Cockpit: Copy and paste to terminal could improve usability

[schidlo]

From time to time I use copy and paste in terminal. It's not necessary but it could improve usability.

[stefwalter]

is anyone working on this issue? if so, what is the status?

I don't know of anyone working on this issue. Likely the first step is migrating our use of term.js to xterm.js instead, since the latter is maintained going forward.

[dagnelies]

Indeed, this would be very welcome. Great stuff by the way.

[simonk83]

I'd love this too

[tomasxiv]

Is it the task (copy and paste in terminal) in progress or wont it to be supported?

[larskarlitski]

What exactly did you mean by "could improve usability"? It was broken for a long time, but #7983 should at least allow copy and pasting with the right click menu.

Did you imagine something in addition to that? In #7956, @garrett suggested that Ctrl+Shit+C could be used, similar to how gnome terminal does it.

[die7]

Windows 10, IE 11, Chrome Version 63.0.3239.132 copy & paste not working

[garrett]

Firefox 58.0.2 on Linux (Fedora 27, Cockpit built from master):

• Copy works after selecting an item and right clicking on the terminal titlebar. Right-clicking in the terminal itself (where I'd expect to right-click) does not work.
• Paste does not work at all.

[vikranttkamble]

Is this feature considered for next release? This is a must feature for us to start using cockpit.

[vikranttkamble]

Okay, so paste is working on linux machines chrome and chromium and not working in firefox.
We can work with this. Thanks!

[tj22157]

Heya,

I see thing is working on chorme. However I can not paste into the terminal. I'm on version 172, Google Chrome om Windows and I do not get an option to paste.

Am I missing a step here?

[MinkiDev]

Win10 64bit, Chrome68.0.3440.75 (official), x64
copy working but paste into terminal not working.

[Tezzlicious]

Copy / Paste would be appreciated.

[Jarli01]

I too would love to have this functionality. Windows using Chrome here, not that I can't setup a Fedora device, but it's a nice to have.

[waclaw66]

Very missing features indeed. At least Paste.

[garrett]

Context menu copy & paste

I've tested several browsers and their ability to copy and paste text in Cockpit's terminal.

Here are the steps I used for testing:

1. Select text in terminal
2. Secondary mouse click ("right click")
3. Click "Copy"
4. Deselect text in terminal (this is _important_)
5. Secondary mouse click ("right click")
6. Click "Paste"

  | Copy | Paste
-- | -- | --
Firefox 64.0 | :heavy_check_mark: | :heavy_check_mark:
Chromium 71.0.3578.98 | :heavy_check_mark: | :heavy_check_mark:
Epiphany 3.30.2 (WebKit 2.22.5) | :heavy_check_mark: | :heavy_multiplication_x:
Safari 11.1.2 (WebKit 11605.3.8.1) on OS X 10.11.6 | :heavy_check_mark: | :heavy_check_mark:
Edge 42.17134.1.0 (EdgeHTML 17.17134) | :white_check_mark: | :heavy_multiplication_x:

:white_check_mark:: _Edge can copy, but it's a bit fiddly with the right click, as it sometimes dismisses the selection and sometimes does not show the context menu._

_Note: With the exceptions of Safari and Edge, all browsers were tested on Fedora 29._

Keyboard shortcuts

Ctrl-C / Ctrl-V generally do not work for copying and pasting in a terminal, as the commands are entered into the terminal instead. This is expected, as it's how terminals work. Ctrl-C is rather critical too, for breaks.

On most Linux terminals, including GNOME-Terminal, Ctrl-Shift-C / Ctrl-Shift-V are workarounds for copying and pasting. There is not special handler in the Cockpit terminal to implement these workarounds.

Alternatively, it could also be possible to make Ctrl-C / Ctrl-V do copy/paste and use Ctrl-Shift-C / Ctrl-Shift-V as workarounds.

On a Mac, the ⌘-C and ⌘-V shortcuts do not work. They simply should. Perhaps the JavaScript can be augmented to make this work?

Recommendations

• Add a "Shortcuts" menu to the titlebar
  
  
  
  • "Copy" and "Paste" should be at the top (or even as separate top-level buttons next to the menu)
  
  
  • Include important key combos for terminal usage that clash with the browser, with their typical function in a terminal
  
  
  • Figure out a browser-friendly shortcut to activate the menu with the keyboard, with a way to quickly select items in the menu (like alt-key underlines in a desktop app)
  
  
• Implement key combo workarounds where necessary
  
  
  
  • Ctrl-Shift-C / Ctrl-Shift-V that implement copy & paste or passthroughs for Ctrl-C / Ctrl-V
  
  
  • Consider Ctrl-Shift-W for clearing the previous word, Ctrl-Shift-L for clearing the screen, etc.
  
  
  • Perhaps add a "Compatibility", "Settings", or "⛭" menu with toggles for each of these workarounds, in case a program in the terminal also uses Ctrl-Shift-*?
  
  
  • Hook up ⌘-C and ⌘-V for OS X / macOS
  
  

Summary

Copying & pasting via a right-click works in most (but not all) browsers — but it's not discoverable enough. (Generally, pasting via a context menu needs text de-selected first.) In addition, other terminals and applications use alternate means for copying & pasting. Also, the standard desktop copy/paste keyboard shortcuts do not work (nor do the usual work-arounds).

Cockpit should make copying & pasting more discoverable through a visible menu (or even action buttons) and keyboard shortcuts.

[garrett]

Note: I had additional suggestions in a different bug @ https://github.com/cockpit-project/cockpit/issues/7956#issuecomment-339296754 & https://github.com/cockpit-project/cockpit/issues/7956#issuecomment-339365141 (including sticky keys and such). Both were written a long time ago, but probably still apply.

[joshuadfoster2017]

This was driving me crazy. Using Windows 10 + Chrome 71
Press Ctrl+a first. Then Ctrl-v.

Someone else can probably explain why it works this way. I'm a little lost as to why, but I'm super happy it does.

[marusak]

https://github.com/cockpit-project/cockpit/commit/8eb0e5e6 provides copy and paste through context menu. Also it makes shortcuts discoverable (ctrl+Insert and shift+insert).

Others combinations can be added, but as discussed, crtl+c and ctrl+v generally are not great choice, ctrl+shift+c/v can be implemented, but for example ctrl+shift+c is already reserved in firefox.

Closing, if anyone thinks there is something missing please reopen.