it is difficult to edit text in text fields - keyboard is ignored a lot

[Mike Fairbank]

Binary package hint: xfig

A lot of text fields don't easily allow keyboard editing.

For example, if you open a fresh instance of xfig, and choose "file:export" then a window appears. 2 editable text fields in this window are "Output file" and "filename mask". Click in these with the mouse pointer to give them focus. Start typing into them. Use the cursor left and right keys and delete keys and space-bar on the keyboard to edit what you are typing. Use the mouse pointer to click into the other editable field and do the same there. Keep doing it, and often you notice immediately after pressing the cursor keys or spacebar you can immediately no longer type letters, or delete lettors, or cursor left and right within that editable field.

The bug doesn't happen every time, but for me it does about 50% of the time I try to edit text fields, so please play around with this to try to reproduce this error. If I try this enough I can get the bug to occur every time (I only need to open xfig once, and I only need to open the file:export window once, but I do need to click and edit between these two editable fields quite a bit to guarantee reproducing the bug).

This affects many fields in xfig, e.g. the way you "edit" objects in your fig means you have a lot of edit fields to use and change. It makes it really hard to get any work done. I have to try editing everything 4 or 5 times before it works.

I found this bug was present too on my old version of Ubuntu.

Versions:

Description: Ubuntu 9.10
Release: 9.10

xfig:
  Installed: 1:3.2.5.a-2ubuntu1
  Candidate: 1:3.2.5.a-2ubuntu1
  Version table:
 *** 1:3.2.5.a-2ubuntu1 0
        500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/universe Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

[Mike Fairbank (michael-fairbank)]

Note: I've just found this section of the FAQ at http://xfig.org/userman/frm_faq.html

There it says:

"I cannot type anything into the popup dialogs in xfig when I use the fvwm window manager

POSSIBLE CAUSE AND SOLUTION:
    There have been reports of this problem when using the fvwm window manager, possibly under Cygwin. Try mwm or twm or KDE. "

Is this relevant?

[Mike Fairbank (michael-fairbank)]

I've tested it under KDE and the bug is still there.

This bug is making xfig so difficult to work with that I've switched to using Inkscape. That is an effective enough work-around for me, and accept that xfig's user interface is out of date and broken.

[Matthieu Marechal (mat3582)]

An odd feature, NOT a bug, of the widget library xfig is based on, is
that (at least by default) textfields are selected by hovering your mouse over the textfield,
not by clicking on it.

I also had difficulty editing in xfig, before I found out about the focus-by-hover feature.
Now I know how it works, I never have difficulties anymore.
Are you certain this bug is not related to "focus-by-hover"?

[Simon Oosthoek (simon-margo)]

I agree with Matthieu, probably the focus by hover thing, not a bug.

[Mike Fairbank (michael-fairbank)]

Yes I agree. Hover-over fixes this problem for me. So this is not a bug, it is a feature. Thanks for your help. Sorry I needed help with something so basic. But on the other hand, this is a very strange 80s user interface, so much so that not many people in the twenty first century will figure this usage out!

[Roland Rosenfeld (roland)]

Since the reporter already tagged this "a feature", I close this ticket...