thanks
Bob

Bob Houston eBook Formattinghttp://about.me/BobHouston
http://facebook.com/eBookFormatting