Improved Links Dialog

OpenOffice.org 2.0

Task ID(s)

15999

Category	Specification Affects

<Other>

Abstract

This document is a specification for an improved Links-dialog. The Links-Dialog (it can be found in OpenOffice.org Writer under Edit / Links...) lets users edit the properties of each link in the current document, including the path to the source file.

i-Team

Specification Owner	Christian Jansen	Christian.Jansen@sun.com
User Experience (UX)	Christian Jansen	Christian.Jansen@sun.com
Development(DEV)	Christian Lippka	Christian.Lippka@sun.com
Quality Assurance (QA)	Christian Günther	Christian.Guenther@sun.com
Documentation (DOC)	Derek Dreger	Derek.Dreger@sun.com

Specification Reviews

Version	Reviewer	Comment
Reviewed by UX 07/21/03	Goetz Wohlberg	See comments in RED
UI String Review August 4, 2003	Elizabeth Matthis	Added comments and suggestions along with string approval
Reviewed by QA 07/20/03	Christian Günther	Missing translation of Embedded
Reviewed by DOC <Date>		

Document History

Version	Author	Comment
Draft July 07, 2003	Christian Jansen	Initial Draft
Draft July 29, 2003	Christian Jansen	Page Feature Removed
Draft August 18, 2003	Christian Jansen	String changes accepted
Final September 03, 2003	Christian Jansen	Element column inserted, because of need for DDE links.

Contents

1	Motivation	1

2	Goals	1

2.1	How does this feature meet the requirements	1

3	Dependencies	1

3.1	Technical Dependencies / Requirements	1

4	Detailed Specification	2

4.1	The Links Dialog	2

4.1.1	Source File Information Box	2

4.1.2	Option Buttons	3

4.1.3	Additional Information	3

4.2	Calling the Dialog from the Edit Menu	3

4.3	Calling the Dialog from the Context Menu	3

4.4	Multi Selection Impress/Draw	5

4.5	Integration into the Navigator	7

4.6	Exceptions for OpenOffice.org Writer Web	7

5	String List	8

6	Future Tasks	9

7	Notes	10

Motivation

The usability of the “Edit / Links” has to be improved, because for users it is very difficult to work with the Links dialog. To explain this more in detail:

A user inserted a picture into the document he is currently working on. After a while he wants to ch if the picture within the document is linked or embedded. In OpenOffice 1.1 users have to select the picture and than they have to find the 'Links' entry in the Edit menu.

To the dialog itself:

The labels of the buttons are confusing and the dialog displays unnecessary information.

Goals

How does this feature meet the requirements

The improved handling makes it much easier for users to get information if a picture or document is linked or already embedded. It will be possible to get access to the dialog via context menu, and the dialog itself has a much user interface with more meaning full button labels and it doesn't display information twice. The screen shot (Figure 1) below shows the current Links dialog like it is in OpenOffice.org 1.1.

Figure 1 Links dialog in OpenOffice.org 1.1

Dependencies

Technical Dependencies / Requirements

Taken from the PRD document:

UI for checking linked graphics is missing

In Calc and Draw/Impress it is impossible to get the info if a graphic is embedded or linked.

Detailed Specification

The Links dialog is a non modal dialog which can be reached via Edit / Links, or via the context menu of an linked object. A linked object is in this case a picture, document or table. The Links dialog will be available for OpenOffice.org Writer, Calc, Draw, Impress, Writer Web & Master Document. The dialog can be reached from the moment on a linked object i.e. a picture is placed into the current document. Figure 2 shows the renewed Links dialog.

Figure 2 The renewed Links dialog.

The Links Dialog

The Links Dialog is accessible from the Edit menu. With this dialog it is possible merge a linked picture, document or table into the current document. Compared to the Links dialog of OpenOffice.org 1.1 version the renewed dialog will be improved in several areas.

The most important ones are:

A thumb nail view (small preview of pictures) of linked object is shown in the dialog.

The dialog can be reached from context menus.

The button labels used in the dialog a more clear.

The information box is now a typical grid control, where the width of of the column can be modified.

This dialog doesn't provide information twice.

Source File Information Box

Within the Source File Information Box users are getting information about the following topics:

Thumb Nail View

The thumb nail view give user very fast an idea of which object are listed in Source File Information Box. Pictures will displayed as a small image, linked documents will be display with as an icon.

Source file

Lists the name of the source file.

Place Reference

Points to a portion of the specified file or item, such as a range of cells in OpenOffice Calc

For example, if a spreadsheet cell (position B7) is linked by using DDE, the place reference B7 will be displayed. In OpenOffice 1.1 the Element column display the information “<all formats>” when a graphic is linked. This information shall be removed for OpenOffice 2.0, because it provides no useful information for the user.

Type

Lists the file type, such as graphic, of the source file.

Update

List the update method. The states can be 'Automatic' or 'Manual'. When 'Automatic' is displayed in the list changes made in the source file are then directly displayed in the file containing the link. Linked pictures can only be updated manually.

Option Buttons

The button area will get also some changes the list below describes the buttons and their functionality.

Update Now

Updates the displayed object (e.g. a picture) so that the most recently saved version of the linked object is displayed in the current document.

Change Source File...

The change the source file for the selected link.

Break Link

Breaks the link between the source file and the current document. The most recently updated contents of the source file are kept in the current document.

Show

Displays the selected image in the current document. For example if the current view is on page 1 and the linked picture is on page 3 – the view changes – and the picture located on page 3 will be shown.

Additional Information

The when the File Path is too long and thus it doesn't fit in the dialog it has to be shorten appropriate. The example below shows how:

The link 'C:\test\subfolder1\subfolder\subfolder\super_long_file_name.png' turns into 'C:\test\....\super_long_file_name.png'.

Calling the Dialog from the Edit Menu

If the Links dialog was called from the Edit menu, the dialog has to list all linked pictures, documents and tables etc placed in the current document. The first object listed in the Source File Information Box has to be selected.

Calling the Dialog from the Context Menu

When the dialog was called from the context menu the Source File Information Box has to list all linked or embedded pictures and documents as well, but with the difference that the object from where the dialog was called has to be preselected.

String List

Item	English	German	Comments
Context menu entry	Links...	Verknüpfungen...	Used in context menus of objects as well as the Navigator.

For getting easily access to the Links dialog, an 'Links...' entry in the context menu of pictures, has to be added. The tables below show the position of the Links entry when a picture is selected.

Module	Context Menu
OpenOffice.org Writer	Arrange
	Alignment
	Anchor
	Wrap
	Graphics...
	Caption...
	Imagemap
	Links...
	Cut
	Copy
Table 1 Context menu of a selected picture in OpenOffice.org Writer, Writer Web or Master Document.

Module	Context Menu
OpenOffice.org Calc	Text...
	Position and Size...
	Original Size
	Flip
	Arrange
	Anchor
	Name Object...
	Links...
	Group
	Cut
	Copy
Table 2 Context menu of a selected picture in OpenOffice.org Calc

Module	Context Menu
OpenOffice.org Impress / Draw	Text
	Position and Size...
	Original Size
	Color Resolution
	Character...
	Paragraph...
	Arrange
	Alignment
	Flip
	Convert
	Name Object
	Links...
	Edit Style
	Cut
	Copy
Table 3 Context menu of a selected picture in OpenOffice.org Draw or Impress

Multi Selection Impress/Draw

If more than one picture is selected, it has also to be possible to break their link. Selecting more than one picture at the same time is only possible in Draw, Impress and in Calc. After calling the Links dialog from the context menu or the Edit menu. The dialog appears with the corresponding entries preselected. This helps users to identify in longer lists their selected items fast. Figure 3 shows a multi selection in the Source File Information Box. Due to the multi selection it makes no sense to display the path to the source file.

Figure 3 Multi selection in Links dialog (Draw version)

When multiple pictures are selected in Impress, Draw or Calc the context menu displays only a subset of features. The tables below shows the location of the Links... entry during a multi selection.

Module	Context Menu
OpenOffice.org Impress / Draw	Default
	Position and Size...
	Character...
	Paragraph...
	Arrange
	Alignment
	Flip
	Convert
	Group
	Combine
	Shapes
	Connect
	Links...
	Cut
	Copy
Table 4 Context menu of selected pictures in OpenOffice.org Draw or Impress

Module	Context Menu
OpenOffice.org Calc	Text
	Position and Size...
	Original Size
	Flip
	Arrange
	Alignment
	Anchor
	Group
	Links...
	Cut
	Copy
Table 5 Context menu of selected pictures in OpenOffice.org Calc

Integration into the Navigator

The context menu of the Navigator, which is called by pressing the right mouse button on an item listed in the Navigator, has to have a “Links” entry. The table below shows the new entries, they are marked italics. Due to the lack of functionality of the Draw / Impress Navigator only the Writer & Calc ones will be improved.

Module	Context Menu
OpenOffice.org Writer		
	Outline Level	>
	Drag Mode	>
	Display	>
	<Type> e.g. Graphic	Edit...
		Links...
		Delete
		Rename
OpenOffice.org Calc		
	Drag Mode	>
	Display	>
	<Type> e.g. Graphic	Edit...
		Links...
		Delete
		Rename

Exceptions for OpenOffice.org Writer Web

For the HTML Editor Module of OpenOffice.org it makes no sense to have a function which allows users to embed pictures or other linked objects. This is because embedding in HTML documents is not possible. Thus the Links dialog has to change its look slightly when open from the Writer Web module: the “Break Link” button must be disabled (grayed out).

String List

This section lists the strings used Links dialog.

Figure 4 OpenOffice.org Writer Version of the Edit Links dialog.

String list

Item	English	German	Comments
Title	Links	Verknüpfungen	Change the title of the dialog to match the menu command that opens the dialog. (Dialog title was previously “Edit Links”)
Label	Source file	Quelldatei	
Label	Place Reference		
Label	Type	Typ	
Label	Update	Aktualisierung	German must be a noun since all other column headings are nouns.
Label	Document	Dokument	
Label	Manual	Manuell	
Label	Automatic	Automatisch	
Button Label	~Update Now	~Jetzt Aktualisieren	
Button Label	~Change Source File...	~Quelldatei ändern...	
Button Label	~Break Link	~Verknüpfung aufheben	
Button Label	~Show	~Anzeigen	
Button Label	~Help	~Hilfe	
Button Label	~Close	~Schließen	
Label	File path:	Dateipfad:	
Label			Delete this line from the bottom of the dialog since it is only redundant information that is shown at the top of the dialog.
Label	Update method:	Aktualisierungsmethode:	Change this text to be more self-explanatory and obviously a noun phrase (impt for translation of following radio buttons).
Radio button label	Automatic	Automatisch	
Radio button label	Manual	Manuell	

Future Tasks

The Status Box should also display a “Source file” modified status. This is good if an image has been changed for example.

A page column which gives information where the object is located within the current document. For example if a picture is located on page three of an OpenOffice.org Writer document a three will be displayed. The label of this feature changes depending on the module from where the Links dialog was called. The table below lists the strings used in the different modules.

Module	Label	Mockup
OpenOffice.org Writer	Page	
OpenOffice.org Calc	Sheet	
OpenOffice.org Impress	Slide	
OpenOffice.org Draw	Page	

Notes

<Required – This paragraphs gives the audience idea of what to aspect from this document. It should be described shortly what problem will be solved.>

The source of software product implementation and change is the I-Team (Implementation Team). I-Teams are typically comprised of people who have skills in the areas of Product Marketing, Development Engineering, Technical Publications, and Test Engineering. I-Teams define the features or set of changes (based on input from SCs, customers, Engineering, or Marketing), plan the implementation project, perform the implementation and testing...

<Required - What is the reason for pursuing this project?>

<Required - The goals section must be short but also provide a clear statement of the goals, to achieve with this feature, project or task. A clear statement in this section gives the Development, Quality Assurance and Documentation guidance.>

<Recommended - Describe how this feature will meet expected requirements>

<Recommended - Are there any requirements or dependencies for this feature? Does the implementation of this feature create any requirements/dependencies to other program parts?>

<Required - First of all the concept section should give the audience an overview of how the new feature will work. When this is done this section has to cover the necessary things to finish this feature. This is the crucial part of the specification. If images are used in the concept, it is very important that these images provide a caption. The caption should be short and has to describe shortly the image. UI Mockups has to provide a caption too, if possible the mockups shouldn't be scaled and our standard user interface font, Andale Sans UI has to be used for strings on dialogs.>

<Recommended - If there are features which couldn't be implemented but have to be implemented in the future. State these in here with a description why the feature couldn't be implemented right now.>

<Recommended - Questions will arise during the writing of the specification. State these in here.>

Improved Links Dialog

Page 10

Christian Jansen

2003-06-27T15:03:01