Split Screen in Writer?

users
#1

Hi:

I already know I'm becoming senile, but I'm sure it used to be possible to
use a split screen to compare/edit/copy from one part of the same document
to another.

I'm currently doing trying to do such comparing/editing/copying, and the
only way I can do it is to open another window, which accomplishes something
similar, but because I have several other windows (and even apps) open,
Alt-Tabbing becomes very tedious.

I realize that I can click the mouse in the Window I want to switch to, but
when one is on a roll while typing that is also distracting.

Did there used to be such a split screen capability (and I also recall there
was some simple keystroke sequence that permitted jumping from one to the
other without using Alt+Tab) in LibreOffice? If so, where did it go? If it's
still there, how do I access it?

If it makes a difference, I'm using the SideBar. I'm also using LO 4.3.3.2
on 64-bit Ubuntu, and can't upgrade to any newer version because of the
various table and frame bugs that have appeared recently.

Thanks in advance for any comments ...

#2

Hi :slight_smile:
This method is not as neat as it is in Calc but open your document and then;

Windows (menu at the very top of the screen hidden along the same line
as the time&date (errr, that is more complicated than on any other
platform thanks to the weird UI in Ubuntu))

then

"Open new window"

Err, they open kinda on top of each other but just grab the
'title-bar' and move it fast against the left or right-hand side of
the screen so that the mouse kinda bangs up against the side or even
overshoots a bit. As with many OSes these days (excluding Xp) that
makes that window fill half the screen. Grab the other window and
bang it against the other side of the screen to get them both
side-by-side. You can now scroll one without affecting the other
(except that text you type into one of them appears in the other (if
you can scroll to where the new text should be)).

Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#3

Hi :slight_smile:
Err, of course you could have 1 window open on each workspace. Once
you have opened a window do;
shift Ctrl Alt and the down or right arrow on the keyboard.
that moves the window to one of the other workspaces. Then to get
back to the first workspace do the same combo without the shift key,
ie so;
Ctrl Alt and up or left

Oddly Kubuntu doesn't react to either of those keyboard combos.
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#4

"CVAlkan":

it used to be possible to
use a split screen to compare/edit/copy from one part of the same document

That was an enhancement request since 2001 :slight_smile:
It will not be probably ever implemented as there are core design deficiencies in SO/OO.o/LO which are preventing this.

#5

Hi Urmas,

Could you give me the link to the enhancement request? It could have been closed for years: https://flosmind.wordpress.com/2013/10/24/2-window-mode-in-libreoffice/
Good LibO is Using Model/View/Controller http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model–view–controller and does not care about the number of views :wink:

Liebe Grüße / Yours,
Florian Reisinger

#6

Not quite the same thing, but a long time ago, and only for a little
while, there was a tabbed document interface code branch/extension
developed as part of a GSoC for OOo, but it was never integrated into
the main code tree.

Debates about the pros and cons of having a multiple document interface
have been around for a long time, but have not resurfaced recently.

Symphony, IBM's OOo-like offering (now abandoned) also had a tabbed
document management interface more akin to browser tabs.

Alex

#7

​For what it's worth, some Window Manager do have this feature. It's easily
accessible in KDE, and I suppose similar things are available with other
stuff​ like Unity (which is, if I recall correctly, the "default" desktop
on Ubuntu).
Something like this: https://i.imgur.com/AwnykY7.png (look at the title
bar). Of course it is very different from having the feature integrated
within LO, but it can still be useful.

An interesting (?) feature beside split view could be synchronized
scrolling, but that does not sound like a quick thing to do.

#8

Hi :slight_smile:
Do such Window Managers allow tabs within LibreOffice (other than Calc
and Impress obviously! (since those 2 already use tabs in some way or
other)). I thought the lack of tabs was due to LibreOffice itself not
taking advantage of the possibility?

Alex i had no idea about there being an Extension that does do tabs!
many thanks for pointing it out! :)) I'd kinda given up on it ever
happening in LO tbh and maybe the people who kept on going on about it
feel the same way (or else maybe they just got the Extension and are
all happy bunnies now).

Thanks both for opening up interesting possibilities :slight_smile:
Many thanks and regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#9

Hi Tom,

Alex i had no idea about there being an Extension that does do tabs!
many thanks for pointing it out! :)) I'd kinda given up on it ever
happening in LO tbh and maybe the people who kept on going on about it
feel the same way (or else maybe they just got the Extension and are
all happy bunnies now).

There is no extension today. Code was developed as part of a GSoc
project when Sun had the stewardship of the OOo project and never
finally got integrated into the main product. The code was abandoned,
and has probably disappeared into the annals of history.

Alex

#10

"Florian Reisinger":

Could you give me the link to the enhancement request?

AOO 19291
DF 31481

#11

Didn't that get made into an extension?
Or a beta release?

Asking, because I remember using tabs on OOo, but have no idea when that
was, or what I did to accomplish it. All I remember is that the user
experience was worse than using <ALT><TAB> to switch between documents.

jonathon

#12

My Extension Organon uses tabs, but maybe not in the manner you were looking for.

Here you'll find screenshots:
https://github.com/XRoemer/Organon/tree/master/Screenshots
and particulary:
https://github.com/XRoemer/Organon/blob/master/Screenshots/tabs.png

The most recent version of Organon is hosted on github or on the OO extension-site.
http://extensions.openoffice.org/en/project/organon
(I found LOs extension-site inconvenient for uploaders. Also my last two attempts failed)

Best,
Xaver

#13

Hi Jonathon,

Didn't that get made into an extension?
Or a beta release?

Asking, because I remember using tabs on OOo, but have no idea when that
was, or what I did to accomplish it. All I remember is that the user
experience was worse than using <ALT><TAB> to switch between documents.

Yes, it did appear briefly in one (pre)release of OOo, but then got
dropped - don't remember why.

Alex

#14

Organon works a bit like Scrivener.
Files are organized in a treeview and it's possible to open parts of the project in new tabs.
You might open different files in different tabs, but they have to be part of the same project.

What it exactly does, is creating textsections, linking files to them and organizing them in a treeview.

Best,
Xaver

#15

Hi :slight_smile:
Back before MS Word became so widely used there was another
word-processor that had an excellent way of using tabs helpfully. I
don't think it was for different documents but i'm not clear what it
used to do. Does anyone here know what program i'm talkign about and
what the tabs were used for?

Does this Extension do the same thing? I couldn't figure it out what
it is doing from the screen-shot.
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#16

Hi,

Back before MS Word became so widely used there was another
word-processor that had an excellent way of using tabs helpfully. I
don't think it was for different documents but i'm not clear what it
used to do. Does anyone here know what program i'm talkign about and
what the tabs were used for?

Do you mean Lotus WordPro (Part of Lotus Smartsuite)??
I was working many years from 1996 to 2010 with this word-processor at job,
and tabs were the only thing I really missed in OOo and LO.

Tabs could be used to open multiple documents, to organize master documents,
parts of documents and even ranges within documents - in hierarchical manner
if you wanted to...

regards
Stefan

#17

It also had the ability to have 'Sections' that included connected/imported documents that could be expanded/collapsed by clicking on the TAB.

A wonderful easy to see and use system.

I miss it also.

#18

Hi Tom,

Back before MS Word became so widely used there was another
word-processor that had an excellent way of using tabs helpfully. I
don't think it was for different documents but i'm not clear what it
used to do. Does anyone here know what program i'm talkign about and
what the tabs were used for?

Lotus Word Pro, and in my opinion, one of the handiest functions I ever
used to get my work done when drafting long documents.

Alex