Inherit properties from parent style

[jhaiduce]

Hi,

Is there a way to revert a style property to that of its parent? That is, if I create a new style and set it to be "based on" an existing style, it then inherits from the parent any property values that I haven't edited in the new style. However, after I change a property value on the child style it overrides whatever was set in the parent. Is there any way to revert the property values I changed so that they once again inherit from the parent style?

John

[Franz Gratzer]

This is a workaround, but it should get you what you want:

• Create an other style that has the properties you want.
• Delete the original style and replace it with your new style (that never had the property changed you wanted to inherit from the parent).

Of course this is no fun if you have a very complicated style with many properties, but this way you can get to what you are aiming at.

[a.l.e]

since scribus does currently show which formatting have been changed, it would be easy to add a reset functionality.
it just has to be implemented for each field...

the question is: how to expose it to the user...
that's probably a bit more ricky.

my first reflex is to add a context menu... but i'm with steve job there: context menus are not the best solution.
adding a button to each field would imo be more friendly, but having a button per field would be messy.

some widgets that is only shown when the fields is active? probably the best solution... but harder to create...

any further thoughts about it?

[Nermander]

For fillable fields maybe just deleting the contents would revert it to default?

For dropdown-lists there could be a blank entry that will revert to default? Or an entry that explicitly states "Inherit from parent"?

Radiobuttons and checkboxes would be a bit harder, but for checkboxes there is at least the common convention of Checked, Unchecked, Grayed out.

[a.l.e]

looks like a plan : - )

i like your proposal, nermander... the question is:

- do people like it? or do you have even better ideas?
- how can we get it to be implemented?

personally, i would love to recreate the whole style management and

- make it non-modal (one should be able to edit the document while the style edit dialog is open)
- allow for creation and update of styles of from the properties palette
- allow for creation and update of styles of from a selection

but it's very unlikely that i will start working on it, if i am all alone...

[Nermander]

Those were ideas with minimal changes to the UI:)

For a better user experience I think som changes to the UI would be needed.

[Franz Gratzer]

but it's very unlikely that i will start working on it, if i am all alone...

I would be willing to contribute but I don't know much about the whole development process for Scribus and I am not even sure if I could help at all in a meaningful way. Not only for my lack of knowledge but because of limited time resources also. But if I could fit something useful into my day I would be glad to contribute. I would be able to create mock-ups for example but from what I've read they might not be very helpful since there seems to be no need for any new elements at all.