Right Margin not being recognised!

I’m not sure if this is a bug or a feature! I’ve imported a Word 2007 Outline document and split it into topics (using Split at Selection). Now when I type further text the right margin isn’t recognised and I just get one continuous line of text.

If I set up a new file and type afresh into that the right margin marker forces a new line as expected.

I am not sure if this has occurred because I am basing the file on the Word Outline document or because there is something I need to adjust. I’ve tried playing around with the right margin indicator but this just gets ignored.

Any suggestions?

Hi,

This sounds like it might be an import-and-split bug; I’ve been playing a little with that after reading a few other reports, which have included the ruler settings not applying properly to the first paragraph after the split. On the other hand, I’ve never seen it not automatically wrap, so I’ll have to investigate that further. (Needless to say, this is a bug, not a feature. :wink:) I gather that you’re seeing this for the entire document (not just the first paragraph), but is it only in the documents split off from the original? That is, if you go to the first document, the one you split the text out of, is the right indent set properly there? If it just imported wrong to start with, then split isn’t part of the issue, as that will just maintain the same formatting as the original document.

Also, just for clarification, when you say the right margin, do you mean the right indent? This would be the single upward pointing triangle on the right-hand side of the ruler (although its tool-tip does currently say “Right Margin”). Do you see it in the ruler at all, or is it entirely gone (even if you hide the inspector)?

Any additional details you can give would be great. How was the ruler set in the original Word document? What format did you import as (.doc, .rtf…)?

For correcting this, generally you could use the Documents>Convert to Default Formatting option to reset all the selected documents to the settings you define in Edit>Options in the Editor tab, but I’m leery of suggesting that as to reset the right indent it would likewise reset your left and first line indents and probably lose any bullets, which is probably highly undesirable if you’re working with a formatted outline. The best way to safely fix it is just to select all in the editor and then right click on the ruler (Ctrl-R first if it’s not visible) where you want the indent and choose “Set Right Margin” (again, this wording is off; it really means the right indent). You’ll need to do it for each document that’s exhibiting this behavior, so it might be easier to merge them all and do it and then redo the split (or re-import, explicitly set it in the imported document, and then split–since you applied the setting in Scrivener it should stick then after splitting).

If preserving bullets/indents isn’t an issue, then the conversion to defaults is definitely fastest. There’s a limitation on that in the current beta where the right indent can’t be set past about 5.5" in the options, but it will at least keep your text from scrolling off the screen, and it can be adjusted again once this bug is corrected. Set your defaults the way you like it in the Editor tab, then in the binder select the documents to convert and select the menu option. A dialogue will pop up giving you a list of options for the conversion: you’ll definitely want to check “preserve font styles” so you don’t lose italics and bold, etc., and you can choose whether you want to preserve any of the other options–the only one that matters for this is to not preserve tabs and indents.

Thank you, MM, for such a comprehensive reply!

As you flagged it as a bug I have tried it all again with a Word file (as originally) and with an RTF file (converted from the Outline). Something I had forgotten about happened with both - a 59% complete symbol flickers in the top right of the editor pane and disappears when you click within the text!

When it first happened I didn’t think about it after it disappeared but now I think that it is the imprt that doesn’t work, it doesn’t finish, leaving the right indent/margin unset. Is that possible?

So, it appears to me that it isn’t to do with the split. After the import all paras are not responding to the right indent/margin setting. It happens on the originally imported document even before the split.

I’ll have to check on the distinction between right indent and right margin. Is it only a distinction within Scrivener or does Word have the distinction? I was aware of the left indent/margin distinction but not the right!

I am going from the Outline to full text so it isn’t a problem to work around it now I know where it is happening. I am keeping the outline but not typing in it and setting up a new text file next to it for the full text. The option you mentioned of clicking on the ruler and resetting the right margin doesn’t work, even a reset right margin gets ignored.

Anyway, I hope all this helps.

Thank you for all the extra details and for trying it all again; that’s all helpful and I’ll pass it on to Lee as well. With luck, it’ll all be wrapped up in another import bug he’s already got on the list and will be fixed along with it…

Glad that the formatting wasn’t an issue, as in retrospect what I told you about resetting the right indent that way is absolutely wrong, arugh–resetting that way will also reset your left and first line indents. Drat it! I’m really sorry about that embarrassing mistake. Anyway it’s rather interesting/alarming to know that the right indent didn’t take when you tried it. You had selected text in the editor before trying it? (It will only apply at the paragraph level, so just adjusting it without selecting text first would not affect any paragraphs but where the cursor was placed–and if the cursor was on a blank line, you naturally wouldn’t notice any change.)

Incidentally, the margin/indent is a distinct thing generally and not just a Scrivener thing, e.g. my first lazy Google result. Indents are about paragraph formatting and margins are page layout–e.g. block quotes in certain format styles should have both a left and right indent setting them off from the edges of the body text, which will be bound by the page margins.