* Autotext Rich Text table formatting glitches

[arthurk]

I've devised my own versions of autotext to use with text from source, especially with censuses. These have a default font of Tahoma size 9, but for most of the text, which includes a table, the font is set at size 8. In the table the top line column headers are bold, but I haven't used any text colours, nor have I inserted any links.

What I've found is that if I add extra lines to the table (generally below the bottom line of my predefined grid), the table formatting is changed:
(a) the new lines are in the default font size 9 rather than the size 8 of the rest of the table
(b) any empty cells in the table are also changed to size 9
(c) the bold formatting in the top line gets messed up - in some cells part of the text loses the bold, and some cells lose it completely

I first noticed this a couple of months ago, but it's still happening in the latest version of FH (7.0.19).

My way of dealing with it is to select the whole table and reapply the correct font size, then reapply bold to the top line, but it probably shouldn't be happening. Can anyone else reproduce this, or might it be a problem with my autotext?

(I'm aware of the recent topic Possible Auto-Text RIch Text Problem (21679) on the Ancestral Sources board, which is also about the general area of rich text formatting, but a different issue. However, I don't use AS, so at this stage it may be better to treat this as something separate.)

[tatewise]

I confirm that inserting any rows or columns anywhere in a table using right-click Modify Table > Insert Rows/Columns... will use the default font size rather than the font size defined within the table.

Also, when any cell is cleared of text it reverts to the default font size.

Sometimes when inserting rows or columns some bold cell text loses the bold style.
Most often it seems to be the top left cell that loses the bold style.

The explanation for some of those issues is very clear when the plain text version of the Rich Text Table is examined:

Code: Select all

<table="785|800|800|800|800|800|800">
<row> <fs="-2">aaa</fs> |  | <b>xxx</b> |  |  | <fs="-2"><b>dddxx</fs></b> | <fs="-2"><b>eee </fs></b> </row>
<row> <fs="-2">111</fs> |  | <fs="-2">222</fs> |  |  | <fs="-2">444</fs> | <fs="-2">555</fs> </row>
<row> <fs="-2">AAA</fs> |  | <fs="-2">BBB</fs> | <fs="-2">CCC</fs> |  | <fs="-2">DDD</fs> | <fs="-2">EEE</fs> </row>
</table>

The adjusted font size is applied separately to each cell value, so new empty rows or columns or an empty cell have no font size definition <fs="-2">...</fs>

[arthurk]

Thanks, Mike - not just me then. However, because I dislike flabby code I removed most of the font tags, so mine looks like this:

Code: Select all

<b>Civil Parish of Leeds, Municipal Borough of Leeds: (address) (RG12/xxxx fo-- p--)</b>

<table="1650|850|850|700|700|2000|1750|1000">
<row> <fs="-1"><b>Name | Rel. to Head | Cond. | Age
M | Age
F | Occupation (Employer, Employed or Neither) | Where Born | Infirmities   </row>
<row> </b>aaa bbb | Head | M | 36 |  | zzz | yyy zzz |  </row>
<row> ccc bbb | Wife | M |  | 33 |  | yyy zzz |  </row>
<row> ddd bbb | Daur |  |  | 6 | Scholar | yyy zzz |  </row>
<row> eee bbb | Son |  | 4 |  | do | do do |  </row>
</table>

Then when I add a row I get this:

Code: Select all

<b>Civil Parish of Leeds, Municipal Borough of Leeds: (address) (RG12/xxxx fo-- p--)</b>

<table="1650|850|850|700|700|2000|1750|1000">
<row> <fs="-1">Na<b>me</fs></b> | <fs="-1"><b>Rel. to Head</fs></b> | <fs="-1"><b>Cond.</fs></b> | <fs="-1">Age
M</fs> | <fs="-1">Age
F</fs> | <fs="-1">Occupation (Employer, Employed or Neither)</fs> | <fs="-1">Where Born</fs> | <fs="-1">Infirmities  </fs> </row>
<row> <fs="-1">aaa bbb</fs> | <fs="-1">Head</fs> | <fs="-1">M</fs> | <fs="-1">36</fs> |  | <fs="-1">zzz</fs> | <fs="-1">yyy zzz</fs> |  </row>
<row> <fs="-1">ccc bbb</fs> | <fs="-1">Wife</fs> | <fs="-1">M</fs> |  | <fs="-1">33</fs> |  | <fs="-1">yyy zzz</fs> |  </row>
<row> <fs="-1">ddd bbb</fs> | <fs="-1">Daur</fs> |  |  | <fs="-1">6</fs> | <fs="-1">Scholar</fs> | <fs="-1">yyy zzz</fs> |  </row>
<row> <fs="-1">eee bbb</fs> | <fs="-1">Son</fs> |  | <fs="-1">4</fs> |  | <fs="-1">do</fs> | <fs="-1">do do</fs> |  </row>
<row>  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  </row>
</table>

Reformatting the table and top row as I described restores the much tidier code that was originally there.

Anyway, is this a "feature" of the rich text editor, or a bug that needs reporting?

[tatewise]

It just proves that there is little point in removing 'flabby' code because FH will put it all back as soon as you edit anything.

The behaviour seems faulty to me. Especially the way bold text is affected. So report it to CP.
Remember to say that any of the Insert/Move Rows/Columns options have a similar effect.

[arthurk]

Thanks - I've created a ticket and will update this thread in due course.

[sbell95]

How does one examine the plain text version of a rich text table? I have often wondered if these were written in actual HTML code, which if they are would be very useful for export to other programs.

[tatewise]

This has been discussed several times before.
Hold down the Ctrl + Alt key while opening the Note or Text From Source field by double-clicking or clicking the [...] button on the righthand edge.

Rich Text is not HTML although a few style codes like <i>, <b> and <u> happen to be the same.

My Export Gedcom File plugin converts Rich Text to whatever the Gedcom Destination product supports, which is sometimes HTML 5 but often just <i>, <b> and <u> style codes with everything else reduced to plain text.

[sbell95]

Hmm, when I do that, I just get black bullet points where the table edges would be?

EDIT: I have just experimented with producing a report for a test note, and when exported to HTML, the table does come out in correct HTML table tags. That is sufficient for my purposes

[tatewise]

When you do what? A screenshot would be useful.

Yes, if you save a Report as HTML then FH translates Rich Text to HTML.

[arthurk]

Thanks - I've created a ticket and will update this thread in due course.

CP response:

Thank you for reporting that. I have logged the issue and it will be passed to the developers for investigation.

So presumably it's just wait and see....?

[tatewise]

Yes, that is a 'standard' response and often you will hear nothing further.
It may be changed in future FH version, and you may be asked to test such a change because you raised the ticket.
However, it may get changed and 'hidden' under "Improvements have been made to ..." in the Version 7 Updates.

[arthurk]

Thanks, Mike - if/when I have any more to report I'll try to remember to post an update.

[arthurk]

Latest update to 7.0.20 seems to have fixed this issue.

[arthurk]

I've recently noticed that this issue is happening again (in v.7.0.22), though not quite to the same extent.

I've reported it to CP, who have been able to reproduce it, so hopefully it will be dealt with in a future update.