Both Character and Paragraph Styles replicate unnecessarily

[CrisB]

NWP 2.0.4 continues to unnecessarily replicate both Character and Paragraph Styles, even when they're a duplicate of existing ones.

I've reported this problem previously, but such unnecessary proliferation is causing problems. I can't even see all my Styles because of the number of duplicates. There are so many copies of F09 Black, that it seems an extra one is being created each and every time I paste anything from another document! see png attached.

So many duplicates you can't see the wood for the trees

NWP bug - Proliferation of Styles.png (62.11 KiB) Viewed 15117 times

So this is to politely but urgently request that this problem be resolved in the upcoming release...

[martin]

Unwanted styles, especially if they are proliferating, can be frustrating. Sorry about that. However, while we've had a handful of such bugs in the past, where NWP incorrectly duplicates styles, to my knowledge they have been fixed and we don't currently have any such bugs outstanding.

If you're still experiencing unwanted style duplication, please let us know at what point exactly they are introduced into your document (eg: when you paste certain text, take certain formatting operations, etc). This is definitely a case where having the correct original document and a specific list of steps that reproduces the misbehavior is critical; there's very little we can ascertain by looking at a document with duplicate styles ex post facto. Thanks for your help!

[Groucho]

Hello Martin, Hello Cris

This is an odd though logical behavior I meet with sometimes. I can reproduce it. I don’t think it is a real bug. I think it is the way NWP behaves in case of conflicting styles. Here is how to reproduce it:

1. I have a document (Document A) that contains a style named Normal. Normal is, say, Helvetica 10 points.
2. I import a style, name BlockQuote, that resides in a template (Template B) or somewhere else. BlockQuote is based on a style named Normal, but whose attributes are Times 10 points.
3. The program seems to think, Should I base this style on Normal in Document A (Helvetica) or on Normal on Template B (Times)?
5. The program creates a new style, Normal 1, to base BlockQuote on. That is, it tries to preserve all the attributes in Template B. But sometimes you’d like it to be based it on Normal in Document 1.

Add many of these styles, based on Normal with different attributes, and you will end up with as many duplicates. I think this behavior is true when you paste styled text also. My suggestion is there should be a prompt when I try to import a style with conflicting attributes:

“The style XXY is based on a style (YYZ) with different attributes than the style with the same name in your document. Should I create a new YYZ 2 style or base it on the existing style?"

Let me know if I wasn’t clear enough. I will post two files to experiment with. I don’t have them offhand, sorry.

Greetings, Henry.

[CrisB]

Hi Henry.

I believe I've narrowed down the cause of this unwanted style duplication, and have identified the circumstances to Martin, who now has it on his list to resolve.

But it seems totally different to yours, Henry...

Thanks

[martin]

Add many of these styles, based on Normal with different attributes, and you will end up with as many duplicates. I think this behavior is true when you paste styled text also. My suggestion is there should be a prompt when I try to import a style with conflicting attributes:

“The style XXY is based on a style (YYZ) with different attributes than the style with the same name in your document. Should I create a new YYZ 2 style or base it on the existing style?"

You should be seeing such a prompt when you paste text with conflicting styles. At least, if you have your NWP preferences so that "On Style Conflicts" is set to "Always ask me what to do", which is the default.

When the prompt appears and you click "Add Pasted Styles", NWP should detect that the Normal style you're pasting matches a prior added/renamed "Normal 1" style (if the attributes are equal). So you should only get more and more Normal styles if they each have different attributes.

If you're seeing a different behavior, please let me know. Example files would be great too, thanks Henry.

[martin]

I believe I've narrowed down the cause of this unwanted style duplication, and have identified the circumstances to Martin, who now has it on his list to resolve.

Cris did identify a style duplication bug, which we are thankful for, and have filed to be fixed. It is however a little esoteric and involves undo/redo of pasted content with different styles in the Find & Replace dialog. It's unlikely to be a factor here.

But it seems totally different to yours, Henry...

There are numerous ways styles might be added to a document, and hence duplicated unnecessarily.

[Groucho]

You should be seeing such a prompt when you paste text with conflicting styles. At least, if you have your NWP preferences so that "On Style Conflicts" is set to "Always ask me what to do", which is the default.

When the prompt appears and you click "Add Pasted Styles", NWP should detect that the Normal style you're pasting matches a prior added/renamed "Normal 1" style (if the attributes are equal). So you should only get more and more Normal styles if they each have different attributes.

I see that prompt when pasting text with conflicting styles, and it works OK. Only I expect the same behavior when I import styles via the style sheet.

Style sheet.jpg (37.02 KiB) Viewed 15025 times

Henry.

[CrisB]

Hi Martin,

I just typed those entries in the Find/Replace window, so they should have had no styles associated with them... I do now have the type set as larger, as you showed me previously, is that causing the styles? Then there should be only one more style at most, check?

[martin]

I see that prompt when pasting text with conflicting styles, and it works OK. Only I expect the same behavior when I import styles via the style sheet.

Hrm, I just tested and importing from the style library also works correctly.

For example, let's say I add a "Heading 1" style that's based on "Normal", but these styles have different attributes than those in the destination document. I'm prompted about the conflict and choose "Rename Pasted". As expected, a "Normal 1" is created. If I then repeat the addition of either "Heading 1" again (or another style based on "Normal"), then NWP uses the already generated "Normal 1".

Perhaps you can share your test document or exact process that produces too many styles?

[martin]

I just typed those entries in the Find/Replace window, so they should have had no styles associated with them...

The bug you submitted that I'm referring to (and the one I've reproduced) is when you copy-paste content from your document into the Find & Replace window repeatedly (to store it for later searches), switch to another document where the content's styles don't exist or have different attributes, and then undo/redo the pastes in the Find window.

I do now have the type set as larger, as you showed me previously, is that causing the styles?

No, the zoom does not have any affect on styles.

Then there should be only one more style at most, check?

It depends. If you paste content from your document into the Find window, it will have as many styles as the original copied content.

[CrisB]

The only find expression that I paste in the Find window is the PowerFind one with "anytext".

All the others are typed into the Find window - rather than pasted - so would undo or redo have a style associated with them? They're all just text characters, and Attribute Sensitive is unchecked...

[Groucho]

Perhaps you can share your test document or exact process that produces too many styles?

Thanks for your patience, Martin. I have attached the files, both source and destination. Here are the steps to trigger the bug, or rather behavior.

Install Style library in your style library folder. Then,

1. Open Document.
2. Go to style sheet view.
3. Import the style Introduction (based on Normal) from Style library.
4. Normal 1 is created without a prompt.

Or,

1. Open Document.
2. Open Style library and select Introduction from the style sheet.
3. Switch to Document and paste.
4. Normal 1 is created without a prompt.

Note: a style called Introduction does not exist in Document. I think this is the reason the prompt doesn't appear. The prompt asks for replacing when I am pasting a style that already exists, but not for the style based upon. It happens that importing Introduction drags along Normal, which is different in Style library than in Document.

Henry.

Archive.zip

(16.64 KiB) Downloaded 538 times

[martin]

1. Open Document.
2. Go to style sheet view.
3. Import the style Introduction (based on Normal) from Style library.
4. Normal 1 is created without a prompt.
...
Note: a style called Introduction does not exist in Document. I think this is the reason the prompt doesn't appear.

You're quite correct Henry: the prompt should appear but does not because there's no direct conflict. Well, everything is clear now. Thank you for your persistence and help here! I'll file a bug.

[martin]

The only find expression that I paste in the Find window is the PowerFind one with "anytext".

I'm talking about the bug where you stated that:

I have set the text strings "change anyword life" (copied from the string in the file), then "secret of success", then "self sabotage" set in my Find/Replace window. And when I went to that open window and went Redo change (command z), it added an unwanted style.

That's the bug I've reproduced and filed for fixing.

Almost any piece of text copied from a document will have a style associated with it (eg: Normal). It doesn't matter if the copied content is a PowerFind bubble or just regular text.

[CrisB]

I must have been copying and pasting all the keys all back then. Now I just type the keywords and only copy/paste the one with the anytext special. But I haven't checked through the results again, although the enormous Style replication problem still exists in spades.

Right now, I'm just living with the problem while waiting for a new NWP version with some bug-fixes before I go through the effort of seeing if the problem still exists. Any idea when that might be?