Master doc chapter headers don't work

[Anysia]

Hi,

I'm hoping someone can enlighten me as to why the instructions for automatically creating unique chapter headers from the chapter title don't work in NeoOffice. The instructions for creating them in OpenOffice work perfectly fine on a PC running OpenOffice 2.3, but the exact same instructions don't work in NeoOffice 2.2.2. I spent a week trying to get this to work before I realized I was following the instructions correctly, they just don't work in NeoOffice.

Does NeoOffice not support the advanced master doc functions?

I was also wondering why, when I share files with someone using OpenOffice on the PC, the positioning (especially for draw objects, but also for spacing) goes all caca. I thought using the same file format/standard would prevent this.

Would using the OpenOffice X11 program solve these problems?

I like the program, I'm just finding it creates headaches when working on a project with someone else.

[pluby]

[Anysia]

Okay.

But the instructions in the NeoOffice manual for creating unique chapter headers in master docs are the same as the instructions in the OpenOffice manual (as far as I can tell). And yet they don't work (or I can't get them to work ... if they do work I'd love to figure out what I'm doing wrong).

[pluby]

[Lorinda]

You might also try looking at the Neowiki articles on Master Documents and see if the instructions are any different there. Note that there are two other articles on master documents in addition to the one I linked to. Links to them can be found at the bottom of the first article.

Lorinda

[Anysia]

Thanks Lorinda. I had already looked at the wiki articles before posting and couldn't find where they dealt with chapter headers in master documents.

Pluby, I'll assume it's either a bug in NeoOffice or a "feature" of 2.2.1 since I am running the latest, patched version of NeoOffice (2.2.2 patch 2). I'll have to create a new document to upload since the one I'm working has other people's work/information in it. In the meantime it's back to the PC (X11 installation gives such dire warnings that I've never risked installing it).

Thanks.

[valterb]

Anysia, you cannot bring with you headers you create in documents that you are going to assempble in a master document. I hope my english is not so bad that you don't catch what I'm going to explain how to resolv this.

What you can do is to create different page styles for any chapter in master document; so you can create pagestylechap1, pagestylechap2, pagestylechap3,..., pagestylechapn. Once you have created these styles, from navigator window add text among two chapters. Put cursor on that text space and insert a manual page break using the style for your chapters.
Now go to activate each header and type the text you want there.

Valter

[Anysia]

Valterb, I know you can't bring the headers with you. But you can tell the headers to display a particular field like chapter name, as long as you tag the chapter title appropriately as heading 1 in each of your subdocuments.

This is in the documentation for master documents (for OpenOffice and NeoOffice) and is what I am trying to do. It works in OpenOffce and not in Neo and I was just trying to figure out why, but I suspect that pluby is right and there is a bug or issue with either Neo or the underlying OpenOffice version it is based on.

Your method probably works as a work around, but the other issue that I am having is that the master document does not remember any of the information in the headers, from one opening to the next, unless it is a field, for either text within the master document, or the subdocument. I understand why that would be for the subdocument, but not why nothing is remembered for headers in the text sections of the master document.

Edit: It remembers fields entered in headers in subdocuments, but not fields entered in headers in text chunks in the master document.[/i]

[valterb]

OK, I see. Sorry I've misunderstood what you mean.

What you have to do is this.

Prepare your subdocument

• open your subdocument
• put your cursor at the beginning of the line where your chapter title is. So if your chaper title is Chapter number, put you cursor just at the left of letter C
• If you haven't already done, format your title as Header1
• go to Format -> Paragraph... -> Text Flow tab -> Breaks and check th Insert box, Type Page, and press OK

Master document

• assemble your master document
• Insert Header
• put cursor in the header and go to Insert -> Fields -> Other; choose Document tab,
• choose Type Chapter
• choose Format Chapter name and press bottom Insert
• probably you need to right-click in the navigator window and choose Update -> All

Links below are part of a little sample:
http://xoomer.alice.it/valterballantini/master1_2.odm
http://xoomer.alice.it/valterballantini/capitolo1.odt
http://xoomer.alice.it/valterballantini/capitolo2.odt

Valter

[Anysia]

That's the procedure that doesn't work for me (I tried it again, exactly as you have written just to be sure). And yet it works in OpenOffice.

What version of NeoOffice are you using?

[valterb]

I'm using NeoOffice 2.2.2 patch 2.

Did you download my 3 test file? What happen when you open my master1_2 document?

[Anysia]

Hmmm, same version as me.

I downloaded your file and it looks fine. I'm just going to throw out my master file and start over, again, and see if I can get things working.

Thanks for the help.

[valterb]

It is also possible that you have corrupted preferences.
Please, have a look at this article in our wiki http://neowiki.neooffice.org/index.php/Salvaging_Settings_From_Corrupt_Preferences

[Anysia]

It's possible, but I can't afford to start messing with those files now (it is the end of the college term and I just have too many projects which are still working in NeoOffice to go poking around those files).

I might look there over Christmas. I've moved to the PC for the moment, but its no longer working there either so I'm about to give up on NeoOffice/OpenOffice altogether at this point.

Thanks for your help.

[Anysia]

I reinstalled NeoOffice and started a brand new file and it works. So there was either something wrong with the old installation or something wrong with my old file.

Edit: Nope, still not working. It works until you try to have it automatically number the chapters. As soon as I do that, the headers no longer work. Even if I go back and undo the numbering (take it out of heading 1) I can no longer get the headers to work and have to start with a new file (this is likely what happened to my old file).

This is beyond frustrating because the instructions that I'm following for numbering the chapters are from the documentation.