Inkscape is unable to determine how to read clipboard contents

[Arthur User]

When attempting to paste in information inkscape is unable to tell text from other data formats automatically. It also has issues with keeping data formats when pasting out - ie it will rasterise svgs on output.

[Arthur User (a-user-e)]

forgot to add : inkscape 0.48

[su_v (suv-lp)]

Assuming - based on the reporter's other reports, though no information about the OS was provided here - that this is related to (or a duplicate of) the known issue with the XQuartz pasteboard (not really an Inkscape bug) as tracked for Inkscape in bug #307005.

Unfortunately this report lacks any further information as well - is this about an attempt to copy and paste between an X11 application and native OS X apps (won't work because this transfer, handled completely outside of inkscape, is partially broken and limited to rasterized data AFAIK), or between X11 applications?

[Arthur User (a-user-e)]

apologies for not stating the OS - it is infact OSX.

Thanks for the clarification what I don't understand is why inkscape is using XQuartz for this if it is messing with the output and forcing users to manually switch data formats - you can access the clipboard at system level by piping output to and from /usr/sbin/pboard and let the receiving apps decide how to interpret the format.

[su_v (suv-lp)]

The currently available Inkscape package for OS X has been compiled with the X11-backend of the GTK+ toolkit - for such X11-based applications, the "system clipboard" of the application _is_ the one from X11 server (aka XQuartz).

Things will change once Inkscape packages are available which are compiled with the native Quartz-backend of the GTK+ toolkit (no more X11/XQuartz required). Currently, with experimental builds, the clipboard support and exchange with other native applications isn't working 100% in both directions yet either, which is mostly an upstream issue in the toolkit and (AFAIU) not an issue of the individual application either.

[su_v (suv-lp)]

On 2014-03-16 07:43 +0100, Arthur User wrote:
> what I don't understand is why inkscape is using XQuartz for this if
> it is messing with the output and forcing users to manually switch
> data formats - you can access the clipboard at system level by
> piping output to and from /usr/sbin/pboard and let the receiving apps
> decide how to interpret the format.

Patches are welcome of course ;-) (to upstream XQuartz to improve the data exchange between the X11 clipboard and the OS X pasteboard, or to Inkscape itself [*]), if you know how to solve or improve the (so far not further specified) issue without risking to break cross-platform support in Inkscape (AFAIU its clipboard implementation is not platform-specific, but based on the clipboard functions provided by the toolkit).

Keep in mind though that the project's long-term goal is to provide packages of OS X which are compiled with the OS X-native GTK+ backend - priority would better be put on investigating and addressing clipboard issues upstream in the Quartz backend of the GTK+ toolkit.

-----
[*] related links:

1) Data exchange between X11-based Inkscape and OS X-native applications:
Report filed for Inkscape:
  <https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/307005>
Upstream XQuartz ticket about copy/paste issue with syncing enabled:
  <http://xquartz.macosforge.org/trac/ticket/403>

2) Inkscape's system clipboard support implementation:
Inkscape source code for interacting with the "system" clipboard:
  <http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~inkscape.dev/inkscape/trunk/view/head:/src/ui/clipboard.cpp>
  <http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~inkscape.dev/inkscape/trunk/view/head:/src/ui/clipboard.h>

Originally committed in revision 5190:
  <http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~inkscape.dev/inkscape/trunk/revision/5190>
for Bug #170185 (sf909735) “Support for copy/paste with system clipboard”
  <https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/170185>

gtkmm documention (Gtk::Clipboard):
  <https://developer.gnome.org/gtkmm/2.24/classGtk_1_1Clipboard.html>

3) Upstream clipboard-related issues in GTK+/Quartz (affecting future packages of Inkscape):
Tracked in project Inkscape:
  <https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/546934>
  <https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/1046068>
Upstream clipboard-related issues in GTK+/Quartz:
  <https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=692123>
  <https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=571582>

(non-exhaustive list)

[su_v (suv-lp)]

Linking as duplicate to bug #307005 - the clipboard <-> pasteboard auto-sync feature of upstream XQuartz currently has limited support for different types of clipboard content, and affects X11-based vector applications like Inkscape as described.