Shock Error

[Ged]

I recently finished 4 pages.  I had text boxes and images with text wrapping around them.  They were looking perfect so I grouped each page and saved.

However, I wanted to change the file name so I did so but not using 'File As.'  I went into windows and change the name there.

Then I opened the file again and was met with a shock.  The images were in place but the text boxes were knocked out of place.  The text from page 1 was on page 2.  All links were lost; image wrapping was lost.  At present I am trying to recreate the text boxes, but they refuse to wrap around the images as before.

I am giving this info as best as I can explain it.  Ill report back how the fix goes.  Any help appreciated.

[GarryP]

Weird.

Simply renaming a file shouldn't affect the contents of that file (in fact, it's the way you convert an autosave document back to an SLA).

Moving the file would break all links to the images but that's not what you've reported.

How did you reopen the file? If you've renamed a file then it won't show up in Scribus' "recent files" list and it could be possible that you've actually opened up a previous version by mistake if you've gone in that way.

(It could also be possible that the file just happened to be corrupted at the same time as you renamed the file. For instance the file system could have moved the file to a bit of storage that is a bit dodgy. This is extremely rare these days though and it would be very unusual that the storage was corrupted in such a way that the file was still accessible to Scribus as a valid document.)

Have you looked for the autosave version - it will be called <filename>.sla.autosave - and tried renaming that - back to <filename>.sla - to see if you can get something back from that?

Did you try renaming the file back to what it was originally and seeing if that made any difference?

I've never seen this happen before so I'm not sure what else to recommend.

P.S. What did you mean in the first sentence by "I grouped each page". That seems like an unusual/unnecessary thing to do and could have some baring on the problem (or maybe not).

[Ged]

I ungrouped the items on each page, then selected each image one at a time and raised them to top level.  Then the wrapping came back.

It packed a hissy fit when I grouped the objects on the page.  I dunno.     Maybe linked text boxes dont like being grouped?

[GarryP]

Text will only flow around objects that are at a higher level than the text frames (this includes objects that are in higher layers). If you change this relationship - either deliberately or by accident - then the text probably won't flow correctly.

Also, if you group objects the individual text flow options become ineffective until the objects are ungrouped. I have no idea why. The "Group" tab in the PP shows Text Flow options but I can't remember seeing them not greyed out so I don't know how this is supposed to work.

I've no idea what's actually supposed to happen if you group linked text frames. Someone would have to write down what should happen then someone could test it. I've never had a reason to group linked text frames. (It's also probably not good form to group frames/objects across pages either; I can't think why you'd want to under normal circumstances.)

My recommendation would be to not group stuff unless they absolutely need to be grouped; it's just extra hassle otherwise.

One thought I've just had would be to have the option to - for objects that don't have text flow disabled - display the shape/line/path that is being flowed around (in a user-specific colour). That would make it very easy to see at a glance whether there were any problems with text flow. Maybe menu "View -> Show Text Flow Shapes"? It's just a thought.