Text input, Keys dont work

[User12020310012]

I don't know why,
but on my computer keys like BACKSPACE, LEFT, RIGHT, DELETE, HOME, END ... don't work in whichever Eeschema, Pcbnew, text input I tried.
Does this have to do with wxWidgets version. On 2.8 these keys worked!

Application: kicad
Version: (2014-10-23 BZR 5218)-product Release build
wxWidgets: Version 3.0.2 (debug,wchar_t,compiler with C++ ABI 1002,GCC 4.9.1,wx containers,compatible with 2.8)
Platform: Linux 3.16.0-23-generic x86_64, 64 bit, Little endian, wxGTK
Boost version: 1.54.0
         USE_WX_GRAPHICS_CONTEXT=OFF
         USE_WX_OVERLAY=OFF
         KICAD_SCRIPTING=OFF
         KICAD_SCRIPTING_MODULES=OFF
         KICAD_SCRIPTING_WXPYTHON=OFF
         USE_FP_LIB_TABLE=HARD_CODED_ON
         BUILD_GITHUB_PLUGIN=ON

[Nick Østergaard (nickoe)]

I cannot confirm this. Tested in fields in eeschema for a symbol.

Version: (2014-10-23 BZR 5217)-kicad Release build
wxWidgets: Version 3.0.2 (debug,wchar_t,compiler with C++ ABI 1002,GCC 4.9.1,wx containers,compatible with 2.8)
Platform: Linux 3.16.4-1-ARCH x86_64, 64 bit, Little endian, wxGTK
Boost version: 1.56.0

[Karl Zeilhofer (zeilhofer)]

I just have the same problem here.
I wanted to edit the pad-size within pcbnew.
The only way to do so is to select the whole text with the mous, and then enter the new number.

Application: kicad
Version: (2015-01-16 BZR 5373)-product Release build
wxWidgets: Version 3.0.2 (debug,wchar_t,compiler with C++ ABI 1002,GCC 4.8.2,wx containers,compatible with 2.8)
Platform: Linux 3.13.0-30-generic x86_64, 64 bit, Little endian, wxGTK
Boost version: 1.54.0
         USE_WX_GRAPHICS_CONTEXT=OFF
         USE_WX_OVERLAY=OFF
         KICAD_SCRIPTING=OFF
         KICAD_SCRIPTING_MODULES=OFF
         KICAD_SCRIPTING_WXPYTHON=OFF
         USE_FP_LIB_TABLE=HARD_CODED_ON
         BUILD_GITHUB_PLUGIN=ON
         KICAD_USE_WEBKIT=OFF

[Karl Zeilhofer (zeilhofer)]

PS: I recently upgraded from revision #5054 with wxWidgets 2.8 to #5373 with wxWidgets 3.0.2
I'm using Kubuntu 14.04

[jean-pierre charras (jp-charras)]

I am not able to reproduce this issue (also on Kubuntu 10.04 LTS French version, wxWidgets 3.0.2)

[Nick Østergaard (nickoe)]

I cannot reproduce in archlinux.

Application: kicad
Version: (2015-01-18 BZR 5379)-kicad Release build
wxWidgets: Version 3.0.2 (debug,wchar_t,compiler with C++ ABI 1002,GCC 4.9.2,wx containers,compatible with 2.8)
Platform: Linux 3.17.6-1-ARCH x86_64, 64 bit, Little endian, wxGTK
Boost version: 1.57.0
         USE_WX_GRAPHICS_CONTEXT=OFF
         USE_WX_OVERLAY=OFF
         KICAD_SCRIPTING=ON
         KICAD_SCRIPTING_MODULES=ON
         KICAD_SCRIPTING_WXPYTHON=ON
         USE_FP_LIB_TABLE=HARD_CODED_ON
         BUILD_GITHUB_PLUGIN=ON
         KICAD_USE_WEBKIT=ON

[Peter (piozp)]

I have just experienced the same problem in pcbnew, however i managed to narrow it to one situation: the keys doesn't work when i'm editing an unasigned pad. I.e. I have a pcb mount potentiometer with two mounting tabs that were not present in the schematic, thus they are not assigned to any net. The keys are working normally until i manually put something in the "Net Name" field (like GND). ENTER doesn't work either, the changes can only be applied by clicking the "OK" button.

Application: kicad
Version: 0.201501202016+5383~20~ubuntu14.10.1-product Release build
wxWidgets: Version 3.0.1 (debug,wchar_t,compiler with C++ ABI 1002,GCC 4.9.1,wx containers,compatible with 2.8)
Platform: Linux 3.16.0-29-generic i686, 32 bit, Little endian, wxGTK
Boost version: 1.54.0
         USE_WX_GRAPHICS_CONTEXT=OFF
         USE_WX_OVERLAY=OFF
         KICAD_SCRIPTING=ON
         KICAD_SCRIPTING_MODULES=ON
         KICAD_SCRIPTING_WXPYTHON=ON
         USE_FP_LIB_TABLE=HARD_CODED_ON
         BUILD_GITHUB_PLUGIN=ON
         KICAD_USE_WEBKIT=ON

[Laurent (laurent-s)]

I get the same issue: arrow keys, delete, backspace don't work in inputs. To change text, I need to mouse select it, and type over the selection. The mouse cursor display is problematic as well. This is across all of kicad.
ENTER does not validate a window, I have to click "OK/Save/whatever" for it to work.

I had 2 versions of wxwidgets installed (2.8.0 and 3.0.2). Audacity (the audio editor) required the 2.8 version and worked fine. After upgrading it to a version based on wxwidgets 3.0, I got the same buggy behaviour in inputs in audacity as in kicad, so I'm thinking wxwidgets 3.0 is the culprit.

Should we report the bug there, or does it need confirmation first?

Linux Mint 17.1 (based on Ubuntu 14.04)
kicad 0.201505312246+5692~23~ubuntu14.04.1-product, release build
wxWidgets 3.0.2 Unicode and Boost 1.54.0
Linux 3.13.0-37-generic x86_64 GNU/Linux

[Michael Stout (mrroboto40571)]

I confirm that I also have been having text entry issues with kicad since I started 2 months ago on a Ubuntu 14.10 machine. Cursor movement, delete, and backspace don't work correctly.

My workaround#1 : move mouse to highlight text and simply type over it.

My workaround#2 : in Ubuntu/Unity if I click on the Unity icon to search for another application this somehow clears the buffer of stored up backspaces/cursor movement. So for example, I'll add text to EESCHEMA "Stuff this component innn case of" and I'll want to delete the repeated n's. If I open the text to edit, I press the left arrow 5 times and find the cursor has not moved at all. I then click on the Unity Launcher icon and if I move focus back to the kicad/eeschema window, the cursor has suddenly moved those 5 spaces. The same effect works for delete and backspace.

I have:
Ubuntu 14.10
Unity 7.3.1
using kicad BZR5852 (but it's been doing this ever since I started using kicad 2 months ago)
Wxwidgets 2.8 and 3.0 are present on my system (found from a dpkg -l search)

in case the root of this issue lies with WX widgets, here's what I have:
||/ Name Version Architecture Description
+++-==============-============-============-=================================
ii wx-common 3.0.1-3 amd64 wxWidgets Cross-platform C++ GUI
un wx2.8-doc <none> <none> (no description available)
un wx2.8-examples <none> <none> (no description available)
ii wx2.8-headers 2.8.12.1+dfs amd64 wxWidgets Cross-platform C++ GUI
un wx3.0-doc <none> <none> (no description available)
ii wx3.0-headers 3.0.1-3 amd64 wxWidgets Cross-platform C++ GUI
un wxpython2.6-0 <none> <none> (no description available)

I am not an experienced Ubuntu nor Linux in general user. Any questions to me will have to be explicit and simplified. My WAR#1 has worked but it is a pain in the butt when there is a long string of text I must enter such as the painful BOM generation add on command line.

[javier (javielas14)]

I have the same problem and I figured it out by launching KiCad from the terminal as a root user with sudo kicad
-Lubuntu 15.04 64 bit
-Application: kicad
Version: 0.201507042246+5884~23~ubuntu15.04.1-product release build
wxWidgets: Version 3.0.2 (debug,wchar_t,compiler with C++ ABI 1002,GCC 4.9.2,wx containers,compatible with 2.8)
Platform: Linux 3.19.0-22-generic x86_64, 64 bit, Little endian, wxGTK
Boost version: 1.54.0
         USE_WX_GRAPHICS_CONTEXT=OFF
         USE_WX_OVERLAY=OFF
         KICAD_SCRIPTING=ON
         KICAD_SCRIPTING_MODULES=ON
         KICAD_SCRIPTING_WXPYTHON=ON
         USE_FP_LIB_TABLE=HARD_CODED_ON
         BUILD_GITHUB_PLUGIN=ON

[jean-pierre charras (jp-charras)]

Looks like it happens only on Unity.

Unfortunately, it is unlikely we can fix this issue, because wxWidgets samples exhibit this issue.

[Luke (renaudpax)]

This is not isolated to Unity. I'm running a Cinnamon environment and experiencing the same issue.

Application: kicad
Version: 0.201508020901+6034~28~ubuntu14.04.1-product release build
wxWidgets: Version 3.0.2 (debug,wchar_t,compiler with C++ ABI 1002,GCC 4.8.4,wx containers,compatible with 2.8)
Platform: Linux 3.13.0-37-generic x86_64, 64 bit, Little endian, wxGTK
Boost version: 1.54.0
         USE_WX_GRAPHICS_CONTEXT=OFF
         USE_WX_OVERLAY=OFF
         KICAD_SCRIPTING=ON
         KICAD_SCRIPTING_MODULES=ON
         KICAD_SCRIPTING_WXPYTHON=ON
         USE_FP_LIB_TABLE=HARD_CODED_ON
         BUILD_GITHUB_PLUGIN=ON

[Bernhard (xro)]

I'm experiencing the same issue.

The Issue being that Backspace and cursor keys are not applied to the text field until kicad looses focus.
This is not a simple display issue, since pressing backspace and then Ctrl-A Ctrl-C copies what is really displayed, while backspace only gets applied once kicad looses focus. I.e. it's not as if backspace gets applied and the textfield graphics are not updated.

You are probably right in this being a wxWidgets rather than a kicad issue. Other wxWidgets Apps, including some pyWxApps I wrote also exhibit this problem!!

Weirdly enough, I have two system, one exhibits the problem while the other one does not.
Also I could not find any bug report for wxWidgets on the issue.

Both run Ubuntu 15.04 and use gnome-shell as windows manager.

Experiences Issue:
---------------------------------------
Application: kicad
Version: 0.201508090901+6074~28~ubuntu15.04.1-product release build
wxWidgets: Version 3.0.2 (debug,wchar_t,compiler with C++ ABI 1002,GCC 4.9.2,wx containers,compatible with 2.8)
Platform: Linux 3.19.0-25-generic x86_64, 64 bit, Little endian, wxGTK
Boost version: 1.54.0
         USE_WX_GRAPHICS_CONTEXT=OFF
         USE_WX_OVERLAY=OFF
         KICAD_SCRIPTING=ON
         KICAD_SCRIPTING_MODULES=ON
         KICAD_SCRIPTING_WXPYTHON=ON
         USE_FP_LIB_TABLE=HARD_CODED_ON
         BUILD_GITHUB_PLUGIN=ON
---------------------------------------

Does not experience the issue:
---------------------------------------
Application: kicad
Version: 0.201508080901+6071~28~ubuntu15.04.1-product release build
wxWidgets: Version 3.0.2 (debug,wchar_t,compiler with C++ ABI 1002,GCC 4.9.2,wx containers,compatible with 2.8)
Platform: Linux 3.19.0-25-generic x86_64, 64 bit, Little endian, wxGTK
Boost version: 1.54.0
         USE_WX_GRAPHICS_CONTEXT=OFF
         USE_WX_OVERLAY=OFF
         KICAD_SCRIPTING=ON
         KICAD_SCRIPTING_MODULES=ON
         KICAD_SCRIPTING_WXPYTHON=ON
         USE_FP_LIB_TABLE=HARD_CODED_ON
         BUILD_GITHUB_PLUGIN=ON
---------------------------------------

Last but not LEAST !!!
X-Forwarding kicad (or any wxWidgets App) from the other pc, the issue does not appear. Thus this seems to be some library problem rather than an X-Interface problem.

[Christian Rinn (rizzyrinn)]

The bug is related to ibus and wxWidgets/GTK and therefore affects several never *buntu versions.

Quick fix: stop ibus

Permanent fix: Install ibus-gtk AND ibus-gtk3 and reboot

I don't know if the problem will be fixed from the wxWidgets/ibus side for older Ubuntu versions like Kubuntu 14.04 which I am on. Probably it would be a good idea to include ibus-gtk and ibus-gtk3 as dependencies in the debian packages (if ibus is installed). It would still lead to the buggy behaviour if someone installed ibus after Kicad though and always required a reboot.

Further read: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubuntu-meta/+bug/1377370

[John Convertino (electrobs)]

rizzyrinn's permanent fix does work, and I can now edit global labels as I could in the KiCad version before 4.

PC setup:
  -Kubuntu 14.04 with kubuntu backports ppa
  -Xorg unstable ppa
  -KiCad Stable ppa

Thanks rizzyrinn for the workaround.

[dronesillo (gcobos)]

I had the same problem with KiCad 4.0.2

Just killing the "Intelligent" BUS" service solves the problem. Clicking on the input field with the right button and changing the default input method, from "X system" to "Simple" also worked.

Hope that it helps.

[xzcvczx (xzcvczx)]

Has this been reported upstream? as it seems that its unlikely something that kicad can or needs to fix

[Seth Hillbrand (sethh)]

Non-kicad issue.