Is there any way to paragraph break lines in a text without resorting to the alternative extension?
I’d success with copying the text from websites, but, depending on the format of the source of text, any new line may be paragraph breaks or new lines when pasted on Writer.
Pasting the code on other software isn’t differentiating paragraph breaks to line breaks, as mostly common /r/n regex.
Stupid as it sounds, but the trick is to, with regular expressions checked, search \n and replace with \n (Edit - Find and Replace).
In the “Replace” box, \n has a different meaning than in the “Search” box. From help:
A line break that was inserted with the Shift+Enter key combination when in the Find text box.
A paragraph break that can be entered with the Enter or Return key when in the Replace text box in Writer. Has no special meaning in Calc, and is treated literally there.
To change line breaks into paragraph breaks, enter \n in both the Find and Replace boxes, and then perform a search and replace.
I apologize then,
what I meant was literally the opposite of what you proposed: to change paragraph breaks (enter) into line breaks (shift+enter). Thank you for your contribution!
I, and others, can only answer questions as we see them. And you left the confusion there. Note this is a Q&A site, not a chat forum.
I advise to leave this question alone, because it is a valid one, and ask a new question on how to replace paragraph breaks with line breaks.
It can run you into problems. There used to be, and there might still be, a 64 K paragraph limit. Deleting all paragraph breaks causes data loss if the limit is exceeded. In word processing, there is actually little sense not to have paragraphs. Depending on what you really want to achieve, a word processor may therefore not be the tool for your job.
Most people want to remove line breaks, either to convert them to paragraphs, or to replace them with spaces such as on text which has been OCRed. If it is the latter then have a look at this answer, How to paste deleting the lines - #3 by EarnestAl and then consider the solution posted elsewhere in the question.
It is usually a very bad idea to replace paragraph breaks by line breaks.
Paragraphs are basic semantic object in Writer. They correspond to an abstract significance unit in your discourse or argumentation. You can then mark up this unit with a specific paragraph style. Your document is then a sequence of abstract units which are tagged according to author’s value.
A line break is only a formatting directive allowing to intersperse one paragraph with manual line wraps instead of relying on automatic text flow. The net result is to create a generally big paragraph. I doubt that such a large paragraph with sub-parts addresses the same unique semantic significance. It is more likely that you switch to another idea category after the line break. Therefore keeping a single paragraph is logically faulty.
Using a line break is perfectly legitimate in some contexts. For instance your paragraph may be a “definition” one like those in a dictionary where you have a “new” term hanging at left margin, then a tab to start the definition at left indent. When the term is too long to fit inside the left indent, it is followed by a line break to start the definition below it at left indent.
Apart from this case (and perhaps in title context for a better multi-line layout), I think line breaks should not be routinely used.
That said, if you really insist to replace paragraph break, the procedure is manual because the Replace box always uses what is entered literally (except for \n). Enter $ in Find. Then use Find Next or F3 if you dismiss the Find&Replace dialog.
PS: when asking here, always mention OS name, LO version and save format. Also your skill level with styles helps to provide a more relevant answer.