Closing bug reports before bugs are fixed

[ahneobugs]

When one opens a wordperfect mac 3.5e document directly with NeoOffice 2.2.2, the tabs are stripped out.

So that the nature of the problem is clear, all tab characters (and indent characters) are stripped out, so that words that had been separated by tabs end up like thisrunningintoeachother.

When one converts the same document using the "Batch wpd2sxw rel" applescript that calls libwpd-0.8.12 and wpd2sxw-0.7.2, and THEN opens the resulting document in NeoOffice, the tabs are not stripped. This indicates that the problem is not in libwpd.

This bug was, accordingly, posted to the NeoOffice bug tracker, but, soon afterward, had its status changed to "not a bug", on the basis that it is not a bug with libwpd.

I appreciate that its not a libwpd bug, as the current version of libwpd doesn't strip out the tabs. Not a bug at all? NeoOffice purports to import WP Mac and, indeed, it would do a brilliant job if the tabs were not deleted. It might as well delete all of the vowels. This is not a limitation in the functionality of the import, like not translating automatic paragraph numbering. This is a flaw. The defect in the import is so profound that the resulting document will rarely be useful. I don't think that closing bugs in this kind of situation is a wise step.

Can anyone indicate what version of wpdlib is used in NeoOffice 2.2.2 and whether this flaw is a known problem with that version? It is also possible, it seems to me, that some other mechanism could be deleting the tabs and it may not be caused by the built in version of libwpd at all. Determining the built in version seems like a good first step to solving this problem.

An admin may also want to consider reopening the bug in question (ID=1342), and keeping it open until WP mac documents can be imported without this fundamental defect.

[pluby]

While I understand that you consider this a critical bug, the issue here is that it is an ooo-build bug (that is who employees the author of libwpd and the project that we receive libwpd from). I have changed the resolution to "ooo-build" bug but upgrading to a newer ooo-build version (which requires upgrading to newer OOo version) is not going to happen until mid-2008. This is why I close bugs like this: to set realistic expectations of what we will be able to do in the next month or two.

I would personally love to keep up with every bug fix that OOo, ooo-build, odf-converter, etc. make. But let's be realistic, unlike and ooo-build and OOo (which are both funded by a Fortune 1000 companies), NeoOffice is funded only by donations and, as it is, user donations pay for only developer. So, running off and backporting libwpd (assuming it can even compile with OOo 2.2.1 code) means that the next ooo-build and OOo upgrade gets deferred. In other words, you gain but everyone else loses.

When you multiply this problem times the dozen or so OOo, ooo-build, and odf-converter bugs that I see each week and each wants their specific fix, it is very obvious to me that at the current funding levels, most users who encounter bugs that are not due to code that we have personal written are not going to be happy. But, since I don't really see our donations going up enough to hire engineers like Sun and Novell do, I'm not going to give people false hope that we are going to do something that we clearly cannot complete in the near future.

Patrick

[ahneobugs]

Far be it from me to set priorities. Your point that the big picture is more important than a single issue obviously has plenty of merit. My concerns are:

- that the issue had been redefined as "not a bug";
- that the issue is not definitively confirmed to be a bug with the version of libwpd built into 2.2.2.

Can anyone identify which version of libwpd is built into 2.2.2 (or how I can identify it)? I'd like to test the freestanding version to see if its translations have the same flaw.

[pluby]

[sardisson]

Note also that the NeoOffice bug report was originally filed in Feb 2006, and at that time we didn't have as many custom resolutions as we do now, so "Not a bug" was the most relevant resolution at that point, given it was not a bug in NeoOffice (but in libwpd, which has its own bug-tracker).

You'll find better translation fidelity in the stand-alone package because it is newer, but as I mentioned in the bug, not all tab/indent features are supported (due to some unfortunate design decisions in the WP-Mac file format and limitations in time/resources of the libwpd authors, who write libwpd in their free time).

Smokey

[ahneobugs]

I reactivated it today and updated it to NeoOffice 2.2.2, and it was deactivated as "not a bug" today, before Patrick modified it.

The bug, which I have verified exists in libwpd 0.8.10 and not in 0.8.12, is that all tabs (i.e. the tab character, not tab stops or tab related formatting) are deleted. This results in words running together and other significant import problems.

If it would be viable to patch in 0.8.12, it would be great. It would be timely, too, as there are more than a few people who have stuck with wordperfect mac, running in classic, but it's the end of that road now, with intel macs and leopard killing off that option.

[pluby]

I can't make any promises as I am already overcommitted for at least the next several weeks. However, if I do get some time in the next month or so, I'll take a quick look at the the latest libwpd code and see if this code can be easily integrated into our OOo 2.2.1-based build before the next NeoOffice release (currently scheduled for March).

Patrick

[pluby]

FYI. I have included libwpd-0.8.13 in the test patch listed in this post. I had to rework the patch installer for that post so it seemed an opportune time to add the new lipwpd version to the patch as well.

Patrick

[ahneobugs]

Brilliant! The WordPerfect 3.5e import works very well now.

Thanks.