Re: Cut-Copy/Paste behavior

Lawrence,

I do have a complicated situation which I have tried spell out, but may not
have been contained in a reply-to-reply that you were reading.

I hope this answers your questions....

Our *server* is running RH 8.  We use Gnome 1.2.

Our *workstations* are Windows 95 PCs.  We view linux applications and
terminals through Xwindowing provided by Cygwin which is running on the
Windows 95.  The Cygwin build includes xwinclip which is a copy-cut/paste
facility that allows cut-copy/paste between all the linux programs and
between the linux programs and the Windows programs (very nice!).

Because of this "layering", I am not sure which configuration is in control 
of the mouse operations (Windows95, Gnome, server settings, Cygwin, etc.).

The mice are MS Intellimouse 1.2A wheel mice.

The linux applications are varied, but the problem is identical with them
all.  The browser, not that it matters, is Mozilla 1.2.

You instructed me to go to "Programs->Preferences->Mouse".  My gnome
desktop does not have that exact setting, but one similar enough. The
setting was set to generic.  I have changed it to MS Intellimouse PS2 
(closest thing, but nothing about version number or the wheel) and
clicked the "emulate 3 button mouse" checkbox.  I exited the gnome desktop 
and saved the configuration. THIS DID NOT CHANGE ANYTHING when the desktop 
was restarted.

I am not sure that the problem is necessarily correctly understood by you 
and others.

In my mind, the problem does not have to do with PASTING, it has to do with 
SELECTION -- it has to do with what gets put into the buffer.

For an example using gnome terminals, get up two gnome terminals and type 
some junk on the command lines of each.  In one terminal (the source) use 
the left mouse button to highlight some text; just that, highlight some 
text.  Go to the other terminal (the target) and highlight some text that 
the target that you want to replace using text from the source. Using the 
terminal's menu then do Edit-->Paste.  On my system, the target's (not the 
source's) text will be pasted into the target.  None of this used the keyboard.

This example is complicated because in my gnome terminals, when I highlight 
something, the highlighting immediately disappears (and what is highlighted 
goes into some buffer).  Even though the Edit menu has a Copy option, it is 
grayed out and I can't find a way to get at it.  If I left-drag to 
highlight something, hold the left mouse button, and at the same time click 
the right mouse button, I get a context menu in which copy *is* available. 
However, it does not copy -- or at least if it does copy into some buffer, 
the Edit-->Paste or context menu Paste does not paste.

On the other hand if I am in Mozilla (linux) 1.2, and do something like 
this with two different Compose windows, the left-drag highlighting DOES 
stay highlighted.  If you highlight something in one window and then change 
focus to another window and highlight text you want to replace and then use 
the Edit-->Paste menu option the MOST RECENTLY highlighted text is what 
will be pasted. In other words, I have not found a method to paste INTO 
HIGHLIGHTED text.

I hope that this helps to explain, but I think it is time to drop this. I 
am surely annoying everybody.

Jay


Lawrence MacIntyre wrote:
> Jay:
> 
> Each time I read one of your messages, I try to reproduce your problem,
> and I cannot do so.  Now it is true that if you insist on using the
> windows ^C ^V method, that some applications don't support that and your
> mileage may vary.  However, if you look at the documentation, or even
> just try to use the menus, for example gnome-terminal uses
> shift-control-c to copy and shift-control-v to paste, since control c
> and control v are valid characters in terminals, you will find that it
> all just works.  I've tried SciTE, Gnome-terminal, firebird, evolution,
> and I can cut and paste from one application to another with no problems
> whatsoever using the left and middle mouse buttons and even the correct
> characters for that application (see above).  I submit that your mouse
> is configured incorrectly.  Did you have a different mouse when you
> installed linux and then switch it out without changing your
> configuration?  I installed RH 8 and I have a Microsoft Intellimouse
> 1.2A, and it automatically configured it correctly.  If you change it,
> you have to go to the Programs->Preferences->Mouse menu and change the
> mouse type.  You would have to do the same thing with Windows.  
> 
> Is it possible that the application you have chosen as your source
> doesn't support control-c and control-v?  My browser (Firebird 0.6.1)
> uses the Mozilla 1.4 Sources.  Perhaps you have an old version of the
> browser?  Which Linux are you using?  Which Browser (including
> version)?  When you run the Mouse Configuration application (see above),
> what mouse does it think you have?
> 
> On Tue, 2003-09-09 at 15:16, Jay Smith wrote:
> 
>>Daniel,
>>
>>What I don't understand (because my 2-button + wheel/button mouse is not 
>>working [configured?] properly) is: Since simply highlighting text DOES put 
>>content into *some* buffer, does using the middle mouse button to do the 
>>pasting, cause the *correct* content to be pasted?
>>
>>What I mean is that if I get focus on the source window and it has 
>>highlighted text and I then get focus on the target window and it also has 
>>some ALREADY highlighted text, the highlighted text in the target window 
>>goes into *some* buffer.
>>
>>I don't know if the buffer it is going into is the "middle button paste 
>>buffer" or some other buffer.
>>
>>I do know, however, that if I get focus on the target window and do a 
>>"control v", the most recently highlighted content will get pasted.  If the 
>>*target* window already had highlighted content (or if you highlight 
>>something in the target window because you want to replace it when you 
>>paste) then it is the highlighted text from the TARGET window that will get 
>>pasted INSTEAD of the correct text from the SOURCE window.
>>
>>Am I making any sense?
>>
>>Maybe we better leave this one alone.
>>
>>Jay
>>
>>Daniel C. von Asmuth wrote:
>>
>>>Thus quoth Reilly Burke on Sun, Sep 07, 2003 at 06:25:56PM -0700:
>>>
>>>
>>>>I think the point of this thread is that Linux is really annoying on the 
>>>>subject of "cut & paste".   Sure we can all run out and buy several 
>>>>cartons of mouses to refit the office, but wouldn't it be easier if 
>>>>Linux developers had taken the time to agree on a standard "cut & paste" 
>>>>method like Windows has done?  The wheel mouse method works within one 
>>>
>>>
>>>Unix mice have three buttons and the standard paste operation is by 
>>>pushing the middle button. It is certainly annoying having to use 
>>>equipment that does not follow this handy convention. (like Macintoshes)
>>>
>>>Kind regards,
>>>
>>>
>>>Daniel von Asmuth
>>>
>>>

-- 
Jay Smith

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