Cursor automatically moves to end of field after entering prefix field in page numbering dialog

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rakunavi
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Cursor automatically moves to end of field after entering prefix field in page numbering dialog

Post by rakunavi »

Hello all,

In the prefix field of the page numbering dialog, the input cursor automatically moves to the end of the field after some time has passed after each key entry. Although this behavior might be intended for some reason, if a key is entered too late, there is a high probability that the key entry will be missed. In addition, it sometimes behaves as if a backspace key is entered. The issue seems to occur when the timing of the cursor automatically moving to the end of the line coincides with the timing of the key input.

The following animated GIF shows the verification. The first half shows the text input cursor automatically moving to the end of the field, and the second half shows the missed keystrokes. To ensure the accuracy of the verification, all keystrokes are automated by the script, so there can be no input errors. The timing of keystrokes must be neither too short nor too long for the issue to occur. The issue is exposed only when the input speed is as shown in the video.

  • This is a GIF animation. Click to play.
    This is a GIF animation. Click to play.
  1. Enter "Phone" in the prefix field of the page numbering dialog.
  2. Move the text input cursor to the beginning of the field and type "i".
  3. The text input cursor will then move to the end of the field without you having to do anything.
  4. Type "TrackerSoftware" in Notepad. Please remember the speed of keystrokes.
  5. If you type "TrackerSoftware" into the prefix field of the page numbering dialog at the same speed, you will get a lot of missed keystrokes.
Hoping that the above information will be of some help to you.
Thank you so much for your continued support.

Best regards,
rakunavi

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TrackerSupp-Daniel
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Re: Cursor automatically moves to end of field after entering prefix field in page numbering dialog

Post by TrackerSupp-Daniel »

Hello, rakunavi

I cannot seem to reproduce the issue with letters being deleted in this case, but as it seems to be related to the movement of the cursor, which is certainly abnormal, I will be bringing it up with the dev team again after the V10 release to discuss.

For now, I have created a formal bug ticket for you.

RT#6479: Cursor moves to end of field while typing in page numbering dialog

Kind regards,
Dan McIntyre - Support Technician
Tracker Software Products (Canada) LTD

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rakunavi
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Re: Cursor automatically moves to end of field after entering prefix field in page numbering dialog

Post by rakunavi »

Hi Daniel, thank you for taking the time to look into this and creating the ticket.

For example, the following auto-hotkey script, which generates a delay of about 380 milliseconds for each keystroke, results in a high probability of missing keystrokes. In terms of the SetKeyDelay setting in this script, the keystroke missing occurs between 350 milliseconds and 420 milliseconds. This is considerably slower than normal typing speed.

Code: Select all

F5::
SendMode Event
SetKeyDelay, 380
Send TrackerSoftware
return
Please give my best regards to developers.

Best regards,
rakunavi
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DIV
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Joined: Fri Jun 23, 2017 1:47 am

Re: Cursor automatically moves to end of field after entering prefix field in page numbering dialog

Post by DIV »

I have noticed something similar:

Suppose a document has been partially scanned: the first 15 pages following the front matter (pp. 11–25: an introductory chapter, perhaps, after skipping the front cover, table of contents, etc.), and then the last 10 pages (pp. 77–86: the appendices, say).
By default the scanned pages are electronically numbered from 1 to 25 — but that doesn't match the numbering in the original document.
Let's say that the user firstly create a new page range with Add new range..., beginning at page 16 of the PDF file. By default the range shows up as starting at logical-page-number 1.
The user then sets the numbering of the first page range to start from logical-page 11.
image(2).png
image.png
image(1).png
image(3).png
Obviously the second range should now be numbered to start from logical-page 77. How? A few quirks are observed.
  • There are no evident hotkey combinations to access the Start numbering from: field or other fields in this dialogue box. Generally there should be one underlined letter in the dialogue box for each field (at least visible when Alt is pressed) so the user has a cue as to how to quickly navigate to each field. Besides tabbing through the fields, the obvious way to access the Start numbering from: field is therefore with a mouse-click. In that case, the user will almost certainly click to the right of the existing number "1", because there is very little space to click to the left of that digit, but plenty of space on the right.
  • If the user tries to now to Backspace over the existing "1", the field will automatically update to show "11" (the starting value of the first range!) — but only if this is the first user change when the second range was selected, after configuring the first range (so that's a bit erratic!). If the user isn't paying attention and pauses after pressing the Backspace key before typing "77", the result will be "1177".
  • If the above occurs or if the user (accidentally) types "77" after the preexisting '1", then the field will show "1177" or "177", so the user might decide to move the cursor to the extreme left of the field and press Delete. Unfortunately it seems that the Delete key has the (unexpected) function of blanking the entire field; the application then inserts a "1".
  • Alternatively, suppose there's an existing "1", and the cursor is on the right. If the user types "7" & "7" and then immediately rapidly presses Left arrow + Left arrow, and then briefly pauses and then presses Backspace, then the user may end up deleting the final "7", resulting in "17" remaining in the field, rather than the intended/expected "77".
What I believe is happening is that the field has some logic to say: (i) wait until the user has finished typing [i.e. there's a pause in the stream of key presses], then (ii) validate the entry, and finally (iii) replace the user's text with the validated text [which may be identical!] meaning that the cursor is automatically shifted to the right end of the field.

—DIV
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TrackerSupp-Daniel
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Re: Cursor automatically moves to end of field after entering prefix field in page numbering dialog

Post by TrackerSupp-Daniel »

Hello, DIV and Rakunavi

Thank you for the AHK scrip Rakunavi, and Thank you Div for the additional report. With these two items I have reproduced your issues, and created a second ticket for this topic:

RT#6481:Page numbering dialog fields, inconsistently "refresh" contents while in use, causes issues in certain cases.

This should address the issues at hand, when the Dev team can get around to it. In the meantime, I will admit that these are low priority issues, as they can be avoided and undone fairly easily.

Kind regards,
Dan McIntyre - Support Technician
Tracker Software Products (Canada) LTD

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Our Web site domain and email address has changed as of 26/10/2023.
https://www.pdf-xchange.com
Support@pdf-xchange.com
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