Looking for TextPortion, TextField clarifications

[Michael Stahl]

On 18.11.2017 00:49, Jens Tröger wrote:
> Some clarification:
> 
>>   * It seems that reference strings have somewhat different spaces:
>>     “_Ref498096146 “ and “ _Ref498096146” are the same reference
>>     (space after, space before) I assume?
> 
> The spacing seems to be inserted by calling getPresentation(). Using the
> SourceName and CurrentPresentation properties works ok.

probably this function; it's apparently possible to get 2 strings with a
hard-coded space in the middle, in your case sSetRefName is empty:

OUString SwGetRefField::GetFieldName() const
{
    const OUString aName = GetTyp()->GetName();
    if ( !aName.isEmpty() || !sSetRefName.isEmpty() )
    {
        return aName + " " + sSetRefName;
    }
    return Expand();
}

>>   * In MS Word, a field’s “code” can be something like { PAGEREF
>>     _Ref498098146\h} (or NOTEREF, or REF). How are these reference
>>     kinds represented in the OO object model?
> 
> I think a TextField’s GetReference service
> <https://www.openoffice.org/api/docs/common/ref/com/sun/star/text/textfield/GetReference.html>,
> if available, contains the appropriate reference field sources
> <https://www.openoffice.org/api/docs/common/ref/com/sun/star/text/ReferenceFieldSource.html>.

yes.

> Although I don’t quite understand the difference between “bookmark” and
> “reference mark”.

they are quite different internally; bookmarks are inserted via
Insert->Bookmark, they have a name and can span multiple paragraph
breaks; reference marks are inserted via Insert->Cross-reference->Set
Reference, and it's restricted to inside one paragraph.

>>   * What about the TextPortion types “TextFieldStart”, “TextFieldEnd",
>>     "TextFieldStartEnd"? I’ve seen them in documents, but can’t find
>>     documentation on them.

this is the "field-marks" horror, which is an attempt to preserve
Word-like fields in Writer.

>>   * Calling getString() on a “TextFieldStart” returns a ^G and for
>>     “TextFieldEnd” a ^H. Their IsCollapsed property is False. What’s
>>     with that?

this is a bug in the horrible field-marks code - this implementation
detail should never be visible in the API.

>>   * Given the list of text field services
>>     <https://wiki.openoffice.org/wiki/Documentation/DevGuide/Text/Text_Fields>,
>>     how can I find of which “type” a TextField
>>     <http://www.openoffice.org/api/docs/common/ref/com/sun/star/text/XTextField.html> object
>>     is? Should I really iterate over all services and check if an object
>>     implements one (or more) of the services?

use XServiceInfo::getSupportedServiceNames() - this should return
text.TextContent, plus 2 spellings of the specific field service name
(there was some problem with those names and the "old" name is still
returned here for compatibility).