[Libreoffice-ux-advise] [Bug 147963] ENDNOTES: Provide option to set different page styles for left and right endnote pages

[bugzilla-daemon at bugs.documentfoundation.org]

https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=147963

--- Comment #4 from ajlittoz <page74010-sf at yahoo.fr> ---
(In reply to Dieter from comment #3)
> Ajlittoz, thank you for reporting the bug. Please don't put more than one
> problem into a report.

IMHO, parts A & B are two faces of the same problem: endnotes are not managed
by the standard page layout engine and seem to have a specific one. Perhaps all
notes, even footnotes, go through an "exception" to standard page layout.

I presented part B as a workaround to the issue in part A but it is not
satisfactory anyway because you can't tweak the page style.

> Thank you. So let's focus on Part A.
> 
> I can confirm the problem: Although it's possible to assign different page
> styles to endnote pages, it seems, that it doesn't work. 
> 
> So possible solution would be to add an option to footnotes and endnotes
> dialog, to  assign a page style for left pages and a page style for right
> pages.

I don't think this is the good track because it will make a difference between
"standard" pages and endnote pages, instead of a uniform approach to page
configuration.

Thinking aloud about the issue, I wonder if the cause could be the fact that
notes are sent in the "note sub-area" which is "prisoner" of the surrounding
page. This sub-area is not allowed to make modifications to said page because
it could cause real trouble (for a hint, note that you can't enter a page break
in any "note sub-area", including footnotes).

Pages with footnotes have a "text sub-area". You can then customise the page
style and insert page breaks. Everything then behaves as expected.

Endnote page is a bit different. It looks like it has no "text sub-area" (the
whole page area outside header and footer is dedicated to notes). Consequently,
you can't act on the page and text flow. Perhaps, if you could create a "text
sub-area", even when zero height (or the bare minimum needed so that it is not
eliminated), this would solve the issue, enabling standard page style handling.

After all, you can have huge footnotes. But Writer enforces limits on the size
of footnote area. It looks like the "text sub-area" has a minimum of 2.26cm
(not even 1", so I don't see where this minimum comes from), even if Not larger
than page area is selected. This is demonstrated in the FullPageFootnotes.odt
sample file where I tried to simulate Endnote behaviour with footnotes. No
matter how you configure the page style, you can't cover the page with
footnotes.

This suggests contextual handling of notes, whether they are endnotes or
footnotes. Perhaps having a look at this could solve the problem: being less
limitative in the footnote case (so that Not larger than page area is
effective), and introducing a tiny "sub-text area" in the endnote case (so that
standard page management occurs).

> Since this is an enhancement request, let's ask design-team. I hope you
> agree.
> 
> cc: Design-Team

IMHO, this is not an enhancement request, unless specification explicitly
states that present behaviour is intended. Endnote pages are part of a document
and user expects to format them just like s/he can format other pages. For
instance, not being able to change margins is not acceptable. The Writer Guide
doesn't mention any restriction of this type.

For me it is a bug, not in the usual sense, but resulting from an
implementation decision.

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