emes81
commented
1 year ago A follow up, as my gut feeling was that this is an urgent matter - did I misunderstand something here? Is it intentional that saving while in "preview" mode also disables Track Changes and accepts all suggestions?
If so, I want to suggest that this is (very much) sub-optimal behaviour, especially when using a more traditional collaborative workflow: i.e., emailing files to one another that the user then edits locally (i.e., making use of OO's excellent compatibility with Word docs). In this context, a major use of "Final: all changes accepted (preview)" mode is to examine if any more changes need to be made. It is natural to save one's work during this process. And once a user has decided no further edits are required, they would also save their work: it is unrealistic to expect that users will switch back to "Only markup" before saving their file and emailing it to another user for further editing. The current implementation of tracked changes is a recipe for disaster for anyone working in this traditional workflow - which is still the standard in my profession (I am an editor and translator working in the cultural and academic sectors).
The current implementation is also inconsistent in its own terms: I just experimented with a new document. I made some changes in "Only markup" mode, then switched to "Final" and saved. Switching back to "Only markup", the the tracked changes were shown again.
However, if I made some changes in "Only markup" mode, then switched to "Final" and saved, then closed the document, then re-opened it, the changes were adopted but no longer tracked. There was no indication at all to the user the tracked changes would no longer be visible. That is unexpected, unintended and un-indicated data loss, and OnlyOffice should not permit it to happen!
This inconsistency only increases the already considerable risk of losing the tracking of changes when working in a more traditional email-based workflow. I feel an urgent review is needed to make sure that this is handled differently and OnlyOffice introduces protections against this kind of (potentially catastrophic) data loss.
XDmitryK
This issue is unique.
Operating System
Windows 10 / 8.1 / 7
Version information
7.4.1.36
Expected Behavior
When saving a document with tracked changes in preview mode, each tracked change remains a suggestion until individually confirmed
Actual Behavior
When a document being viewed in "Final - All changes accepted (preview)" is saved locally, all tracked changes are automatically accepted - the next person viewing the document has no idea what has been changed.
Reproduction Steps
Additional information
No response