Apache OpenOffice (AOO) Bugzilla – Issue 121785
'Update styles' command does not function
Last modified: 2013-02-23 13:35:25 UTC
There is a persistent problem which prevents the updating of styles. It can be replicated in the following way: 1. Select a paragraph containing a particular style 2. Amend the text in some way - eg make italic 3. Then do one of the following: 3.1. click on the Update Style icon 3.2. enter the shortcut (shift command F11) 3.3. open the styles and formatting window and: 3.3.1. select the appropriate style 3.3.2. click on the arrow at the far right next to the new style icon 3.3.3. select 'update style' All other examples of that style should then update to the new style. But they don't. The only reliable way to update a style is this: 1. open the secret menu (because it is not referred to anywhere and there is no other way to open it; it is also the most useful one) by control clicking 2. select 'edit paragraph style...' 3. then make the change on the appropriate menus. When the secret menu is closed, all examples of the style are updated - as they should be. In case it helps to know, this bug has been around for years. Apologies for not reporting it before. PS Sorry Writer docs don't paste into this thing too well - hence the poor formatting.
Hm... I did the following and "Update Style" works as expected. - new text document - insert two new paragraphs - apply Paragraph Style "Text Body" to both paragraphs - place the cursor into the first paragraph - change the alignment of the first paragraph from "Left" to "Centered" via the toolbar - click the Update Style in the Stylist --> Paragraph Style "Text Body" is changed - Alignment is "Centered" --> Alignment of second paragraph also changed due to the change of the Paragraph Style.
I cannot reproduce it on Windows 7. Please try it on another operating system. Are you sure, you have made your change to the whole paragraph? When you made the change only to some characters, then it will not update the paragraph style. To test it, insert the commands "To paragraph begin" and "Select to paragraph end" from category "Navigate" into a toolbar. Then use these commands to select the whole paragraph and then set it to italic.
Created attachment 80296 [details] example of inconsistent updating of styles
Thanks to you both. Have tested as suggested by Regina, and that seems to have identified one bug - that the style will not update unless the whole paragraph is precisely selected. Even missing a comma or a quotation mark will cause the updating to fail. In comparison, in Pages it is not necessary to highlight the whole paragraph - you can change one character even and amend the style. From memory that is true for Microsoft Office too. However there seems to be another bug in addition. Attached is an example where the first use of the style 'quotations' has been updated a number of times to test as you advised. You'll see that there is inconsistency in the subsequent uses of that style, which seem to have got stuck on various of the changes made before the final one. They should all be the same. The only one that seems explainable is the last, where the font and blue colour have been picked up because it was pasted in from an email. Don't have access to another platform - sorry.
Just to add: 1 That Help - 'Updating Styles From Selections' does not specify that the whole paragraph should be precisely selected as set out in comment 2. It merely says that you have to click the required paragraph. So either there is a bug or Help needs amending so that users know exactly what needs to be done. 2 The need to highlight the whole paragraph is a serious anomaly, inconsistent and therefore very confusing: it is not necessary to do that to apply a style - just clicking on the paragraph is all that is required. 3 It is inconsistent with other word processors too. Have tested in Pages, where it is not necessary to select the whole paragraph. Also it is not necessary to apply the change to the whole paragraph - you can apply it to just a few words or even just one character, click on those, update the style, and the whole paragraph is immediately updated along with all the others where the style is applied. It is also possible to update a style by selecting just one changed character. From memory am almost certain that is the case for Word as well. Clearly for users it is imperative that there is consistency of actions within Writer and within Open Office. It is also a very strong imperative that Open Office should be consistent with other productivity suites, otherwise it is very confusing and frustrating for users who are switching, who are likely to reject it if it behaves unpredictably. Not least because Open Office is the least sophisticated, it is likely to be perceived as quirky and faulty as a result. Grateful if you could confirm the bug accordingly. Many thanks.