Bug 160918 - FORMCONTROLS: Add ability to sort tab order by alphanumeric based on form control name
Summary: FORMCONTROLS: Add ability to sort tab order by alphanumeric based on form con...
Status: UNCONFIRMED
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Writer (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
7.5.2.2 release
Hardware: All All
: medium enhancement
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
Whiteboard: QA:needsComment
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2024-05-03 05:37 UTC by Steve
Modified: 2024-05-18 03:17 UTC (History)
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Description Steve 2024-05-03 05:37:01 UTC
This is a feature request to sort the form controls tab order alphanumerically based on control name.

The 'Automatic Sort' option in the form control properties tab order dialog is useful in many circumstances. However, there are times when it is not perfect. Citing two examples:

1. A checkbox or radio button might be before (i.e. to the left of) an associated text box. If it is smaller in height, the text box will be sorted first, even though a user would logically want it second.

2. Some forms use column layouts. For usability, the tab order should scroll down the first column before moving to the next column. Because 'Automatic Sort' does not recognize columns, it produces a tab order that jumps back and forth between the column based the field's vertical alignment.

I do not propose to change 'Automatic Sort' to cater for these unique circumstances; it would likely be too difficult to come up with consistently effective rules.

Instead, I propose that the form designer would benefit from using a naming scheme with their controls that alphanumerically sequences their tab order (e.g. 1.1, 1.2, 1.2.1, etc.). Then a button could be added beside 'Automatic Sort' in the tab order dialog, labelled something like 'Alpha Sort'.

I know it would make my life easier. Right now I have to fix tab orders manually; I used a naming scheme to make this easy but it remains a tedious chore for every form I create.

Thanks for your consideration of my feature request.