[Issue] Enable popup by doubleclicking on a word

[ERNEST]

Is it possible to enable popup by doubleclicking on a word like Oxford popup dictionary in OpenOffice Write,
like what Microsoft Word can do?

Anybody know how to configure writer to do it? Can it be done at all?

Thanks

Kind regards,
Yonghc

[acknak]

Can't be done apart from some serious programming: double-click is normally causes a selection to occur--the word clicked on is selected.

Writer uses right-click for a context menu; I expect you can more easily modify that process than to modify the double-click.

Are you interested in doing this through programming--a "macro"--or by some other method.

[ERNEST]

Thanks acknak.

I am referring to iFingers Oxford popup.

I thought the latest Openoffice, i.e. version 3 could do it, but it could not.

Besides Oxford popup, there are other useful programs like POwerWord popup which Microsoft Word can handle, which Openoffice can not.

Can someone or the developers of Openoffice writer do it for the sake of Openoffice users so that it is as good as Microsoft Office and so that we can all breathe freely ?

Thanks.

Regards,
Yonghc

[RGB]

On Linux I use stardict:
http://stardict.sourceforge.net/
No idea how the windows port work, but the Linux version pops-up when the Meta (Win) key is pressed. There are many dictionaries available for this app and it can also use on-line dictionaries.

[TheGurkha]

...Besides Oxford popup, there are other useful programs like POwerWord popup which Microsoft Word can handle, which Openoffice can not...

The issue is that the developers of those utilities don't support OpenOffice.org, not the otherway round. To make OpenOffice.org work with those utilities as they stand would mean making OOo act and behave as though it were Word in the interfaces to those tools.

[ERNEST]

Thanks Gurkha.

PowerWord is a great Chinese-English, English-Chinese dictionary popup by Kingsoft Corporation, Peking, China. It is as good as or even better than Oxford dictionary popup.

With PowerWord, you do not even need to doubleclick on a word, unlike Oxford dictionary popup. It can even pronounce English and Chinese words for you. It constructs sentences with the word selected and can read the whole sentence for you.

A PowerWord dictionary popup will appear just by placing cursor over any word in most of the programs I have tried, including browsers like Firefox, K-meleon, Opera, internet explorer of course, Nero burner, AVG anti-virus, wordpad and even desktop icon names, not necessarily inside Microsoft word. But, even this sociable popup program does not work on Openoffice 3.0 Writer, which stands alone in being not responsive to cursor over word or doubleclicking on a word.

So, it appears to be not true that a popup utility program needs to be written specifically to be supportable by a word processor, like Microsoft word. I do not think that the developer of Powerword had Windows dekstop, AVG antivirus, Nero burner in mind when they did the coding. It works on the text of almost all programs except Openoffice. So i think there is something different about Openoffice in not being able to enable PowerWord popup. Something is missing in Openoffice.

Perhaps some Openoffice developers may be able to enlighten us on this. Why is Openoffice behaving differently from most other programs in Windows?

[floris v]

Perhaps some Openoffice developers may be able to enlighten us on this. Why is Openoffice behaving differently from most other programs in Windows?

You will not get the answer to that question here from a developer because developers don't come here. You could file an issue about it though. It sounds like an interesting feature, especially if all the have to do is add a mouseover as an event. OTOH if every time the mouse moves over text you get balloons and stuff it would probably drive me insane.

[Villeroy]

Anybody know how to configure writer to do it? Can it be done at all?

How did you configure MSWord to do it? You did not configure anything in Word? You installed some additional software which made Word do the trick. OK, think about it. Would you ever ask Microsoft to support any 3rd party software so a double-click pops up that software? This is not the way how things work.

[ERNEST]

Dear Florist, RGB, Villeroy,

Thanks. BTW, Florist how do you file an issue so that OpenOffice developers take note of the mouseover popup enabler?

For some people to whom English is not their mother tongue, like me, the mouseover dictionary popup is very useful. It would not cause problem because it could be toggled on or off.

The StarDIc popup suggested by RGB (Thanks to RGB) works fine with text in all programs I have tested, just like PowerWord, mouseover popup capable. It can also sometimes define words in Chinese characters. But again, it does not work on OpenOffice.

Thank Villeroy for your comment. Sorry, i asked the wrong question. There is no option to configure OpenOffice to enable mouseover event. The configuration has to be done on the dictionary popup utilities. It is either a program like OpenOffice can or can not do it. In this case it can not, whereas almost all other programs can do it with mouseover event for popping up PowerWord and StarDic, and Microsoft Word can popup Oxford dictionary by doublclicking a word.

I am just sounding out a suggestion that perhaps this mouseover popup enabler could be incorporated into OpenOffice so that it works like all other programs in Windows. Asking Microsoft or any other software developer to support 3rd party utilities never crossed my mind.

OpenOffice is a great software, with infinite performance/cost ratio, but it lacked an important feature, to lots of people like me who are learning new words everyday. If it can do what Microsoft Office can do, then we all can have a similar or even better alternative, and not be at the mercy of a monopolist.

[floris v]

The closest I can get to a tutorial on requesting new feature is http://user.services.openoffice.org/en/ ... ssue#p6760

The issue tracker is a bit of a pain, and I sometimes think it's made so hard to shy people off. So, if you don't get the working of it right away, it's not your fault.

[TheGurkha]

@Ernest - Sorry, I thought you were talking about a plug-in or extension for Word, which is something very different to the pop-up action you're describing.

[Villeroy]

I'm sorry too. It is not the usual problem of a 3rd-party software plugged into MSWord or Excel. OK, that software does not plug into Word. It uses "mechanisms" that are Windows specific. OOo is a cross-platform product. It is not that tightly integrated because that integration would be different for every supported platform. So the OOo document window may not broadcast any click-events or selection-change-events to the surrounding desktop system.

[RGB]

I'm a Hispanic-speaker living in Italy and writing every now and then in English (as you can guess, I always need an editor...). I use stardict on OOo almost all the time... on my Linux box. Today I tested stardict with OOo on Win-doze and you are right, it doesn't work.

[ERNEST]

Thanks floris for your tips. I shall try.

If I can get OpenOffice developers to work on mouseover popup enabler for the good of mankind, credit goes to you.
Then, I will add [solved] to my initial thread.

[ERNEST]

Dear Floris,

I have use your link ... viewtopic.php?f=74&t=1625&p=6760&hilit=issue#p6760
and filed the following issues.

Will they update us if they are willing to add a suggested new feature or on any development if they work on it?

......

mouseover event and doubleclicking to popup dictionaries
Issue #: 90656 Component: Word processor Version: OOo 3.0 Beta Platform: Other
OS/Version: Windows XP Status: UNCONFIRMED Issue type: FEATURE Priority: P3
Resolution: Assigned to: mru Reporter: ernest2 QA Contact: issues@sw
Subcomponent: programming Target milestone:---
URL:
Summary: mouseover event and doubleclicking to popup dictionaries
Keywords:
Status whiteboard:
Description:

There are millions of people like me to whom English is not their mother tongue,
and who are learning new words every day.

StarDic, and PowerWord by Kingsoft, Peking China are some dictionary popup
utilities which popup when the mouse is placed over any word, in browsers like
Firefox, Opera, K-meleon, Internet Explorer, Nero Burner, AVG Anti Virus, etc,
etc., and also Microsoft Office application programs including Microsoft Word.

Inside Microsoft Word, double-clicking any word will pop up iFingers Oxford
Dictionary, Theasaurus, Quyotation, Encyclopaedia, etc, etc.

The above refer to Windows XP platform.

OpenOffice, up to version 3 Beta, despite other great features, stands alone in
not having this mouseover popup enabler, or double-clicking on a word to pop up
ifingers utilities.

I think OpenOffice as it is now lacks this very useful mouseover feature. As a
result Microsoft Word has an edge over OpenOffice.

I wonder whether this mouseover popup event enabler can be incorporated in
future new version of OpenOffice. Or is it too difficult to do?

[floris v]

You'll get e-mail notifications of replies to the issue, so yes you will be kept up-to-date about it. Good work!

[ERNEST]

Dear Gurkha, Villeroy, RGB,

Perhaps, it was my problem, in not being able to communicate in an easily comprehensible manner.

A mouseover event dictionary popup may alleviate the problem for me.

How nice if OOo has this feature.

I tend to agree with Villeroy's views about OOo's cross-platform complications, unlike a dedicated application like Microsoft Word, with limited cross-platform, like for Macintosh.

[floris v]

It would be nice if you post the link to the issue here, that will make voting for it easier; I don't think I have free votes at the moment, but others can vote for it.

[ERNEST]

Dear Floris,

Yes, you are right. I have just received 2 emails after filing the new issue.

The first email is a confirmation and reproduction of my description. The second email is reproduced below:

..........START
To comment on the following update, log in, then open the issue:
http://www.openoffice.org/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=90656


User es changed the following:

What |Old value |New value
================================================================================
Assigned to| mru |requirements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ever confirmed| |1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Status |UNCONFIRMED |NEW
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Issue type | FEATURE |ENHANCEMENT
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Target milestone| --- |OOo Later
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

------- Additional comments from es@openoffice.org Thu Jun 12 11:41:12 +0000 2008 -------
Reassigned to Requirements

.................. END

Please elaborate a bit more about the voting system. Does it mean that more votes for an issue mean the developers will prioritize the issue?
The right to vote has to be earned? Can we lobby for votes? How to do it?

[floris v]

Users have only 5 votes for each app within OOo - 5 for Writer, 5 for Calc, etc. I already used mine for other issues. Hope this explains most answers. I'm not familiar with the terminology, I suppose that as more votes come, developers may be inclined to deal with it sooner, but don't expect too much.

[ERNEST]

Floris, thanks for your invaluable contributions. You are equivalent to a MVP in NBA.

So far I am the only voter for my issue (Issue No. 90656). I have already contributed 2 votes.

This is an important announcement!!!

All the people of China (population: 1.3 billion), RGB and all others, irrespective of race, sex and nationality from all over the world who would like mouseover event and capability for doubleclicking on a word to popup Oxford dictonary, like iFingers, etc. incorporated in OOo Writer, please vote for this issue No.: 90656. Please email at least 10 of your friends, and persuade each to email another 10 of their friends this message and also the URL below. This way, we hope to get the whole world involved to support this very useful feature in OOo.

How to do it?

Go to the following site...

http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/Join

and register yourself first, then

On left hand side, click Find issue. Enter 90656.

Then at bottom, click vote for issue. Look for mouseover event and doubleclicking to popup Oxford dictionary in Word processor (OOo Writer), and enter your vote. Maximum 2 votes allowed.

Thank you very much.

Kind regards,
Ernest
P/S: I am a Chinese from Malaysia