How to delete a 'writer' file?
 

Hi,

God, I'm feeling stupid. I'm running PcLinusOS and using LibreOffice Writer which comes with it. When I want to delete a saved file, I can't find out how to do it. There's nothing under the File Menu, right clicks on the document itself, or it's title, reveal nothing about deletion.

I'm obviously missing something very easy and I'm feeling foolish and irritable. Like to help me out of my misery?

Terminal >
Where filename.ext is the actual file name. Should you be unsure, or more than one file may have the same name, the "rm -i" should prompt for each file found.

If still in doubt, use
then

Depending on your file browser,... Gnome's Nautilus or KDE's dolphin, and I think XFCE's (Thunar??) all have burried settings that lets you add a delete function to the context menu.

Actually Libre office writer is not designed for file management tasks. It does not have a built-in konsole. So a second application is needed.

Well, what surprising answers. Deleting something surely ought to be straightforward..

I've taken on a committee job which will entail a lot of receiving, saving, moving, altering and deleting Writer and Email files. I have no inclination to use the command line to achieve anything.

Though I couldn't find how to add in a delete facility to Writer, in Dolphin, I did find that Dolphin lists the file I was working on. A right click on it there gave me the option of moving it to trash or deleting. Quite what the difference is, I don't know. But it's a start and I thank you for that.

So, is there a Linux app that will help me do, easily, what I need to do? An Office suite that has a built-in konsole for writing managerial tasks?

That's simple. If you move a file to the trash it gets not deleted instantly, so you can restore it in case you were wrong about deleting it. If you delete it, there's no turning back.
File management is not a generic office suite work, but maybe you can achieve something using shell scripts.
What exactly do you need to automate?

As I understand it betula wants to be able to delete word processor files from within the GUI word processor application itself and is asking if there is a word processor with this facility.

I do not know of one and Libre Office's Writer is generally reputed to be the most feature rich of the word processors available on Linux so, even if there is one, it would likely be found wanting in other respects.

The best option may be to get used to using Dolphin -- especially if it is used to open Writer files as well as delete them. Personally I find GUI file managers a much nicer way of working than Writer's File -> Open dialog but YMMV.

I'm very grateful that you are taking such an interest in my predicament. Here's what I will have to be doing:

I belong to an organisation with around 500 members. The members are divided into 64 groups which are essentially activities, covering anything that a member wants to set up and run. We have walking groups, a couple of art study groups, family history groups, language study groups, etc, etc. You name it and we've probably got it.

The members are, ahem, on the old side. This is a prequisite. Records have to be kept, obviously. Members leave the organisation, some just don't renew, some move from one group to another, group leaders change, groups change their functions and their names.

All this will generate a lot of emails. Most of the essential records have been kept in the table format in Microsoft Word. For example, there's a table of the 64 individual group leaders with their addresses, phone nos, and groups.

What I've been trying to do is to save the emails into a Writer folder where I shall be able to keep and amend them as necessary. I've been trialling this, without much success, and this led to the discovery that I couldn't delete my failed efforts. Hence my original post.

I bet I've bored the pants off all readers, now.

Probably not -- many LQ members love a challenge and are happy to help :)

Good that you have explained some of what you are trying to achieve, beyond the immediate problem with the solution you are developing. Often people ask about problems with what turns out to be not the best solution.

Would you like to describe what you are trying to achieve in more detail -- the system inputs (emails etc.) and desired outputs? Given a clear specification of the requirements we may be able to help with a solution framework that suits you.

I know it's not ideal but if you alter your workflow to have your file manager (Dolphin) open while you are working on documents you will be able to manipulate the files (move, rename, delete) in Dolphin and just use Writer to change their contents. I know it's not as integrated as Word with its built-in file management but once you get used to it you may find it more powerful.
Personally, when I work on documents in the way you describe I tend to have a few file manager windows open (one for each directory of files I'm working on) and perhaps a couple of word processor windows also. I do this under Windows mostly though, oddly enough.
Under Linux it tends to be the case that applications have less functionality individually as the philosophy is to use programs which do one job well and use the application, or combination which fits the task best (I'm paraphrasing, of course).

Catkin,

I don't really know what I'm trying to achieve, other than keep the records in a simple and accurate way. I've had an email today that Group Arts2 is changing its name to Painting and Drawing. Okay, I'd like to click on the document (or whatever) with the overall list of Groups on it and simply change the name. I have the list, at the moment, residing in my emails: if I knew how to save that email attachment into a workable, easily available folder I'd be delighted.

273,

Do you do what you describe on one computer monitor? Or, can you somehow split up the working areas? It sounds interesting anyway. Your reference to 'directories of files' has got me thinking. Perhaps I should start a separate directory for U3A (the name of the organisation) and somehow keep only U3A stuff in it. In separate folders?

I wish I knew enough to be more precise about my wants...

By gum, you guys are making me think. I googled 'how-to make directories' and used a terminal to make one entitled 'U3A' I then found it in 'Home' and delved about to find I could separate out the U3A directory to act as a standalone.

If I make separate folders within the U3A directory (which I've seen I can do) I believe I'm going to get somewhere. What I need to know now, is how do I transfer,or save,the email attachments I have already to my new folders. They all seem to have come with a Microsoft email.

The terminal is the most flexible and powerful way to do things but not the most intuitive. I don't know Dolphin but if it is anything like the graphical file managers I have used, it will be more intuitive and will show more information at a glance than the terminal. Neither is "best". Both can be used for directory (a.k.a folder) creation and file re-naming.

Links: The Dolphin Handbook and the KDE Wiki's Dolphn page.

Which program are you using to read email? The way to save attachments from the email into your new folders differs from program to program. Popular ones are Thunderbird, Evolution and using a web browser such as Firefox, Opera or Chromium.

If I got you right, you're performing some sort of directory service entirely by hand.
One of the most widespread open source directory service is OpenLDAP and can be found in most Linux distros out there, although its proper setting up and management is something not easily accessible from someone with no prior knowledge on the matter.
Maybe some other user can suggest other simpler solutions...

Catkin,

I'm using Thunderbird. I'm playing with Dolphin at the moment, with mixed results, so I'll get into the Dolphin Handbook you've kindly linked to.

414n,

I searched my computer for OpenLDap without success. So I used Synaptic and found that I could mark Ldap for re-installation. Hmm. So I re-installed it and still couldn't find it. Find files/folders found it somewhere but had it marked 'read only permission'. It's going to be too complicated for me anyway, I'm sure. Thanks for the suggestion, nevertheless.

Why can't things be simple?