Problems setting line width in Writer

Hi folks! I’ve run into a new (and weird) problem in LibreOffice Writer. I’ve got a document where I’ve inserted a line (Insert → Shape → Line → Line). Now I want to change the width of that line so that it matches the width of another part of the document. Problem is, the width box and the accompanying “+” and “-” buttons are being goofy. For example, when I try to type in 0.06 in the width box, it changes to 0.11 on its own. Then, when I hit the “-” button to decrease the size, the size goes down momentarily, then jumps up to a larger size than it started with. I can hold down the “-” button to get the size down to 0.00", but when I click on the “+” button, it reads 0.02 for a moment and jumps up to 0.04. If I push it again, it reads 0.06 for a moment, then jumps up to 0.11. One more press and it reads 0.12 for a moment, then jumps up to 0.21.

So far, I’ve tried deleting and creating a new line, shutting down and reloading my document, rebooting the computer and reloading the document, and finally I did an “apt purge” on libreoffice and anything that had “libreoffice” in the package name, reinstalled LibreOffice, but I’m still experiencing the same issue.

I went ahead and did a screen capture to show the behavior: [LibreOffice Line Setting on Vimeo]

FYI, I’m running Ubuntu Mate 20.04, and here’s the info from Help-About:

Version: 6.4.3.2
Build ID: 1:6.4.3-0ubuntu0.20.04.1
CPU threads: 4; OS: Linux 5.4; UI render: default; VCL: gtk3;
Locale: en-US (en_US.UTF-8); UI-Language: en-US
Calc: threaded

Hi. I have never used the line size settings up there before, but trying it now I find the same thing happens with me in Mint Linux 19 and LO 6.4.4.2. It looks like a bug, see https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=132169

I usually use the sidebar at the right of the document. On your screen the second icon (square box with blue slot and round white slider) from the top at the right of the document. Just select the width you want or type in the exact width in points.

Cheers, Al

Just to make sure, Try another keyboard. Yours may have some issues.

Confirmed and fixed bug (link see @EarnestAl’s comment). Fix available in 6.4.5 and 7.0.0 (Releases scheduled: see Release Plans)

Thanks all for chiming in! I’m looking forward to the new release, but in the meantime I’ll use the sidebar that Al suggested.

I thought I’d go ahead and get an answer in here. Between Earnest Al’s and Opaque’s answers, there’s both a workaround and a fix coming. To quote Al:

“I usually use the sidebar at the right of the document. On your screen the second icon (square box with blue slot and round white slider) from the top at the right of the document. Just select the width you want or type in the exact width in points.”

And this is also a bug that will be fixed in 6.4.5 and 7.0.0.

What is the use of this line? Is it a separator between two paragraphs? If so, using a shape is faulty because you bump into all the difficulties of positioning a frame (anchor and the rest).

Instead, add a top or bottom border to the paragraph. If your line should not span from margin to margin, add it to an empty paragraph (with suitable vertical spacing and perhaps font size reduced to 2pt) and play with the indents to give it the adequate width.

And if you make all your settings in a custom style, reusing your “line” elsewhere in the document is as simple as selecting a style name from the toolbar paragraph drop-down menu.

To show the community your question has been answered, click the ✓ next to the correct answer, and “upvote” by clicking on the ^ arrow of any helpful answers. These are the mechanisms for communicating the quality of the Q&A on this site. Thanks!

@ajlittoz,

See the screen capture in the question.

In this case could add a right border to the paragraph. But the size is limited to 9 points.

Yes, borders are just that: borders, meaning they have a “reasonable” width. In this case it is more a picture than a border.

As always, use the best tool for the task. Lo come with all components for free. Draw is the one to use. It is more flexible than the limited set of tools in Writer. All it takes in the end is to paste the drawing in Writer and to anchor adequately.