Joplin: Losing focus on keyboard layout change

[faerics]

When editing a note sometimes I need to change the language of writing. and it causes a caret to disappear. After the change I need to click in the editor to continue typing. If I type not doing that click, the text will not appear in the note.

Environment

Joplin version: Joplin 1.0.216 (prod, linux)
Commit: 4eb680d (master)
Platform: Linux x86_64, Windows
OS specifics: Linux mint 19, Win 10

Steps to reproduce

1. Open any note in Joplin, place the cursor in the text editor.
2. Change the language via hotkey (Alt+Shift for me).
3. See that a caret diappeared,
4. Type something in a new language and see that the text has not been written.

Describe what you expected to happen

The caret should stay where it was before changein the language and I should be able to type without any additional clicks.

Debug log

I collected the log as described here.

In console I saw that when I hit Alt+Shift changing the language this message appears (after two the same messages that appeared on the start):

Got ipc-message: noteRenderComplete [undefined]

In log.txt there is no information logged by this action.

[tessus]

The cursor position is always lost when you switch to another note. It's always reset to the first line.

The view position in the editor/viewer is retained though.

[faerics]

@tessus nice to know such a things!

Howewer, let me clarify that the issue is not about switching between the notes, it is about losing caret while you are working on one perticular note.
Sorry if the initial comment was unclear...

[tessus]

For Joplin this is the same thing. Joplin moves away from the note when you open the preferences (to change the language) and Joplin opens the note, when you close the preference window.

[roman-r-m]

I think @faerics means switching keyboard layout not the UI language.

[tessus]

Thank you. I missed that part. Yes, "language of writing" points to that.

[faerics]

@roman-r-m thank you for pointing that out!
Yes, the word I needed was 'layout'.

[roman-r-m]

I can't reproduce on
Joplin 1.0.218 (prod, win32)

Client ID: 8129c25cca08408db9608fbf677fee34
Sync Version: 1
Profile Version: 30
Keychain Supported: No

Revision: 5be8c2cd (master)

[faerics]

@roman-r-m Well, it is quite difficult to reproduce, I did some testing for about 30m to find out.
First of all, this seems to be the issue with an Alt key.

• If I change the hotkey to something that do not use Alt, like Ctrl+Shift, the caret is in place, no bug.
• If I press the Alt key and then release it, the note will lose a caret - bug
• If I press Alt, then press Shift, then release Shift, then release Alt the layout changes and there is no bug.
• If I press Alt, then press Shift, then release Alt, AND THEN release Shift the layout changes and there IS the bug.

So the steps to reproduce are now:

1. Open any note in Joplin, place the cursor in the text editor.
2. Press Alt
3. Release Alt
4. See that a caret diappeared.

Maybe something is bind on that key? This is definetely Joplin specific, there's no such a problem in any other app.

Could you try to reproduce it now?

[roman-r-m]

If I change the hotkey to something that do not use Alt, like Ctrl+Shift, the caret is in place, no bug.

I am using Alt+Shift to switch and that's how I tested it.

If I press the Alt key and then release it, the note will lose a caret - bug

This isn't a bug -- this is to access the menu without using the mouse, many (most?) apps have it e..g Notepad++, Firefox, SublimeText etc

[faerics]

@roman-r-m
Yes, but it works only if Alt is the only key pressed. Thank's for the hint -- now I see that when I press Alt + Shift, the top memu bar option File is selected.
Note that the order of releasing keys matters, see the discussion above.

Well, I think you agree that this should not happen when Alt pressed in combo.
But it does happen.

[m-angelov]

I have the same issue since 1.0.177 - submitted here: https://github.com/laurent22/joplin/issues/2298

@roman-r-m as mentioned in my issue, even the expected Alt behavior for accessing the menu through shortcut keys is not working. When I press Alt, the letters in the menu get highlighted (e.g. F in File, E in Edit), but when I press F or E the menu is not opening, as in other software.

[roman-r-m]

I saw a few related issues in electron issue tracker, haven't had time to look into this yet

[m-angelov]

I did some testing before seeing your comment, the results of which are written up below. Now I checked in Code (also an Electron app) and it has the same issue. I haven't ran into it, because I never switch the layout in it. So I've changed Joplin with Electron in the notes below :)

I can replicate this on Windows as well. Check this short video:

• at ~ 8 seconds in, I press Alt, and you can see the menu changing. Then I spam F, but the menu is not showing up - the keyboard is "stuck". Then I press Alt again and contunue writing in the note.
• I do this again at ~23 to ~27 seconds.
• After that I _hold_ Alt and press F (Alt+F) and the menu is working as expected.

So Joplin Electron should either:

• enable the "sticky toggle" mode as in Firefox - press Alt, activate the menu and wait for shortcut keys.
• do "anticipation toggle" - while Alt is pressed, activate the menu and wait for shortcut key, but when Alt is released, the focus should be returned to the editor.

On Windows I wasn't able to replicate the Alt+Shift issue with layout change, that I have using Linux - it works okay. But I feel that if the second "anticipation toggle" mode is applied, this issue will be fixed on Linux.

[stale[bot]]

Hey there, it looks like there has been no activity on this issue recently. Has the issue been fixed, or does it still require the community's attention? This issue may be closed if no further activity occurs. You may comment on the issue and I will leave it open. Thank you for your contributions.

[faerics]

IMO better to keep this open to make guys at Electron act faster on this issue.

[stale[bot]]

Hey there, it looks like there has been no activity on this issue recently. Has the issue been fixed, or does it still require the community's attention? This issue may be closed if no further activity occurs. You may comment on the issue and I will leave it open. Thank you for your contributions.

[IvanovAndrew]

This issue still requires the attention

[stale[bot]]

Hey there, it looks like there has been no activity on this issue recently. Has the issue been fixed, or does it still require the community's attention? This issue may be closed if no further activity occurs. You may comment on the issue and I will leave it open. Thank you for your contributions.

[stale[bot]]

Closing this issue after a prolonged period of inactivity. If this issue is still present in the latest release, please feel free to create a new issue with up-to-date information.