Apache OpenOffice (AOO) Bugzilla – Issue 11393
Add File | Export... functionality for _all_ supported formats
Last modified: 2013-02-07 22:41:37 UTC
One of the things I find annoying with OOO is the way it deals with exporting documents to another format. Most of the time, when I save to a different format, I actually want to export, I don't want to save as. When you save to an MS-Office format, if you keep on editing the document, OOO treats it as an MSO document. I would like it to keep on treating it as an OOO document. I would like to have a "File | Export..." menu which behaves differently than "File | Save as..". "File | Save As..." could keep on having the same behaviour.
Laurent, thanks for using and supporting OOo :) I strongly support this RFE, as the functionality has been asked for several times by the users. Assigning to user experience team for consideration. appending "for _all_ supported formats" to the subject (actually, File/Export is already available, but only for the limited number of formats which can be exported, but _not_ imported)
Set to "NEW"
IMHO a very good usabily issue, 2 1/2 years old and still annoying in 2.0 (1.9.130). There are now two entries in file menu: "Export ..." and "Export as PDF ..." which do have exactly the same behaviour! Both "export" entries have limited filters (PDF, XHTML & in impress/draw: SWF). This is a bit confusing to new users an does not make sense, does it? What about either killing one of the export entries (as they do the same thing) OR _better_ realise an export entry, that includes all "save as" and "pdf/xhtm/swf" filters? Advantage: - the current open document file name and file type is not changed - user can immediately continue to work with an ooo-file after exporting - next time opening of the document via "file/recent files/1:..." leads to the correct :-) file format, as no new entry is builded there, when "export" is used instead of "saving as"
Can I just clarify this Issue, by re-stating the expected behaviour: * An OOo document (e.g. "A.odt") is saved in a non-native format, through the 'File>Export...' menu item ("B.doc"). * The document should be saved and treated as a copy of the original (We now have "A.odt" and "B.doc"). * However, the loaded document which remains open for editing is still "A.odt", in the native OOo format. * Select 'Save', will save any changes to the original document ("A.odt"). Testing with OOo 2.0.2RC1 I find that the 'Export' function behaves as desired for a 'pdf'. However, as stated the problem is that export formats are limited. * The Export function should include all non-native file formats *. Moving non-native formats out of 'Save as', would clearly indicate to the User the lossy conversion to MS and other formats. It would promote the use of OpenDocument files, and send a clear message that these other proprietary formats are only suitable for Export. The related Issue: duplication of functionality between 'Export' and 'Export to PDF', should be discussed seperately in Issue 12704. Regards, Andrew
*** Issue 14736 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue. ***
@ ace_dent I fully agree with your clarification. Regards, Heiko.
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Lots of overlap with Issue 74415; should probably be combined.
I would be favor adding more if not all "Save As" formats to the Export menu, but I would not be in favor of removing them from the Save As menu. One of the strengths of OOo is that is can be used to open, edit and save documents in multiple formats, not just its "native formats". Many users use the MS formats as their default Save As file formats, and these should not be moved out of Save As. The difference to me between Save As and Export is that Save As gives the document a new name. You can follow the Save As with a Save and that will overwrite what you previously saved. Conversely, after an Export, you are still working with the original document with its original name. The issue in terms of fidelity is whether a user can save in that format, then come back later, open the file and get back the state the existed immediately after the Save As. If that is one of the goals for the format (even if it may have a few bugs), then the format should remain in the Save As menu.
Changed to the correct owner requirements.
This is similar to issue 6695.
There is a set of XML files in filter/source/config/fragments/filters that have a property that controls whether the filter appears in the save as, export or open menus. For example the MS Word 97 filter has: <prop oor:name="Flags"><value>IMPORT EXPORT ALIEN PREFERRED</value></prop> I have done a little experiment and can confirm the following happens for the IMPORT and EXPORT tags: IMPORT: Appears in Open dialog EXPORT: Appears in Export dialog IMPORT EXPORT: Appears in Open and Save As dialogs We want to change it such that IMPORT EXPORT: Appears in Open, Save As and Export dialogs. Now I just need to find the code that works with these XML fragments during compilation.
> We want to change it such that > IMPORT EXPORT: Appears in Open, Save As and Export dialogs. The current behavior IMHO is both intention and correct. If the format appear in Save As, then the user knows OOo will also be able to open the file that is saved, but if the format appears in Export, then the user knows OOo will not be able to open the file that is exported. What you want to do make all formats appear in both Save As and Export. Is there a spec somewhere that requires this? Has this been submitted to the user experience group? Who is the "we" in that sentence above?
pulsifer: I previously thought that the key difference between "Save As" and "Export" is whether the document that you are working on will continue to be open after saving in the other format. However your insightful comment has changed my view on this. Though I would still like this behaviour. I regularly have to make copies of my documents available to others in say MS Word format, since they don't have ooo. However on doing a "save as" I end up being in the Word document rather than the OpenDocument that I was originally working on, and still want to be working on. Considering what you have just noted: It might be better to add the option named "Save a copy as". This would allow you to continue working in the current document after saving to another file/format, whilst keeping the difference between whether a file will be able to be opened by ooo again. As far as I'm aware, this has not been submitted to the user experience group. "we" is anyone who is interested/irritated in the issue. (I have lost some editing that I have done through getting confused with this issue, which is why I think it is important enough to work on.)
I'm not sure I buy the hair-splitting over Export, but the point is that we (real users) have a need to Export... or Save a Copy As... in all the formats OOo supports. Whatever you want to call it is fine. Thanks!
Save Copy As would be fine with me. This could be a menu command, or it could be a check box in the Save As dialog. The check box might say something equivalent to "Save copy and continue working on original".
pulsifer: That's great. A new menu item would be better, since adding a checkbox can cause problems for native file dialogs. You are less likely to forget to select the correct menu item than to check a check box. Do you know where the menu items are generated in the source code? I'll look for it later, if you don't know.
You might want to caucus the framework folks to see if you are going to be able to get this change integrated into the mainline distribution. If not, it could also be implemented as an extension.
*** Issue 75758 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue. ***
hmssg wrote: >>There are now two entries in file menu: "Export ..." and "Export as PDF ..." which do have exactly the same behaviour! Both "export" entries have limited filters (PDF, XHTML & in impress/draw: SWF). This is a bit confusing to new users an does not make sense, does it? << You are right: "Export as PDF" and "Export"(set to PDF) do exactly the same. You have to see this from a marketing point of view. By introducing the command "Export as PDF" it became *obvious* that OOo can export to PDF - a new and well received feature for OOo 1.1. -Matthias
I support extending the "Export" functionality with *all* supported formats over a new "Save file as" menu item. But this should definitely get fixed ASAP.
Issue 32684 depends on this one. I strongly favour adding some other formats to the EXPORT-dialog, at least csv. The reasoning behind a separate export for formats that cannot be imported back is wrong, as OOo already can import some pdf, and hopefully will be able to import any format sometime in the future.
*** Issue 98435 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue. ***
*** Issue 107902 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue. ***
*** Issue 108053 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue. ***
*** Issue 3229 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue. ***
Issue 21578 is largely duplicate to this one and has votes too.
Same problem in issue 6695, which has votes too.
*** Issue 69076 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue. ***
I think File > Save copy as... is a critical missing feature in OOo. I spend a lot of time in Calc and typically need to work with a native file as well as export as a .tsv/.csv for processing or sharing. I currently have to first save the file, then save it again as the format I need to export to (adjusting the filters to my preferences), close the new non-native file, then finally re-open the original file. A "Save copy as..." option is clear, used frequently enough in other programs to be easily understood, and is a time saver.
*** Issue 116696 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue. ***
How about a "Save a copy as..." menu item? Notepad++ has such an option and it's awesome!