Publisher/Publisher 2 Capitalisation Bug doesn't work with fields

[Algernon47]

I am using the latest version of Windows 10 and have tested this with up to date versions of Publisher and Publisher 2.

I want to set some fields to Title case but it simply doesn't seem to work.

I did a quick search and couldn't see any mention of this?

[walt.farrell]

Can you show us a screenshot so we can see the text you're working with, and also which method you're using to do it?

 

[Algernon47]

The screen shot shows two text frames, each frame has the words "Petit chef" typed first directly typed into the frame then as a field with the source being  title field (as you can see on the fields panel on the left).

On the first text frame I have left this unchanged on the second frame I have selected each entry in the text frame and then applied Text>Capitalisation>Title Case

The screenshot is from Affinity Publisher but I have tested in trial version of Affinity Publisher 2 and I think the result is the same.

[walt.farrell]

Thanks. That clarifies if for me very nicely.

What you're trying to do can't work. The content for a Field in the document comes only from the Fields panel, and can't be changed. For example, you can't click in that text in the document and change it manually. You can't change it (or even find it) using Fine & Replace. It is just, as far as the document is concerned, a kind of "black box" whose contents come from someplace else. You can get a hint of that if you use the menu Text > Highlight Fields.

So, you will have to change its value in the Fields panel, or you will have to right-click on it in the document and choose Expand Field. Then you'll be able to change its contents and formatting. (But also, then, it won't respond to changes made via the Fields panel.)

[Algernon47]

Hmm. thank you, I understand what you're saying and understand your point.  I think most users would expect that it would work though especially given that one inserts fields from the text menu and apply capitalisation from the text menu also - I can see now that capitalisation is a one time deal when you apply it.  In fact I would say that of all the uses for autocapitalisation this would be the most useful - particularly when doing data merging, I've figured I can uses proper case in excel but would have been nice and easy to do it in publisher.

Thanks again.

 

[walt.farrell]

You're welcome.

[Algernon47]

Hello again.  Actually as an addendum to this, I still think this in fact may be a bug.

You said: "What you're trying to do can't work. The content for a Field in the document comes only from the Fields panel, and can't be changed."

However this doesn't quite appear to be true.

In the screenshot I have applied the respective options from the Text>Capitalisation menu and we can see that Publisher can capitalise all the letters in a field.

Of course I don't know the technicalities of this, but I think most people would assume that you can apply all the processes listed under Capitalisation to fields and not just some of them.

 

 

[walt.farrell]

2 hours ago, Algernon47 said:

In the screenshot I have applied the respective options from the Text>Capitalisation menu and we can see that Publisher can capitalise all the letters in a field.

If you examine the pulldown for Text > Capitalization you will see that the top 3 (I think) entries are separated from the entries below them by a line.

The items above the line are formatting options, which modify how the text will be displayed but do not actually change the text. The items below the line are immediate actions which physically modify the text. You can apply formatting to a field; you cannot apply actions.

[4dimage]

Seems to work from the "Chars" panel ?

 

 

[walt.farrell]

5 hours ago, 4dimage said:

Seems to work from the "Chars" panel ?

Yes, but again the Character panel provides a kind of formatting information, just as the top 3 entries in Text > Capitalization do.

[Pyanepsion]

The Fields window does not manage any style, neither paragraph nor character. This is not its function. Its purpose is to contain variables which can be used in a text object (for example a text frame, etc.). For example, this variable could be the number of a page. In this text object, you can of course apply any style to its contents.

The Data Merge Manager window extends this functionality to any data from a spreadsheet.

[walt.farrell]

27 minutes ago, Pyanepsion said:

For example, this variable could be the number of a page. In this text object, you can of course apply any style to its contents.

Right. Formatting can be applied.

The confusion here is over the items in the Text > Capitalization menu. The first 3 items in that menu are formatting instructions, which change the appearance of the text. The remainder of the items in that menu (below the line) are actions that physically change the text they are applied to. Those actions cannot be applied to Fields.