[Libreoffice-ux-advise] [Bug 145980] Table Alignment options are somewhat confusing, illustration needed

[bugzilla-daemon at bugs.documentfoundation.org]

https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=145980

--- Comment #2 from Eyal Rozenberg <eyalroz1 at gmx.com> ---
(In reply to Heiko Tietze from comment #1)
> You may consult the help
> https://help.libreoffice.org/7.4/en-US/text/swriter/01/05090100.html (which
> has different terms).

Yes, that does help, but as always - I'm against it being used as a crutch, and
the UI must be somewhat, even if not perfectly, clear; and consistent.

> We could change it to
> 
> *Position*
> (o) Full page size
> ( ) Start from left
> ( ) Start from right (I see no difference between "From Left" and "Right";
> the code [1] proves wrong; it needs more testing)
> ( ) Centered
> ( ) Manual

This would already be an improvement. Some bikeshedding:

"position" -> perhaps "positioning"? Not sure which is better.
"full page size" -> "full page width" or "entire page width" are better.
"Start from left" -> perhaps "Extend from left"? Not sure which is better.

> We could also drop everything and have 
> 
> (o) Automatic Spacing
> ( ) Manual Spacing 
>     Left  [  }
>     Right [  ]
>     ...
> 
> meaning either full size

Ah, but "automatic spacing" does not mean full size. It means that LO will add
some (horizontal) space outside the table.

Also, the use of "spacing" isn't clear enough in your proposed controls. It's
already a bit unclear in the existing controls (instead of "Spacing" I would
say "Space around table" or "Spacing around table", but in your proposed
control it's really unclear what kind of spacing this is supposed to be:
vertical/horizontal, inside/outside.

Also, a centered table is not covered by your suggestion.

I would like to suggest an alternative, but whatever I think of, I come up
against the fact that the table width controls on the Columns tab actually also
control the spacing for the Centered case, while choosing "full page size" here
sets those width controls. This is why your saying that:

> Since the table size is relevant for the column size we should merge both
> tabs (see also bug 145739).

resonates with me. Anyway, here's my current thought. It doesn't go all the way
with the tab merging, but it could be part of a merged tab:

Option 1:

> *Horizontal Position:*
>
>  [ _____ ]  [ _________ ] [ _____ ]
>    Left         Table       Right
>    Margin       Width       Margin
>
> Automatic settings:
> ( ) Fill page width
> ( ) Center
> ( ) Align left
> ( ) Align right
> ( ) None
>
> --------------------------
>
> *Vertical Positioning:*
> 
>  [ _____ ]  Top margin
>  
>  [ _____ ]  Bottom margin

Option 2:

> *Horizontal Position:*
>
>  [ _____ ]  [ _________ ] [ _____ ]
>    Left         Table       Right
>    Margin       Width       Margin
>
> Positioning mode:
> ( ) Center table
>     [ ] Fill page width
> ( ) Align to one side:
>     ( ) Left
>     ( ) Right
> ( ) Manual
>
> --------------------------
>
> *Vertical Positioning:*
> 
>  [ _____ ]  Top margin
>  
>  [ _____ ]  Bottom margin


Now, the actual margin and width controls in my proposal could be simple text
boxes; or the horizontal part could constitute or augment illustration (like
right and left indentation and the ruler illustration for paragraphs) ; or you
could merge the horizontal and vertical controls to constitute or augment a 2D
illustration.



Also, and regardless of whether the controls change, I still think an
illustration is in order regarding how the table will look on the page.



> 
> [1]
> https://opengrok.libreoffice.org/xref/core/sw/source/ui/table/tabledlg.
> cxx?r=457a67a5#291

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