[Libreoffice-bugs] [Bug 111932] EDITING: Inconsistent interaction between indentation and tabulation

[bugzilla-daemon at bugs.documentfoundation.org]

https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=111932

--- Comment #9 from Y <libreoffice13 at sfina.com> ---
Dear Regina:

Thank you for all your help and workarounds.

> There is no need for hand-made numbering. Why not use chapter numbering
> or list numbering as provided by LibreOffice?

This bug report is about an inconsistent user interface quirk that still exists
despite your valid workaround for which I am very thankful.  The above comment
is about document structure, a completely different subject.  Nevertheless, I
find the above comment worth going off-topic and hence I continue with an off
topic reply.

How can you be so sure that there is no need for hand-made numbering?  How can
you assert that list numbering as provided by LibreOffice covers ALL use cases
without knowing the specific use case?  And even after I reveal to you my use
case, and you show your expertise and apply successfully chapter numbering or
list numbering to it, where do you find the self-assurance to make such a
blanket statement that "there is no need for hand-made numbering" without
knowing all possible use cases?

Attached is my use case, both as PDF (for WYSIWYG purpose, I cannot assume that
you have the same fonts installed as I have) and ODT.  It is a simple
requisition letter that a lawyer representing the buyer of real estate here in
Ontario sends to the lawyer representing the seller.  I have seen much more
complex requisition letters with over 40 paragraphs, but for the purpose of
document structure there is enough variation/complexity in the attached use
case.  Tens of thousands such letters are sent each year in the Province of
Ontario alone.

You can see:
* simple paragraphs (e.g. 17, 18) for which the numbering provided by
LibreOffice would be sufficient if there were no other types of paragraphs
* the majority of paragraphs require an indentation after the REQUIRED word
(e.g. 12,13,14).  
* there are two special variations on the second type of paragraphs: paragraph
1, that has a very specific layout; and paragraphs with a second level of
numbering (lettering in this case) like paragraph 4 and 9.
* If the paragraphs with the extra indentation after the REQUIRED word were
grouped separately I could use two different lists and style them accordingly. 
However, that is not the case and not practical.  The above type of paragraphs
mix and match, with some of the sequence being predictable but not fixed.

Would you help me improve the attached use case?  It does use numbering as
provided by LibreOffice, but it is so cumbersome to add/remove/edit paragraphs
that I am thinking to revert to a fully manual one.

I must spoil the end-result though: after this letter is sent, the seller's
lawyer responds to each paragraph referencing the numbering from the original
letter, i.e. if I want to respond to paragraph 17, I will number the response
paragraph in my reply letter 17.  Some paragraphs are not answered / not
referenced, so the numbering in the response letter is no longer regular.  I am
not aware of a way to skip numbers in a numbered list.  Even if there was such
technology, I would not use it: one press of the ENTER key too many and all
references are mangled.  You may want to revisit your statement about manual
numbering.

Technology is the solution to technical problems.  Some problems are not
technical in nature and in that case technology should make manual work easier,
not more difficult.  This is why I reported the user interface bug which is a
tripwire for the user trying to draft a letter quickly and efficiently.  You
may rank it as minor, but to it is not.

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