Apache OpenOffice (AOO) Bugzilla – Issue 33537
Clicking on a drawing tool should deselect currently selected object
Last modified: 2013-02-07 22:39:24 UTC
I used OOo Draw to make a number of complicated drawings recently, and was annoyed by the following behaviour. If an object is currently selected, and you start to draw another object outside of the currently selected object, the current selection is undone automatically (OK so far). However, if you want to draw another object *inside* the currently selected object, then you have to first deselect the latter before being able to draw the new object. IMO, this does not make sense, because the operation (drawing a new object) is not something that can be applied to a selected object. This behaviour is also inconvenient. For example, if the currently selected object is bigger than the screen (having zoomed in to add small objects on top of a large object). In that case, if the bigger object has been (inadvertently) selected, you have to scroll to a side, click outside the object to undo the selection, and scroll back to where you want to draw the new object. Also, when making a drawing you sometimes click on a tool button to draw a new object inside another one, forgetting to undo the selection first. Instead of drawing the object, the currently selected object is moved, which is clearly not what you wanted (after all, you just clicked the button to draw a new object). Then you have to undo the movement, deselect the object, and click on the tool button another time. My proposal is that clicking any of the tool buttons that are intended to make a *new* object (text, rectangle, ellipse, 3D object, line, curve, connection) automatically undoes the current selection. Then, in both examples, you could just click the button and draw the new object. I think this is more convenient and sensible. I cannot think of any real disadvantages.
You can deselect an object by pressing ESC, too. Reassigned to Bettina.
*** Issue 33539 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue. ***
The tip about the ESC key is a good one. But it remains an additional action that should not be necessary, so the requested enhancement would still be worth the trouble.
To grep the issues easier via "requirements" I put the issues currently lying on my owner to the owner "requirements".