Re: Strange behavior in TB3B2

Hi Massimo,

Unfortunately, all of the problems you describe seem to be JAWS 9 
problems that I've come across in one form or another previously.

On 23.03.2009 13:01, Massimo Vettoretti wrote:
> 1. When reading messages with Virtual pc cursor, sometimes JAWS stops
> reading for 30 seconds more or less, and freezes. After this, JAWS
> starts reading again;
This sounds as if JAWS is trying to scroll something into view. Try to 
do the following and see if it helps:
1. From within Thunderbird, using Insert+6 (6 on the alphanumeric 
keyboard) to open Configuration Manager.
2. Go to Set Options/HTML, and on the General or Misc pages (I don't 
remember which), find the setting that says "Screen tracks virtual 
cursor". This is a checkbox that is checked by default. Press Space to 
uncheck it, and then select the OK button.
3. Press Ctrl+S to save the settings.

What this does is make JAWS not try to scroll the screen to where the 
virtual cursor is. This can sometimes cause strange behavior, and since 
the support for Thunderbird 3 in JAWS 9 is neither complete nor 
official, this might cure things a little.

> 2. When editing messages, JAWS seems to loose focus of the editing
> window. The title bar is correctly announced, but the active application
> returned by ins+q is "explorer.exe", and the window class is... GHOST.
> :-) When this happens, TB become unresponsive for some seconds. This
> problem seems to occur when the auto-save task takes place. I was able
> to get around by turning the auto-save feature off, but I am a very
> scatty guy and i do really need that feature! And, of course, it is not
> a solution, just a "work around".

As I said above, JAWS support for Thunderbird 3 is not complete in 
version 9, and I have seen this happen, too. Sometimes, it helps when 
editing messages to turn virtual cursor off with Insert+Z.

> 3. These stoppings occur also when scrolling message list and folder
> list. In this case, no relation with auto-save feature exists;
Have you turned off the preview pane with F8? If you regularly open 
messages using ENTER, which makes them open in a new window, the preview 
pane is not needed.

> 4. When deleting characters, punctuation marks are frequently announced
> as "space". Normal alphanumeric characters are also announced as "space"
> if pressing backspace very rapidly: 3, 4 times per second or more.
> 5. When scrolling line by line through a message in editing window,
> sometimes the cursor is very slow. I press the down arrow key, but the
> cursor doesn't move to the following line. JAWS repeats the current line
> and then the cursor moves down, but the only way to have the new line
> spoken out is using the "SayLine" command.
> 6. When selecting text, sometimes JAWS doesn't report it. The only way
> to se what I am selecting is look at my braille display.
These three items are known problems that have to do with the fact that 
JAWS 9 uses conventional screen reading methods to read the message 
editing window. It has problems with tracking the cursor or accurately 
finding characters and the selection. Sometimes, Insert+Escape to 
refresh the screen helps, but it may easily get out of sync again.

> 7. In editing windows, when pressing ctrl+s to save manually the
> message, JAWS start repeating "about blank". Sometimes it stops by
> it-self, sometimes I have to press ctrl.

Hmm this one sounds strange, almost as if something is flashing when you 
press Ctrl+S, and JAWS identifies it as highlighted text. Sorry, no 
better idea than you already have, by pressing Ctrl to stop JAWS from 
repeating this.

Hope this helps!

Marco