FF : Opening Cell Properties dialog resetting Columns Width

[Satya Minnekanti]

To reproduce the defect:

1. Open CK Editor sample & insert a table with 1 row and 2 columns.

2. Set the width for the first table cell to 50 pixels

3. Insert a new row above the first row and see that first cell in the new row has the same width as the first cell in previous row.

4. Select both cells in new row using mouse and open Cell Properties dialog.

5. Click OK button with out changing any properties.

Expected Result:

Nothing should change, since we have not modified any properties.

Actual Result:

Column widths are resetting to default

[Garry Yao]

Cell properties open on more then one cells indicate that all cells would receive the same properties.

[Damian]

The issue here is not that the property in the width field is being applied to the selected cells. The issue is that using the dialog to edit multiple cells, overrides values that the user did not intend to change.

The expectation is that the dialog only updates those values that were changed by the user. In the test case provided, no changes were made so no changes are expected in the selected cells. In that test case, the user could also have pressed cancel to do the same thing. Another real world example would be having a table with multiple columns, each assigned a different width. The user then wants to change the background colour of all the selected cells in a row. Selecting the row and assigning a background colour will override all the pre-set widths, forcing the user to set each cell's background colour individually, defeating the benefit of having multiple cell selection.

To fix this issue, the dialog needs to be aware that multiple cells are selected and give the user the ability to keep the current values or to override them with a new value.

[Teresa Monahan]

When multiple table cells are selected, the dialog is populated with the values of the first cell in the selection. Clicking OK applies these values to all cells in the selection. This is incorrect behavior.

When multiple table cells are selected, the dialog should instead be populated in a way that indicates that different values are used for some cells. If the user does not make any changes to the dialog values and clicks OK, then no updates should be made to the selection. If the user deliberately changes a value however, then only the changed value should be applied to all selected cells. Microsoft Word uses this approach. An example can be seen in the attached document (table.doc).

Microsoft Word Example:
The table provided has 3 columns, each with a different width specified:
Column 1 = 1cm
Column 2 = 3cm
Column 3 = 5cm

If you select the first row (i.e. the first cell in each column) and open the Table Properties dialog, you'll notice that the 'Preferred width' field on the Column tab is greyed out to indicate that the width is not the same across all selected cells. If you click OK on the dialog, there is no change to the column width.

Open the Table Properties dialog again and this time deliberately change the column width by clicking on the 'Preferred width' field and specifying a width value. Now when you click OK, the width of all selected columns is updated.

This behavior is more like what the user expects so it would be good if CKEditor could also support it.

[Garry Yao]

The justification makes sense, read it as an usability feature, but supporting it would requires a new dialog field, as well as a drastic change to the table dialog, so it is to be planned for v4.

[Jakub Ś]

When multiple table cells are selected, the dialog is populated with the values of the first cell in the selection. Clicking OK applies these values to all cells in the selection. This is incorrect behavior.

This can be reproduced from CKEditor 3.0 and is still present in CKE 4.x