Re: Outline pane STILL clips text horizontally in 2004

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From: Jim Gordon MVP (goldkey74_at_WarmerThanWarmMail.com)
Date: 05/25/04 

Date: Mon, 24 May 2004 21:05:54 -0400

The best way to alert Microsoft about bugs is to use the feedback feature
from the Help menu.

Bugs sent in via that method are tracked. Other methods, such as web pages
and newsgroup postings, won't necessarily be seen by anyone from Microsoft.

-Jim

Quoting from "Kevin Camera" <kcamera@eecs.berkeley.edu>, in article
9e2b1fcd.0405232251.584db290@posting.google.com, on [DATE:

> I just wanted to add that I created my own web page for this bug. It
> can be found at http://bwrc.eecs.berkeley.edu/People/kcamera/powerpoint_bug
>
> As I started writing up more details on it, I realized that there are
> really two parts: the minimum text wrapping width on the Mac is far
> too wide (this is more of a usability issue, but I think it's pretty
> important), but most importantly, the horizontal scrollbar does not
> even work, and the right side of the outline text is completely
> inaccessible.
>
> Anyway, I'm hoping that page can get some exposure and help get the
> bug fixed so I can get the new version...
>
> Jim Gordon MVP <goldkey74@WarmerThanWarmMail.com> wrote in message
> news:<BCD6391F.AF97%goldkey74@WarmerThanWarmMail.com>...
>> Hi Kevin,
>>
>> I'm sure you realize this already, but in case anyone following this thread
>> does not, you can drag the frame dividers in PowerPoint normal and outline
>> views so that the window pane sizes can be adjusted to your own personal
>> preference.
>>
>> What Kevin has discovered is that if you move the divider that separates the
>> outline on the left from the preview and notes panes on the right that you
>> will find a point at which the text in the outline does not flow the way you
>> might expect. For example, if you are in a web browser and the page is coded
>> in plain HTML you can resize the window and the text will re-flow to the
>> window size. There is some minimum window size for a given browser, and the
>> text should flow throughout all available window or frame no matter what
>> size the window is.
>>
>> In PowerPoint you can make the window frame size smaller than the size that
>> PowerPoint makes the text flow nicely.
>>
>> So Microsoft could adjust the frame divider so it won't adjust smaller than
>> the smallest size that flows right, or change the way text flows, or simply
>> leave things as they are since it's easy to adjust the frame divider.
>>
>> -Jim
>>
>> --
>> Jim Gordon
>> Mac MVP
>>
>> MVPs are not Microsoft Employees
>> MVP info http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
>>
>> Quoting from "Kevin Camera" <kcamera@eecs.berkeley.edu>, in article
>> 9e2b1fcd.0405221107.6d3c1c62@posting.google.com, on [DATE:
>>
>>> Thanks for the reply, Jim. I will try using the feedback form and at
>>> least see what happens. In any case, I surely will not be buying the
>>> product.
>>>
>>> Actually, I do use Outline view primarily (it is the view I primarily
>>> use). But in my experience, it still does not allow for enough room
>>> to properly wrap the text. At any readable zoom level, the pane must
>>> be very, very large to not clip. Even so, the real problem is that
>>> when you switch back to Normal view the zoom level remains the same,
>>> and the text is completely lost.
>>>
>>> I would absolutely call this a bug, because the scrollbar does not
>>> work. It's perfectly fine if they chose to not wrap the text strictly
>>> at the edge of the pane, but in that case the scrollbar should at
>>> least cover the whole range of the view. I have done a fair amount of
>>> programming (and so have my co-workers who helped verify this for me),
>>> and it is definitely a bug in the code. Very poor product testing by
>>> Microsoft for this to survive two major releases.
>>>
>>> Thanks much for taking the time to help, Jim.
>>>
>>> Kevin
>>>
>>> Jim Gordon MVP <goldkey74@WarmerThanWarmMail.com> wrote in message
>>> news:<BCD4C9F8.AEE5%goldkey74@WarmerThanWarmMail.com>...
>>>> Hi Kevin,
>>>>
>>>> I see what you mean about the wrapping. It just doesn't flow nicely in the
>>>> left pane once you make the width of the pane small enough.
>>>>
>>>> It appears that the designer of the view figured that if you need a larger
>>>> view of the outline that you would simply choose Outline view.
>>>>
>>>> You send send feedback directly to the Macintosh Business unit by using the
>>>> feedback option on the Help menu which uses this URL:
>>>> http://www.microsoft.com/mac/feedback/suggestion.asp
>>>>
>>>> You won't get a personal reply, but this is the kind of thing that they are
>>>> interested in knowing so they can put someone to work on it to fix it if
>>>> they think the problem ought to be fixed. Feedback sent to that URL is read
>>>> by the product manager and the programmers.
>>>>
>>>> I'm not certain that they would consider this to be a bug since there is
>>>> Outline view, but it would be a good idea to let them know your thoughts
>>>> about the way you would like to see text wrap in Normal view.
>>>>
>>>> -Jim
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Quoting from "Kevin Camera" <kcamera@eecs.berkeley.edu>, in article
>>>> 9e2b1fcd.0405211853.14c99c62@posting.google.com, on [DATE:
>>>>
>>>>> Just another bump here, plus some extra info. I just verified this
>>>>> same behavior on a couple other friends' Macs (there aren't a whole
>>>>> lot around my office). So I have almost no doubt this is a bug in
>>>>> PowerPoint. I guess I really do just use the program weirder than
>>>>> most people...
>>>>>
>>>>> If anyone has any thoughts on how I can communicate this directly to
>>>>> Microsoft, I would also appreciate that. As I said in the first
>>>>> message, I really won't purchase a defective (in my opinion) product
>>>>> in the hopes that it will be patched later. And otherwise, I'm
>>>>> looking forward to getting it!
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>> Kevin
>>>>>
>>>>> kcamera@eecs.berkeley.edu (Kevin Camera) wrote in message
>>>>> news:<9e2b1fcd.0405191205.4bed31b9@posting.google.com>...
>>>>>> This is a continuation of a complaint I made a while ago, which can be
>>>>>> found here:
>>>>>> http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&threadm=9e2b1fcd.03091
>>>>>> 80
>>>>>> 81
>>>>>> 3.3867b066%40posting.google.com&rnum=7&prev=/groups%3Fq%3Drender%2Bgroup:
>>>>>> mi
>>>>>> cr
>>>>>> osoft.public.mac.office.powerpoint%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26group
>>>>>> %3
>>>>>> Dm
>>>>>> icrosoft.public.mac.office.powerpoint%26selm%3D9e2b1fcd.0309180813.3867b0
>>>>>> 66
>>>>>> %2
>>>>>> 540posting.google.com%26rnum%3D7
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I just downloaded the Office 2004 Test Drive, and this bug IS STILL
>>>>>> HERE. I still want to believe that if this was a native bug in
>>>>>> PowerPoint, others would be commenting on this problem as well. But a
>>>>>> few months back, I bought a new iMac, and I have the exact same bug on
>>>>>> that machine. In fact, when I upgraded to Panther, I completely
>>>>>> reformatted my hard drives, and the bug still appeared on a fresh
>>>>>> install. I really don't think this is specific to my machine -- maybe
>>>>>> 99.9% of the other users just don't use PowerPoint the way I do...
>>>>>>
>>>>>> To summarize, in any view that uses the outline pane (either Normal or
>>>>>> Outline mode), the text is clipped in the horizontal direction.
>>>>>> Meaning, the text does not wrap properly at the right edge, and even
>>>>>> worse, the horizontal scrollbar does not work. Even when I scroll all
>>>>>> the way from left to right, the view only moves by a few pixels, and
>>>>>> the text is cut off.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> This clip point is somehow determined by a hard-coded value
>>>>>> proportional to the zoom level. If I zoom in, the text clips farther
>>>>>> right than before, etc. So basically, the only way I can use the
>>>>>> program is to zoom out far enough that the text wraps properly.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I really want to buy Office 2004, but there is no way I will ever
>>>>>> spend the money unless this gets fixed. Please Microsoft, have
>>>>>> someone work to fix this bug even though I don't have any support
>>>>>> privileges with the test drive. I will not buy the product under the
>>>>>> wish that this gets fixed.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks! 

-- 
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP
MVPs are not Microsoft Employees
MVP info http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/

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