I have implemented an application displaying the Windows clipboard contents, it follows this scheme to insert itself into the chain of viewers and handling the WM_DRAWCLIPBOARD message:
https://wiki.lazarus.freepascal.org/Clipboard#Getting_notified_of_changes
If my program, or this sample program, runs in the background, the Ctrl-X and Shift-Del (cut text) keyboard shortcuts do not work properly in Articulate Storyline any more. Pressing any of those two key combinations puts the highlighted text into the clipboard, but doesn't delete it from the Storyline input, I have to press "Del" to get rid of it in Storyline.
There seems to be an incompatibility between Storyline and my code, which is odd, because my code is just a passive viewer which should not have any adverse effect on any software running.
This behaviour appears only in Storyline (as far as I can tell, I tried several other programs, and found both Strg-X and Shift-Del working OK), but it is caused by my code, since if I end my program Storyline works OK at once, and if I start my code the problem appears right away.
Other programs, like NirSofts clipboard viewer (InsideKeyboard.exe), which suspectedly use the same technique to monitor the clipboard do not have adverse affects on Storyline.
Anyone having an idea, why my (short, simple and harmless) code can cause such adverse effects just in Articulate Storyline?
Related
Any solutions out there for dealing with google script code-editor turning "forward delete" into a "kill line" binding? I'm used to the hidden cocoa/emacs derived navigation keys. Google decided to mess with control-d.
Clarifications:
This occurs when using the code editor. (edit-view?)
I would rather stop the google behavior than cope with it.
To understand more how fluid the control-key navigation can be
(and therefore how annoying when missing), try this...
set caps-lock to be the control key
open a cocoa browser like Safari and
start a script at https://script.google.com/
switch briefly to address bar
hit ctrl+a (goes to start of line)
hit ctrl+d (characters get deleted 1 at a time)
hit escape
switch to script area and try same thing (whole lines get munched!)
If you mean while you're working on your program in that editor, press the forward-delete key. On Apple's laptops and wireless keyboard, it's fn-delete (where by “delete”, I mean the backward delete, the key that is a.k.a. “backspace”).
You could try KeyRemap4Macbook.
Today I noticed that this problem no longer exists. So when editing a script file in the macro editor, emacs shortcuts WORK as expected. I cannot tell if they simply removed a bug or override, or actually patched it to work.
In one of my other questions, I inquired about a shortcut to enable a particular feature in the VS2010 IDE. It looks like the only way to make it happen is through the Macro Recorder, which I have unfortunately never used (as it looks quite powerful!).
The straightforward way to make my macro would be to start the recorder with CTRL+SHIFT+R, then go to Debug -> Exceptions, check all of the boxes I want, click OK, and then stop the recorder. Unfortunately, all that I can see is that it opens the Exceptions window, and no more than that.
I figured that if the Macro Recorder doesn't record mouse events, then surely it must record keyboard events, but I was wrong about that, too. Upon editing my TemporaryMacro, I saw that the only thing it does is
DTE.ExecuteCommand("Debug.Exceptions")
What I really want to do is add a method that can enter keystrokes like DOWN, ALT+T, and ENTER.
I have googled like crazy, gone through MSDN, and checked here on SO. I am embarrassed to say that I have been unable to find any information about an object in DTE that allows me to send keystrokes! Hopefully, someone here will know how to do it!
This is the closest thing I've found to a document regarding keystroke automation: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/8h31zbch.aspx
Edit: I figured it out how to send keystrokes, but how can you send them to popup dialogs???
Here's the code I tried:
Public Module RecordingModule
Sub TemporaryMacro()
DTE.ExecuteCommand("Debug.Exceptions")
System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys.SendWait("+{TAB}")
System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys.SendWait("{DOWN}")
System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys.SendWait("%T")
System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys.SendWait("{ENTER}")
End Sub
End Module
I couldn't get it to work, so I tried debugging, and that's when I realized what was happening -- SendWait doesn't get called until after the dialog is dismissed.
So does anyone know how to use the Macro Recorder to interact with popup dialogs via keyboard commands?
I don't think you can send keystrokes to the dialog box.
I would recommend that you take a look at AutoHotKey, from there you can define interactions with dialog boxes. It works outside of Visual Studio, so you will probably find many more uses for it.
I am trying to make our application properly handle international input. Since we handle text input and font rendering ourselves, I wrote custom code to handle the respective WM_IME_* messages.
Now, this all works fine, with one exception: When our applications main window is open, the Language Bar will not let me pick any options. I can set the input language to Japanese or Korean, but the menus for choosing the input methods (like Hangul or Hiragana) are not shown. Then, when I open another window (any other window, be it one of our application windows, or a standard "save file" dialog), the options appear. Once there, they will stay, even if I close the other window. IME input will then work as expected in the main window. But, as explained, only if I open another window first.
Now, how does windows decide whether it should display the input method options or not? It appears that windows does not recognize our main window as Unicode capable for some reason. How can I fix that?
Thanks in advance for any suggestions,
jonas
Edit: One more strange thing i noticed is that for my main window (which will not let me change input methods), I will get a WM_INPUTLANGUAGECHANGEREQUEST message when i change the input language - which I pass on to DefaultWindowProcW. For the windows which let me change the input method, i don't get the request, i just get a WM_INPUTLANGUAGECHANGE message (which I don't get for the other window).
Ok, after a long search I've been able to find out what is breaking this. We are calling SetFocus on a child window in response to WM_FOCUS messages, so that a specific child window always gets focused when a window is brought to the front. Apparently, this confuses window's IME code, and makes it unaware that the window can handle IME input.
Some notes
Text Service is works per window, not system wide, so even its turn on in one window, another window will still need to turn it on, (unless user set it as default)
And Text Service is not working in any windows, to enable that, target computer need to enable following setting on
In PowerBuilder's IDE, the code autocomplete feature uses the clipboard to communicate the completed text to the code window. By doing so, it overrides whatever was stored on the clipboard before. So, if you had the winning numbers of the next lottary stored on your clipboard, and you used the autocomplete to turn m_goodfor into m_goodfornothing, you've just lost your only chance of ever getting rich, and you're left with nothing on your clipboard.
Features like that are the reason I hate software. It looks like it was implemented by some intern that noone was looking after. However, there's also a chance I got all worked up for nothing, and making such use of the clipboard is absolutely legit. So, can an app use the clipboard for its own purposes? Who is considered the owner of the clipboard?
(Bonus votes to whoever puts himself in place of the feature's programmer, and provides some reasoning for this being done on purpose, assuming the users would actually benefite from it)
You are probably right on the intern reasoning. There is absolutely no reason why an application would use the clipboard to communicate information other than pure laziness. Even between processes, there are other, better ways of communicating information.
Other then letting the user paste information in another application, there is no reason to use the clipboard.
The programmer did it because it was easy, and put his needs above those of the end user. There are many programs that do this, particularly add-ins to outlook, VB, etc., which copy/paste their buttons onto the toolbar. Any user that runs a clipboard extender (like my own ClipMate) will absolutely hate this behavior (and you'll be "busted" right away).
Here is my favorite quote on the subject:
“Programs should not transfer data into our out of the clipboard without an explicit instruction from the user.”
— Charles Petzold, Programming Windows 3.1, Microsoft Press, 1992
An app should never change anything on the clipboard without the user initiating that action. My .02 anyway.
Bonus votes to whoever puts himself in place of the feature's programmer, and provides some reasoning for this being done on purpose
Using clipboard for application communication
They are always a better way to do it. The programmer might have done it this way because it was faster to implement OR because he really wanted to have this value in the clipboard after the action. At least, if he didn't wanted to have it in the clipboard he could have get the value from the clipboard, store its value then replace the old content of the clipboard inside the clipboard and everything would have be more "transparent" ans less frustrating for the end-user.
I have built a piece of functionality into an App that uses the clipboard. Business was requesting a way for users to seamlessly capture a screen shot and upload it.
I worked with the business to develop it and what we came up with was a user simply hit the print screen key and clicked "upload" in my app.
The Java Applet running in the background pulled the image off the clipboard and displayed a formatted preview to the user, The user then added in a file name and description and clicked save.
Using the clipboard this way saved the user the time of having to capture the screen shot save it somewhere then find it through an upload interface. Even if we did go that route by the user hitting print screen to capture the image in the first place they are already overwriting whatever was on the clipboard in the first place.
Using the clipboard isn't all bad but I certainly agree using it in an IDE is a def no no.
What is your biggest pet peeve related to the windbg debugger from microsoft?
(note: I actually really like windbg if I ignore the unpolished UI.)
Attempting to dock a window is almost always the wrong kind of dock the first time until :I move the mouse just right. Why can't it have the docking cues that VS2008 has?
The ridiculous behavior when you attempt to use click-drag to select text on a line that is wider than its physical window.
The pieces of the history window that I need to copy/paste into bug reports are frequently wider than the physical window. I've gotten so used to the triple-click workaround that I find myself attempting to misuse triple click in other (well behaved) applications.
Key presses are ignored while the focus is in a source window. It's not like you can edit the source code from inside windbg. At least there's the Alt-1 workaround.
How insanely slow .kdfiles copies new binaries across the 1394 connection. It can take up to one minute for a large dll.
Not being able to switch from output window to command window using a key press, I read that 'Alt+1' should work but it doesn't always so I always have to resort to using the mouse. Also sometimes it doesn't remember when I tell it not to ask me everytime if I want to save the workspace when I quit.