Adding slection using keyboard F8+Shift does not work in Writer

[Op3rator]

Hello,

I am new to the community. So Hello together. Might be the case that I will nerve you guys for the next few months cause I just switched to Libre and plan to write my thesis with it.

Well is this a known bug in Writer? When I try adding selection it does not work. I do it like describes in the docs:

1) Select the first piece of text. (For more information about keyboard selection of text, see the
topic “Navigating and selecting with the keyboard” in the Help.)
2) Press Shift+F8 . This puts Writer in “Adding selection” mode
3) Use the arrow keys to move to the start of the next piece of text to be selected. Hold down
the Shift key and select the next piece of text.
4) Repeat as often as required

I experience two different behaviors. First, add one selection to the first one, so I have two selections. But when I want to add a third selection, everything deselects, though I am still in adding mode as the status bar tells me.
Second, sometimes I can’t even add a second selection. While having selected the first part and being in adding mode, the selection just gets lost while I navigate with the cursor keys through text.

I am using Win 8.1 and Libre Version: 4.4.4.3 both English language Version

Anyway something seems strange about that and I have not figured a pattern when aforementioned behavior one or two happen. Either of those two It just happens.

Hope someone could help me out here. I just went Libre, but that little error is frustrating right now.

Regards

Matthias

[AlexKemp]

Thanks for giving a URL for the docs that you were quoting. I tried it on a block of text in an existing doc. Having selected some text & pressed Shift+f8, as soon as I used any arrow key to move the cursor the previously-selected text was de-selected. Also, zero notification of any change in state after pressing the keys.

That PDF is marked as applying to LO 4.0. Clearly, between then & 4.4.4.3 some developer has taken the unilateral decision to remove that coding. That is the wonder of OpenSource.

It is called “Multiple Selection mode”. I can find zero reference to it in the current help re: writer.

What follows is my original answer:

Selecting text is pretty much the same in both Windows & Linux (it is a function of the OS rather than LO):-

1. Place the cursor at the beginning of the block of text that you are going to select.
2. Press & hold down the Shift key
3. Click at the end of the block of text that you wish to select (or, use the arrow keys for single characters and/or lines) (or, also hold down the Ctrl key and press the right or left key to move a word at a time)
   LO will highlight the text to show that it is selected.

I have never successfully selected more than one block of text at a time.

Checking the Help for using the f8 key, it says:-

Selection Mode

Here you can switch
between different selection modes.
When you click in the field, a popup
menu comes up with the available
options:

Thus it is talking about text fields rather than a block of ‘normal’ text.

If this helps then please tick the answer ().

[Op3rator]

SUPPLEMENTAL: I deinstalled the fresh release 4.4.4 and installed still release 4.3.7 instead. Now it’s working. So it seems to sth. related to the current fresh.

Well, selecting text is not the problem. That function is working. I refer to adding selection as it is described in the docs.
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/images/1/13/GS40-GettingStartedLO.pdf page.88

Take from the docs:

To select nonconsecutive items using the keyboard

1. Select the first piece of text. (For more information about keyboard selection of text, see the topic “Navigating and selecting with the keyboard” in the Help.)

2. Press Shift+F8 . This puts Writer in “Adding selection” mode

3. Use the arrow keys to move to the start of the next piece of text to be selected. Hold down the Shift key and select the next piece of text.

4. Repeat as often as required

The same function can be performed with Mouse while holding CTRL while selecting second, third, fourth …nonconsecutive item (text). And with Mouse this function does work for me. But not with keyboard.

Anybody an idea what it could be?