[Libreoffice-ux-advise] [Bug 142102] Header is hidden, if "small enough"

[bugzilla-daemon at bugs.documentfoundation.org]

https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=142102

--- Comment #8 from Mike Kaganski <mikekaganski at hotmail.com> ---
(In reply to DarkTrick from comment #7)
> Why would the document model has anything to do with the UI?

Oh! Please be informed that document model affects behavior - and UI - very
directly!

In Word document model, there is *no* concept of spacing between header and
text body at all. One may only use paragraph settings to fake that (with the
need to adjust the settings in case one needs to add/remove paragraphs in the
header). The page layout is very simple: there is a header area starting at a
set distance from the top page edge; there is a text body area starting at
another set distance from the top page edge, and that *may* optionally be
shifted down by header content (unless one sets text body top margin to a
negative). There is optional page border, that may be 0-31 pt either from edge,
or from text (i.e., from the combined area of text body and header and footer).
Border width does not add to margins/offsets. Maximum border width is 6 pt (~2
mm). That's all. Header text starts from the top of its area, and goes
downside. There's no way to cut header at some height, or otherwise limit its
height. There's no way to set border to be e.g. 20 mm from edge and 20 mm from
text (just because 31 pt is slightly less than 11 mm). All those things are
connected, and affect the UI there in Word.

OTOH, there *is* a concept of specific height of header in Writer's document
model; a concept of its spacing from text body; a concept of optional dynamic
spacing; a concept of optional automatic height. There is an unlimited offset
for borders. Border widths do add to text offsets. Max width of borders allowed
from UI is 9 pt (~3 mm; in fact, it's only limited in UI, and could be greater
if needed; if manually edited in document XML, it may be any value). But,
unlike Word, there's no way to overlap normal text of header and text body.

This leads to *different* interrelations between these components of the page,
different behaviors, and hence different UI needed for that. Specifically,
since there *is* the concept of the spacing, there *is* a need for UI for it
(unlike in Word model) - and currently, while it exists in the form of dialog
controls, it is missing from where *you* would look for it (given that you have
enabled the vertical ruler). Given the fact that border width *does* affect the
offsets, it also needs a special representation on the rulers (unlike in Word).
So *indeed* we need a specific UI that might never appear in Word document
model - e.g. to control header spacing on the ruler. Do you see how document
model affects UI now? You can't just consider UI without knowing and taking
into account the underlying model, and it leads to different solutions.

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